LoneStar Drift 2019 RD3
In Texas, we're lucky enough to have our own Formula Drift Pro-Am series which has produced some very successful drivers in the past. We were eager to attend Round 3 of the 2019 season to hang out with some of friends we've made over the past few years.
Round 3 at the Houston Police Academy took place on Memorial Day holiday weekend. Houston is one of the cities which has lots of drivers and always gets tons of spectators to events.
This event promised evening drifting, You Tuber star power to tune of over 3 million combined subscribers, and also one of the more technical tracks during the series season. We decided to spectate in lieu of submitting media applications. Part of the reason was, we had never visited this venue, so weren't sure where the best shooting locations were. I wanted to make sure to also just have a relaxing weekend with Celeste without the stress of shooting an event. Also, when you have a 150-600mm lens in the bag, you're close from anywhere in the venue.
We ended arriving around golden hour on Saturday, so we missed Texas Street Legal comp. We did catch a good variety of driving on Saturday, and made sure to apply plenty of sunscreen going into Sunday's Pro-Am competition. Celeste did however manger to snag a photo with Alexi on Saturday evening before we left the event.
We showed up right before comp on Sunday, and managed to snag an amazing parking spot that ran parallel to the start/finish area of the course. The best part of owning a Subaru Forester is being able to office out of the back with camera gear, coolers, snacks, and a bench seat.
The level of driving in the comp was top notch this round. My only feedback would be to better convey what battle is occurring from the bracket structure, and update the crowd when it's Top 16, Top 8, Top 4, or the final battle. I know there's a lot of moving parts at these events, but a little clip board with the bracket would make it easy for whoever is announcing to be able to convey progress.
Overall, this event didn't disappoint. The only thing we regret was not purchasing an LZ/Noriyaro tee shirt at the LZ merchandise booth. We were standing in line to meet Adam after the Sunday comp, but then realized it would have been awkward to ask him for merchandise details when all he wanted to probably do was rest after driving.
We hope to make more Lone Star drift events in the future, and maybe one of these days we'll have a car out there.
