It was long ago that Number One Parts Inc., or simply NOPI, shed its singular role as mailing order retailer and began sponsoring car shows, which grew to include a drag race series, the NDRA, and most recently a drifting championship, NOPI Drift. The Georgia-based outfit seemed to strike a chord with enthusiasts in many parts, attracting huge crowds to several of its events, most notably its NOPI Nationals, an annual sport compact festival that draws hundreds of custom cars. Anywhere NOPI went it seemed certain to lure a full house – anywhere, that is, but California.

Why was Cali such a tough nut to crack? We can only speculate. Maybe it’s because its tuning community, immersed in the cradle of North American import performance, was jaded to everything NOPI had to offer. Maybe it was cultural, the Southern-flavored NOPI formula a tad unconventional to your average Golden Stater. Maybe it was just bad timing. Whatever the case, NOPI hadn’t been to California in at least three years, the last time coming through with its drag series.

That changed the weekend of June 30 to July 1, when NOPI’s fledgling sideways series slid into the parking lot of the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, deep in the heart of Los Angeles County. The touring oversteer championship brought with it a car expo, vendor midway, and a gaggle of scantily clad young nubiles, a recipe we have all come to know and love. The unremitting great weather of the region ushered in the event’s myriad activities, to boot, the early-summer gathering materializing in temps that barely saw the mid-80s.

The circuit was a familiar one, indeed the standard configuration for most parking-lot settings. The cone- and Rhino Barrier-lined course was set up like a giant letter R, with contestants getting up to speeds of roughly 70mph before flicking their rear ends to initiate through turns one and two, essentially the entire top half of said R. Drivers then had to slide their rigs the other direction, basically through the forward leg of the R, to close out their runs.

As the event un-spooled we were struck with how narrow the temporary track appeared, as many cars found the walls in and around turn one. We’ve come to expect carnage at drift gigs, for sure, but it reached a new level at NOPI LA when Chris Cook sent his Mopar Dodge Viper up the barriers just past the initiation point and flipped his 3,000lb machine. This after a slew of other wrecks, including Nick Hogan doing in his own Viper twice exiting turn one.

Of course Hogan’s gaffes were nothing like Cook’s, strapped to his seat in a vehicle on its roof. Local paramedics and rescue had to be called in to handle a situation that was clearly out of the scope of the safety professionals at the event. The gnarly accident momentarily sent a chill through everyone watching, as crews worked feverishly to free Cook and deliver medical attention.

After a brief visit to the hospital emergency room Cook would return to the event to assure fans he was fine. As the weekend wore on, however, his crash weighed on the minds of many, some saying it was the most severe drifting accident they had ever seen at a sanctioned event. One driver, who was there competing, even questioned off the record after Cook’s incident whether the track was, in fact, safe. Add to that the effects of all the on-track incursions, namely long delays in between competitors, and it was hard to be there and not feel the buzz kill.

That was no reflection on the level of competition at the NOPI show, as some of the region’s best were at the HD Center to vie for top honors against the series’ touring pros. After a full day of practice and qualifying on Saturday that began at 10 a.m. and lasted until well after 8 in the evening, several drivers emerged as ones to watch. Topping the list from the first qualifying group – and joining Top 16 – were the likes of Kenji Yamanaka and the Hankook Tires Nissan S15, Hubert Young and his Silvia, Bill Sherman in the Enjuku Racing Nissan, and Blake Fuller in the Braille Auto 350Z. Alex Pfeiffer in an S13 and Tommy Suell in his Retaks Toyota AE86 Corolla led the way in the second group, while up-and-comer Justin Pawlak in his “Drift FC” ’89 Mazda RX-7 was at the head of group three.

Sunday’s tandem eliminations began some 2.5 hours after they were scheduled due to the Cook incident. The first Top 16 pair, Pfeiffer and Hateley, saw Pfeiffer enter with a lot of speed and sizable gap in pass number one as he hit all the clipping points in the course. For the next run Andrew would go first, but Alex’s S13 was all over his opponent’s Retaks 350Z, forcing the issue and giving Pfeiffer a pass to the next round.

The dueling Silvias of Forrest Wang and Damien Bagley went next, Wang’s green S14 boasting a fast entry and big gap on the Drift Brigade Nissan. Both exhibited good angle, and when Bagley leads in pass two he showed a lot of velocity also. Again there was a lot of space between cars, but Forrest did his best to close the gap as both missed the second clip. The round goes to Wang.

Hubert Young’s Xtazy Energy Silvia faced Steph Papdakis’ AEM Honda S2000 roadster to move to Top 8, and the round began with Hubert leading and Steph failing to negotiate two clipping points as the trailer. Papadakis would get his chance to lead the next run, and entered the track with average speed. Young was right on the AP2 until his car swapped ends as it transitioned through drifts. The judges grant Papdakis a round-of-8 birth.

