Imagine if we lived in a world where motorsports was nonexistent. Men would frolic through the mall with their significant other, organize a guy's night out to watch reruns of Sex in the City, and finally break out in dramatic hysteria when learning that Brad Pitt is rumored to marry Angelina Jolie (humph, that bitch!). Okay so maybe I'm being a little overdramatic on the "what if" scenario but I speak for most when I say we men, and of course, women, out there eat, sleep, and even shit the world of high-performance cars 'till the day we die.
There's nothing like the sweet smell of C16 racing fuel singeing my nose hairs while blankets of tire rubber cascade on my face. I quickly brush off the black soot and refocus my camera, realizing in a blink of the eye how things can spiral out of control as a white Nissan S14 comes barreling towards my direction. Like a deer frozen in a pair of headlights, I see my life flash before my eyes as the impact, followed by the reverberation of crumpling metal folding on the concrete barrier echoed though the air like a 12-gauge shotgun. I feel my heart racing at full throttle while surveying the scene littered with shards of body panel surrounding my feet. Dramatic as the crash seemed, for some odd reason I couldn't get enough. If it weren't for my love of motorsports, and drifting in general, I'd probably be watching an afternoon special on Oprah.
It's round 5 in Sonoma, Calif., as 8,500 spectators line the grandstands at Infineon Raceway to witness the US's top drivers battle for the 2005 Formula D championship. Among the usual suspects competing in this years events, I took notice of an individual standing between two Nissan 240's, wearing a black shirt with the words Kaaz inscribed. It didn't take his high perm fade for me to recognize the man behind the shirt was Ray Nakadate of Newport Beach, Calif., better known as the president of Kaaz USA and Newport Exotic Cars. "Scott, what do you think of our new Sileighty drift car?" Nakadate asked. I respond with an approving nod and thumbs up. "This is our debut competition for this car along with our newest driver, Bryan Norris."
Our conversation was cut short as Ray excused himself to prepare the second Kaaz vehicle, an S13 driven by Hawaii's own Barry Wong. Given the opportunity, I moved in towards the Sileighty for a closer look, all the while, admiring the Silvia front end adorned with a Version Select Type 2 front bumper. My eyes slowly scanned the car, appreciating the subtle design of the matching Version Select front fenders, side skirts, and rear bumper. Within minutes, Nakadate returned to continue our conversation, cueing me with some of the finer points on the vehicle. "We modified the rear fenders by flaring the factory skins to accommodate a full-sized 17x10 inch rims. After the body kit was fitted and minor dents were removed, we seam welded the car from front to back, and sent it to Wizard Auto Body of Riverside, Calif., to paint. In order to induce added down force on the rear end of the car, we used a Rotora 3D carbon-fiber wing."
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