Formula D Long Beach
Video

Videography by Roly Dee

FDLB | The Energy
Beyond the Track

Photography by Frank Leon

For those of you that don’t get so excited by the smell of burning rubber and the symphony of highly tuned engines chasing each other, Formula D has something for you too. Fatlace hosts a car show, Slammed Society, at each of the Formula D series events. Plus there are venders and manufactures lining the inner sections of the tracks with smiling models to greet you and tell you all about their products.

So make sure you come out to the next event and enjoy a little bit of everything.

Small World, Big Build

Photography and words by Nelson Queralta

My photographic collaborations here at State of Stance usually come as assignments. When shooting a feature I initially see the car, then start to get an idea on where I want to shoot it. At the same time I get in contact with the owner, which most of the time I end up meeting for the first time the day of the shoot. Car owners are awesome; they’re always willing to help so the shoot goes smoothly, whether it’s driving to a remote location or moving the car around multiple times to get the right angle. Knowing this, I always plan everything out before so I can be the least pesky photographer possible.

Enter this beautiful Ultrasonic Blue ’12 Lexus IS250 you see gracing the pages of SOS owned by Yoan Ciroffi. It was business as usual, I had a spot picked out that I wanted to try, and after a few phone conversations we arranged the time and place. It wasn’t until that very moment when Yoan steps out of the driver’s seat, I realize I actually know him.

We had lost contact for years and I didn’t recognize his voice through our phone calls. Seeing a familiar face was refreshing and relaxing, I was able to take my time with the shoot and take in the lines and details of the car, especially since I was using off camera lighting and the location was pretty much a pitch-black industrial area.

Knowing him from before I remembered Yoan being wheel whore, which he still is. He’s already gone through three sets of wheels in the last four months. The unusual and unique industrial machine brush finish on the ‘19 HRE 540R currently on the car is by far my favorite. Heading out to the exterior, the Ultrasonic Blue that bathes the sheet metal is impeccable, by far one of the nicest shades of blue to ever exist. In the short time he’s owned the car, it’s far from stock.

F-Sport big brake system, JDM Black Pearl Altezza badge and JDM window visors, Greddy SP2 exhaust notes ringing in your ear, no shortcuts were taken on the first iteration of the car. It doesn’t just stop in the exterior modifications neither, all the interior lights were changed out to V-LEDs and since the F-Sport package already includes front bucket seats and black suede headliner, making subtle changes like that is just what the car needs to stand out.

Yoan still has big plans for the car including a parts list consisting of TOM’s, more F-Sport, BC, Wald, and more. Stay tuned, we here at State of Stance often revisit revamped builds, so I’m pretty sure we’ll be seeing more of Yoan’s Lexus.

Until next time.

Formula D | Long Back 2013
Another Season Begins

Photography by Nelson Queralta

Another year of Formula D is here. As the qualifying rounds started, there were a few changes for the 2013 season. For starters, all drivers got two runs to make qualifying. The first run was your qualifying run. However, if a driver did not make the Top 16, they were given a second run to make the Top 32.

There were some surprises though as Nate Hamilton and Corey Hosford did not make qualifying. In addition Walker Wilkerson did not pass tech.

There was some excitement in qualifying as Justin Pawlak had a bad wreck. The car was repaired and he did make Top 32. Also, Ryan Tuerck crashed his car late in the evening and shattered one of his Fifteen52 wheels.

Take a look at some of the qualifying rounds…

Passing the Passion to the Future
Planting the Seed Now for a Future Scene

Photography by Rolando Diaz

The one thing that bothers me the most about our scene today is the division. It seems like only a few years ago when we started State of Stance, we tried our best to break down all the walls and represent a global automotive culture. One in which everyone’s individual state of stance was appreciated. Where hardparked stance cars and track stance cars park side by side, where JDM elitist and Muscle car guys share tuning tips.