The field returned to Silvia as Bill Sherman drew J. “Sammy Tiger” Sritonskham as his challenger. First up, Sherman would lead a good, clean run, both drivers displaying nice angle and smoke, but the Enjuku car held its line much more effectively than the Maxxis Tire one. With Sammy in front, Bill put on the pressure for the entire run, with nary a gap between the two. Sherman is awarded the round.

Mazdas would go toe-to-toe next, the Drift Brigade Miata of Chelsea Denofa versus the FC RX-7 of next-big-thing Justin Pawlak. At point Pawlak was burning up the circuit, initiating at speed and keeping Denofa scrambling to find a suitable line (he would miss the second clipping point). When it was Denofa’s turn to lead, he couldn’t shake the surging Pawlak, handing the round to him.

The only long wheel-based domestic muscle car to make Sunday’s eliminations, Ryan Hampton’s McKinney Motorsports Corvette, had to square off against Lance Feliciano’s Babe Blvd. Silvia. It was a close round, as both entered fast and Hampton tried to pass Feliciano at the second clipping point in the first run, but Feliciano was having none of it. In pass two with Hampton in front Feliciano, the Nissan was stuck to the Chevy until Feliciano spun out, bringing on calls for one more time. Two more close runs pushes Hampton to the next round.

In a battle of tire-backed competitors, Yamanaka was paired with Dan Willie in the Maxxis Tire 240SX. Kenji would emerge as the clear winner of this round, Willie struggling to match his opponent in pass one and getting passed by a trailing Hankook car in run 2. Kenji continues.

The final draw was a 350Z scrap, Fuller’s Braille Auto whip against Chris Milano’s Xtazy Energy-sponsored steed. Fuller would have the clear advantage in this round, losing Milano in a spin in the first pass and applying copious amounts of pressure in the second as Milano loses his line and speed. Advantage Fuller.

With the field of eight set, competition paused for a half hour to get in the bikini contest. Then eliminations resumed with Pfeiffer taking on Wang. Initially Pfeiffer’s S13 pulled away from Wang’s Silvia, even though Forrest’s is sporting double the horsepower. Wang was also compelled to take the shallower inside line on the big sweeper to keep up with his foe. When it was Forrest’s time to lead, he would initiate early and Pfeiffer would begin to reel him in, only to have his car spin out right in front of the judges – d’oh! Thus Wang dispatches the event’s top qualifier.

In Papadakis v. Sherman, Steph sent the AEM S2000 into a spin after closing the considerable space between him and his challenger. Steph would lead off the following run, and hold a better line, but the run isn’t strong enough to trump Sherman’s advantage. Sherman moves on.

Next it was Pawlak and his Mazda against Hampton and his Chevy. With Justin rolling first, he initiated way early, which prompted Hampton to reduce the gap by taking an inside line. Hampton straightened out in the sweeper and around the second clipping point, giving Pawlak the advantage. Ryan led next, and Justin was tight on his bumper and throwing more angle, but like his opponent straightened around the second clipping point. One more time is called, and Pawlak hands Hampton his walking papers, moving to the final four.

The last Top 8 eliminator had Yamanaka against Fuller, and with Kenji leading Blake got wide through the first clipping point. In Fuller’s turn at point, Yamanaka had to correct his entry but got tight on Fuller, again because of a shallow angle. A sudden death was instituted, where Yamanaka got the handle on things and advanced.

One side of the Final Four bracket had Wang taking on Sherman, and to start the Enjuku Racing driver took the lead. Both had solid runs, but Forrest corrected slightly at the first clipping point. In pass two, Sherman would swap ends in his entry, giving Wang the free and clear to put in a solid pass for the bump to the final.

Of the last four standing, only one drove a non-Nissan, Pawlak. He faced Yamanaka, not simply one of the best drifters in LA but also one of the greatest of the motorsport. With Pawlak leading, Yamanaka was tight to his opponent, bobbling slightly through the second clipping point. It was then Kenji’s turn to lead and Justin straightened almost identically to his tandem mate. The judges asked for one more time, and the drivers obliged with Pawlak taking the advantage after the first sudden-death pass. Yamanaka then went first and had a tremendous line with tons of tire smoke, but the Hankook Silvia would hit the second clipping point and incur penalty. Pawlak earned the final round birth.

The green machines of Justin Pawlak’s Mazda RX-7 and Forrest Wang’s Nissan Silvia occupied the spotlight in the final, both somewhat unlikely competitors in the last round of the weekend. And the contest was remarkably close, as both competitors were dead even after Pawlak led the first time through. Wang was next to go first, but beyond turn one through the sweeper he ended up in the outside wall, sending a torrent of water from the Rhino Barrier cascading onto the track. Pawlak would take the overall win and a fat $5,000 check for his efforts. Look for lots more to come from this kid.

NOPI Drift takes a couple weeks off to head back east for its next stop at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, PA, the weekend of July 28 to 29.

Elimination Results

Consolation Round
Yamanaka
v. Yamanaka
Sherman