Up Close and Personal
This month we're introducing a new section to Super Street called 'Up Close and Personal,' where you'll get a chance to put a face to the famous racer it belongs to. We're hoping this will allow those of you who may not otherwise have the chance to attend any events to see who does the winning. We'll cover drivers from A to Z and from every genre of the compact performance world. This month we have the pleasure of including some of the most well-known and upcoming drivers who have absolutely captured '07 by storm.
TANNER FOUST
HOMETOWN San Juan Capistrano, CA
DOB Unknown
NICKNAMES Foxy Tan Tan
COMPETING SINCE 2001
DAILY GRIND Stunt driver, private instructor, consultant, professional drifter/rally racer
CARS RACED AEM 350Z, Rockstar STI
BEST KNOWN FOR Being ultra consistent as a drifter, providing stunt driving for Hollywood (Tokyo Drift on DVD anyone?)
I'm not involved in drag racing because I'm not interested in it. In fact, I've actually talked to a top fuel team about driving for them! My career is biased toward road racing, drifting and rally racing because when I saw those sports on TV I could relate to what those drivers were going through. I wasn't a racing fan growing up; I watched the road/rally racing because I wanted those drivers' jobs! When you see footage of a drift car or time attack car working its way out of a corner, try watching the front tires very closely - you can get an idea of what that driver is doing to make the car work. To this day I'll watch competitors' cars go around the track and learn things about their setup and car capabilities by momentarily putting myself in their shoes. That connection between the racer and the spectator is what got me interested in all the sports I compete in, and it's what will drive me into other motorsports.
ED & RON BERGENHOLTZ
HOMETOWN: Santa Ana, CA
DOB 2/7/74 (Ed); 9/13/72 (Ron)
NICKNAMES "Brokenboltz" & "Chrome All the Boltz"
COMPETING SINCE 1994
DAILY GRIND Computer systems engineer/pro drag racer; crew chief
CARS RACED '89 Honda CRX, '03 Mazda 6
BEST KNOWN FOR Inventing the wheelie bar for front-wheel drive drag racing; first unibody front-wheel drive in the 9s; first seven-second import
"We've been drag racing for years and going into any other motorsport, there's this thing about drag racing being its own different breed. Once we got into drifting, we found that everything we learned in drag racing could be easily transferred [over to drifting], and wouldn't you know it, Ryuji [Miki] is doing great. We started researching other teams that have crossed over, like offroad guys who go into open wheel, then NASCAR; it's like, 'What is that?' In racing, as long as you have a good foundation, program or people, you can move to any motorsport. Why not do it with the sport compacts? Instead of moving to a completely different genre of racing, we want to do it all. We've proven we can drag race and drift, and next is time attack; it's the next logical step. As long as it involves a sport compact car, we'll be there."
DAIJIRO YOSHIHARA
HOMETOWN Hachioji,Japan
DOB 12-24-78
NICKNAMES Dai-chan, Slide or Dai, Sexy Boom Boom
COMPETING SINCE 2003
DAILY GRIND eBay/yahoo.jp auctions king, professional drifter
CARS RACED Nissan S13 Silvia coupe, Nissan 180SX hatchback, Nissan S15 Silvia
BEST KNOWN FOR JDM hair that never quits; being a great chaser during tandem drift; highest entry speeds in Formula D
"I think drifting involves more driving skill than modifications. Drag racing is almost more about the horsepower and how much money you put into the vehicle. Time attack uses more skill, but you still need a lot of modifications to go fast. How many times have you seen a Corolla beat a Viper on a drag strip or while road racing? Only in drifting is that possible. I don't think I would go out of my way to try drag racing, but if someone put me into a drag car, I think I'd do very well. I would rather go to a Super Lap Battle first, though; it would be my next move."
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