Still, years later, we still seeing these dividing walls amongst our culture. Yet there is still hope. Ron Hughes is one of those beacons of light. He is making sure that the future of our culture division free and here to stay. Doing so by showing his daughter Harley the joys of tuning; after all we all tune and build because we enjoy doing it. That’s why we call it a passion.

This brings me to our current feature. It is unusual that we are featuring a toy car and not a real car. However the feature isn’t so much about the Power Wheels Escalade. It’s about helping the tuners of tomorrow find a passion now in their youth. To get Harley excited about her Power Wheels Escalade, Ron took it to toy customizing genius Denver, owner of Kid Stance.

Denver started by making a custom one-off suspension that gave the Power Wheels Escalade a 3 inch drop all around with an adjustable camber kit in the rear. He then customized the factory wheels and gave them the ever popular stretched look. This gave the truck its very aggressive stance. A lip kit was made for the front and sides of the truck and the addition of splitters give it a GT look.

Working headlamps and tail lamps were also added with a complete strobe package offering about 10 different strobe settings. The lights, along with the front grill, were blacked out to give it a mean look. Then a coat of candy glitter clear was sprayed on top of the factory pink. Once the truck was completed, it was sent to Tailor Made Upholstery for custom suede seat covers and speaker deck.

There is nothing like the bond between parent and child, and we should all strive to share our passions with our children. They are the future builders, tuners, drivers, photographers, and bloggers of our global automotive culture.

If you want to share in an experience like this with your child, Denver can be contacted at KidStance@gmail.com.

Audi Sweeps at Sebring
Corvette wins for first time in 12 Hours since 2009

Photography by Emil Garcia and Rolando Diaz
Words by ALMS PR

SEBRING, Fla. (March 16, 2013) – Audi Sport extended its remarkable run at Sebring International Raceway on Saturday. Marcel Fassler, Benoit Treluyer and Oliver Jarvis won the 61st Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida in their No. 1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro – the first hybrid car to win at Sebring and in the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón.

Treluyer drove a storming final two stints. He took fuel with 20 minutes left but maintained his lead over teammate Tom Kristensen in the No. 2 Audi. Kristensen, Allan McNish and Lucas di Grassi placed second.

“For sure at the end with the traffic it was really hard to see in the mirror,” said Treluyer, who has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans the last two seasons with Fassler and Andre Lotterer. “I just had to keep the gap. Tom was doing good on the out laps and could warm the tires better than me. But after that I could go quicker than he and I could bring it home.”

The two Audis shared the lead 21 times among themselves. All three drivers won at Sebring and in the ALMS for the first time. The victory marked Audi’s 11th in America’s oldest sports car race since 2000. Jarvis is 2-for-2 to start the season, having won the GT class of the Rolex 24 At Daytona in an Audi R8.

“To win Daytona was unexpected and to come here and win again was even more incredible,” Jarvis said. “Marcel and Benoit are used to driving with Andre, and they really welcomed me in to this car. The guys on the team work ever so hard – working late and up early. It was a fantastic week and fantastic couple of months. To be asked to drive here was a privilege and then to win with these guys… Wow. It is amazing.”

Rebellion Racing’s No. 12 Lola-Toyota placed third overall. Neel Jani, Nick Heidfeld and Nico Prost teamed together.

GT
Tommy Milner passed Matteo Malucelli for the GT lead and eventual class win as Corvette Racing won at Sebring for the first time since 2009. Milner, who drove the No. 4 Corvette C6 ZR1 with Oliver Gavin and Richard Westbrook, overtook Malucelli – who went off twice in the span of a lap – in Risi Competizione’s Ferrari F458 Italia with 13 minutes left.

“I’m a bit at a loss for words,” said Milner, the defending ALMS GT champion with Gavin. “We obviously are off to a great start. We had two unbelievable stops toward the end, and that gave me the adrenaline to keep pushing. I knew I needed to do my part. It was just an unbelievable finish.”

