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December
3, 2005 Open Practice Video
Music by "Second-Hand Sin"
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December
3, 2005 Group A Competition Video PART 1
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December
3, 2005 Group A Competition Video PART 2
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Group
A Competition Scores & Season Points
A number of critical events occurred during the day which changed the fate of the entire season for two of the three championship contenders. The complexion of the entire season culminated with chaos on the track for Barry Wong when, during a close four-car tandem drift through the Chicane/Off Camber section of the track, had his car damaged. The first car had checked up for some reason and the domino effect had left Barry sideways in front of Steve Oliberos who’s road racing skills were fully tested as he tried to stop. Steve could not avoid the vulnerable left front of Wong’s Nissan and a love tap ensued. Thankfully, Jenson Kona’s focus was sharp and his quick reactions kept him from creating a train wreck, but the damage was done. Barry, with a lot of help from friends and crew, worked on his car for the next two hours, changing the damaged suspension components and steering rack. With a quick “track” alignment he had managed a few practice laps and everything appeared to be in order by the time the competition rolled
around. 
It was around 1:30 pm. The great lunches provided by “The Pizza Man” had gone down nicely and the action had started to pick up. One of the umbrella girls decided she’d like a ride so Steve Oliberos offered up his passenger seat. She was strapped in and off they went. I never saw quite what happened but Steve ended up in the guardrail at the mid point of the sweeper, suggesting an under-steer since the right-front was crunched in pretty good. Thankfully the damage was mostly cosmetic and the Niztech crew had the necessary repairs completed within a half an hour. Our girl had a few light abrasions from the chin strap from the helmet and the shoulder harnesses, but was gratefully not really hurt (our
EMT, Fred, made sure she was ok). And it wasn’t over with yet: Our second roll-over for the year, again in the sweeper and the same story of the car riding up the tires before ending up on the roof. The car was flattened pretty severely and I had some serious concerns as I pulled up to the scene, but gratefully the driver was out being consoled by friends once I arrived. Again, we must reiterate that we do not approve of 3rd gear sweeper drifts unless you have the proper safety devices including roll cages and harnesses as there’s no reason that this example might not be you one of these days. 
A meeting was held prior to the competition and the judges answered some of the technical questions being asked by the drivers, explaining the particular points of judging criteria. Subsequently, everyone seemed happy with the discourse and Group “A” drivers were off for their final practice. Jenson Kona immediately took his newly learned information and started destroying the sweeper (judges had emphasized that the drift would be measured all the way through to the drag-strip and that a strong finish would be looked for). Barry seemed to have the car working well and was dissecting the Chicane/Off Camber section like a surgeon and Keoni Rodrigues was flying around the off camber now that the judges had explained they were looking for a wider line and more speed there. And then suddenly Championship contender, Shigeomi’s car stuttered coming out of the Off Camber and he was into the pits, then Barry was back in a bit early also while the others continued the warm up. 
I heard the announcement over my headphones that Barry was out of the competition with a broken rocker arm and that Shigeomi had lost 2nd gear, which in my mind spelled out the final season points pretty clearly, but “Steve-O” offered up his car to the seasons co-points leader, Barry. Shigeomi decided to go back out to see what he could manage (which wasn’t half bad) for the remainder of the practice. 
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