All Star Car Battle 2010

Photography by Marin Nelson & Matt Chandler / Words By Matt Chandler for Canibeat.com

This Saturday was the All Star Car Battle at Firebird Raceway, in Chandler Arizona. It was definitely a fun time, hangin’ out with friends, watching drifting, and scopin’ out some clean cars and beautiful women. I arrived a few hours before the gates opened and after a ½ hour run-around by the staff, I finally got my media wristband as well as my vendor credentials for Ksport. After taking delivery of a fresh batch of Ksport t shirts, I hit the drift paddock to catch up with some friends. I spent some time checking out everyone’s cars, since I hadn’t seen some of these guys in over a month and haven’t seen their drift cars in about that long.

Once the drifting got underway, my buddy Marin and I hit the track to catch some shots during practice. While practice isn’t the most exciting time of the event, it’s when everyone’s cars look their best and you can (usually) get at least a couple shots of each car before anything breaks or flies off of the car.

After weathering a couple dust storms and a downpour, we headed back to the paddock and watched my friend Scott flip some burgers with a Tein spanner wrench. I gotta admit, he was doin’ pretty good. I tried to buy a beer, but after hearing the prices I decided I could go without. Our next stop was the lowrider show and drag strip. To be honest, watching cars go in a straight line isn’t all that exciting so I quickly moved on.

Back at the drift paddock, we freshened up our gear and hit the track again. At this point, my feet were insanely sore so I knew I wouldn’t be staying too much longer. I’d been at Firebird Raceway for the better part of 9 hours, and had been on my feet for at least 85% of that time. The drift competition kicked off around 9 o’ clock, and everything immediately got real. In a Top 16 format, the field was eventually narrowed down to 3 fierce competitors. Mike Burns, aka Captain America ended up with 3rd place. I had a lot of fun watching his high-speed entries and smoke-filled exits complete with American flag flying furiously.