It was a roller-coaster day for the No. 4 car. It lost two laps with electrical problems early and received a one-minute penalty for avoidable contact.

“Certainly it seemed like we were making it harder than we wanted to,” Gavin said. “We got about a lap and a bit down. The crew was fantastic today, but Tommy and Richard drove great. Tommy at the end drove ridiculously well. Then the Ferrari made a mistake at the end and he was in a spot to take the lead. This is just fantastic.”

P2
Level 5 Motorsports went 1-2 in P2 with Marino Franchitti, Ryan Briscoe and team owner Scott Tucker winning in the No. 551 Honda Performance Development ARX-03b. Tucker tied a Sebring record with his fourth consecutive class win, joining Bob Holbert (1961-64), Olivier Gendebien (1959-62) and Sascha Maassen (2001-04).

“This is an incredible experience,” Tucker said. “Today, and over the past four years, make you realize that (Sebring) is just a special place and I think everyone likes coming here. You kind of make your own luck, and we got lucky in a lot of spots. Things went to plan.”

Franchitti crossed the line just seconds ahead of Ryan Hunter-Reay in the No 552 Level 5 entry. Hunter-Reay drove with Tucker and Simon Pagenaud. The Greaves Motorsport trio of Tom-Kimber Smith, Christian Zugel and Eric Lux placed third.

Level 5 and Greaves swapped the class lead with Extreme Speed Motorsports’ No. 01 HPD in the race’s opening half. Familiarity with the HPD prototype and experience at Sebring – plus a clean race – eventually won out for Level 5.

“We’ve gone through some challenges but every one has worked so hard,” Briscoe said. “They were up ‘til 3 (Saturday morning) working on the cars, and then they ran flawlessly. The pit stops were absolutely perfect. We didn’t put a wheel off all day. We didn’t want to have an exciting race; we knew we just had to have a good day.”

David Ostella made a winning pass of his own to give PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports its first Sebring victory in Prototype Challenge presented by Continental Tire. Driving the No. 52 ORECA FLM09, he passed BAR1 Motorsports’ Kyle Marcelli with 28 minutes left.

Ostella and co-driver David Chang earned their first Sebring victories; teammate Mike Guasch earned his second Sebring PC victory in three years.

“I’ve never done anything like this before – P1 cars flying around and you going by GT cars,” Ostella said. “Then battling for first with Kyle Marcelli… we got by him and I put my head down with some perfect laps. The PR1 team gave me a perfect car for the weekend.”

The car dropped to the rear of the field after an early-race off and contact with a P1 car in the race’s seventh hour. It was an example of how wild the PC race was – there were 27 lead changes in the class.

“We had lots of little troubles, but the team always gave us something to crawl back with into the lead,” Cheng said. “We figured out the Continental Tires and knew would come down to the last 15 minutes. David on the last stint executed perfectly.”

GTC
Alex Job Racing won for the second straight year in GT Challenge. The No. 22 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup of Jeroen Bleekemolen, Cooper MacNeil and Dion von Moltke won after dominating the race early, then taking the lead late from the No. 66 TRG Porsche when it pitted for a splash of fuel and brake adjustment.

Alex Job Racing won last year’s ALMS GTC championship, and MacNeil took the drivers championship. The class race had the most lead changes of any Saturday with 31. The top six GTC cars were on the lead lap as late as the final hour.

“The competition was amazing. We all have the same car, same tire,” Bleekemolen said. “All the teams are so close. The Alex Job team did such a good job all week. We rolled off the car off the trailer and we were P1 right off the bat.”

Von Moltke won at Sebring for the second straight year and added to his GT victory in the Rolex 24 – he drove the winning Audi with Jarvis – while MacNeil and Bleekemolen won the 12 Hours for the first time.

“I can’t put it into words,” von Moltke said. “I’m so lucky to be part of an amazing team with AJR and a company like WeatherTech. They bring excellence to the culture of the race team. All of the crew guys and the engineers all have one goal – to win. That puts an energy in to the team.”

Spencer Pumpelly, Brian Wong and Nelson Canache placed second for Flying Lizard Motorsports in the No. 45 Porsche. Sean Edwards, Henrique Cisneros and Marco Seefried were third for NGT Motorsport in the No. 30 Porsche.

Driver Project: Corey Hosford
Behind the KSport 350Z

Videogrpahy by RolyDee

Drivers, they are more than the pilot of a four wheeled rocket-ship. One of our favorite drivers is Corey Hosford of KSport. Corey standing a shadowing 6’3” tall is “The Boss” as his teammates like to call him. He entered the world of pro-amateur drifting for the first time earlier last year and shocked the drift community as he quickly made his way to the podium. He earned three podium finishes out of only 5 events.

Residing in Gilbert, AZ he is quite the local hero and friend to many. When he’s not sliding the KSport 350Z in the Formula D Professional Drift circuit, he is a driving instructor at the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving. And when he’s not doing that, he is usually daunting a bleach blond wig, polyester suit, cowboy hat, and making sure all his friends are always having a great time.

Motorsports Experience – Current driving instructor at Bondurant School of High Performance Driving (9yrs) Podium finishes in Formula Drift Pro Am competition (2011) General Motors precision driver Super Kart School instructor (2yrs) Sports Car Club of America 360ci Sprint cars Performance stock cars Pro Auto Sports International Kart Federation Stars of Karting Total racing & motorsports experience is over 16 years beginning at age 8.

Car – 2006 Ksport Usa Nissan 350z
Engine – Magnuson super charger, Eagle Crank, Eagle Rods, Wiseco Pistons, S&S Machined ls3 block.
Horsepower – 850+
Suspension – Ksport Slide Kontrol
Brakes – Ksport BBK Front and rear
Wheels – Wed Sports TC105n
Exterior – BASF Ksport orange paint, AIT Body kit, with APR Aero
Interior – OMP Seats / Harness

Sponsors – Ksport USA, Fueled Racing, Magnuson Superchargers, Elite Automotive, AIT Racing, APR Performance, Weds Wheels, Omp Racing, Exedy, Torco, Anzo USA, Future Fabrication, Moroso, State of Stance.

Pagani Huayra
Cinemotive

Videography by Cinemotive

Prestige Imports was kind enough to give us some personal time with the Pagani Huayra, of which we released a feature and a video some time ago. Cinemotive was also on hand to grab some one-on-one with this gorgeous machine and once again produced a gem. Enjoy!

Old School Swag
Down South E30

Photography by Nelson Queralta
Words by Emil Garcia

Every now and the phone rings and on the other end is a request that we cannot turn down. This was the case with Guillermo Rodriguez’s 1991 BMW 325i , after hearing that the car was complete we headed over to make sure we got first crack at it.

Guillermo has been a part of the local drift scene since his days with his original E30 and S.N.S Gang. As usual life happened and people went on to do their separate things. Guillermo however never lost the urge to build, after finishing a Subaru build with his father, he took to a new E30.

In the eyes of the common passerby, aside from the wheels the car looks rather simple, nothing crazy. The trained eye can spot all of the Euro mods though. The car is washed in things from its overseas counterpart, and has been overhauled from the ground up with suspension goods.

Ireland Engineering, M-Tech, ESM Wheels and Condor Speedshop are just a few names of the rather extensive parts list on this E30. Guillermo poured a substantial amount of time and effort into this clean simple build, and from what we hear, he is not done. Stay Tuned for more about Guillermo Rodriguez from State of Stance.

Vossen Accord
A Happy Case of the Blues

Videography by Rolando Diaz

Most of you have already seen our original feature and our follow up feature of Jorge Alvarez’s Honda Accord that just keeps getting better and better each time we see it. So if you love the car, here is a video tribute to his build.