One Happy Island!

Harri Tervola, owner of Ter-Tech in south Florida, was the man behind the Caribbean tour. Our first stop was Aruba so we made a special version of our mascot Lugnut to bring along. With some creative fixes and Hazel’s skill, he was ready for his island vacation! I flew in to meet up with the other drivers in south Florida. The drivers are Harri Tervola (supercharged LSx BMW), Bill Stenger (LS1 S14), Jason Jiovani (LS1 S13.5), Ryan kaufman (LS1 FC) and Will Barnette (LS1 FC). Meeting us in Aruba was more of the staff, including Chris Green of VFmedia.TV who would be covering the event for us. We didn’t waste any time getting the 4 day drift party started. We all have been friends for years but we immediately found out that we had great group “dude-chemistry” and the trip would be EPIC!

Before I even packed my bags, the Aruban drift scene was pumped about us coming and already promoting us coming to the islands. Their #1 drifter, known as MonkeyDrift DA on Facebook was leading the charge. He posted a picture of him in my car and we shared it mentioning that Monkey was in the Banana! They loved it and it was started a wave of fun. They were announcing on their local radio how Monkey would be chasing the American Banana around the track!

After 2 delayed flights with out **Special Edition Lugnut**, the entire American drift squad had finally arrived in Aruba! Greeted by some of the locals, we set off to the beautiful rental house. If there is one thing you should know about Aruba, it’s the fact that EVERYONE is the happiest and nicest person ever. There is little ego or boasting- everything is about having a good time and making sure others are having a better time.

Even though we arrived late, we were ready to show the first-timers one of the local treasures- the steak and cheese from roadside stands. These places are only open LATE… 9pm start time and overnight hours for some of the BEST food you can ask for. I already miss it- maybe it’s time to book a vacation!

Next morning we were up early so we could finish prepping the track.  The Bushiri Go-kart Track was already seeing some improvements as the locals and the core Ter-Tech Drift staff paved some extra wide portions on turn exits. Seemingly endless temporary fencing was installed and we put up some hater blocking material to try to keep away non-entry paying spectators. We did some practice runs and even a few of the locals joined in.




Unfortunately, my very first run I nipped a tire that was left out of place on the edge of the track and my front bumper was knocked under the car and GRENANDED as it felt the wrath of the rear tires. It served well over the last 17 months and was given an honorable discharge as the remains were divided among several locals as souvenirs.  Curacao drifter Lennon Anecita rode for our test session and was really surprised how well we and the other American’s quickly linked the track (most on our first runs).

As the sun was setting, we had a cross-country trip with 20 racecars escorted by the police! Blocking intersections and running red lights we cruised along the gorgeous shore. Ending up on top of the lighthouse hill with the most perfect sunset behind us, the impromptu car show was on. Another long night with the locals with a barbeque at our house, all cooked by the local driver Jason (aka “Fun”) that evening, we took a couple hours to sleep.

Starting early to finish the event setup, soon the crowd and drivers were all ready to get rowdy! We had some fantastic practice runs and were feeling unstoppable. During qualifying I was determined to link the end section with only throttle, no ebrake. It was simple to do but quickly I realized that I was insanely fast for the corner ahead and I was unable to snug up to the inside clip. Resulting score pushed me to 3^rd place qualifier, the highest of the Americans.

We talked with fans and the local drivers as much as possible. Many of them excited to see “The Banana” they heard about on the radio. I heard from several fans and sources that we were a crowd favorite. We were smoking a bunch of tire and the fastest car on the track. I even gained a crew member. This guy was awesome. So happy to be there and have the pit access he stuck with me and helped me grab tools or change tires!! AWESOME guy! Thanks man! He ended up with a signed piece of my front bumper, a Nexen hat, and some Exedy stickers!!

During intermission, 4 of us were asked to give ride-a-longs to radio contest winners! The first guy showed up and was given a choice- immediately choosing us!!  I was using this session to test some tires. Unfortunately, I was unable to get my standard Nexen N6000s for the shipping deadline so we are out of them and are having to run Achilles (not 123s). I instantly don’t feel the car responding as well. I am getting some awful dig out of the drifts- it feels like I’m skating on the track. We make the best of it and Jonathan (my passenger) was super stoked about the experience. We give him a little swag and he wishes us luck in competition.

Tandem time!
First battle I drew was against the only 4-cylinder car there, an SR20det 240sx. We chat back and forth about our cars and watch the first battles together. Fist bump (Aruba custom) and a good luck were traded as we got into our cars. I warm up my tires with some donuts while he launches a burnout… he heard some strange noise and called 5 minutes.  After an inspection, we saw that the axle CV joint had broken, he could not battle so we moved on.

Next up was American Bill Stenger who had already beaten American Will Barnette. Bill tells me his 2^nd gear just broke and he will go 1^st to 3^rd and pray. I lead first and had a really good run with lots of angle, but I still felt slow with these Achillies tires . We were told that I had the advantage from that run. Next run I am due to follow and as we are set by the starter, Bill unintentionally mistook a motion for a start and took off. Having almost 3 car lengths between us into the entry I ride the outside with the throttle STRAIGHT MATTED and right on the edge of the track. By the end of the lap I had caught up and was on Bill’s door. Pretty sure I had it… but we lost. Apparently we had the edge of the tire touch dirt on the first turn and seen as a major error.

Bill moved on to face another one of us, Harri Tervola. Harri led first and had an electrical issue; same one that plagued him all weekend (sensor failure). Robbing him of 90% of his near 700hp, Harri withdrew. Finals Bill faced off against a local celeb known as Spooky!!! Great driver running a RB setup the two drivers when through a heated OMT battle before Spooky made a critical error, handing Bill, and America, the 1^st Place spot!

After the event we took to the nightlife with our new friends and had an amazing party to cap off the weekend. Crashing at 4am for the 3^rd night in a row, we were up by 8 and heading back to the Bushiri track. We still had to tear down all the fencing and pack the cars in the container for their next trip over to Curacao. After the most labor intensive day, the entire group of us went to Jason (Fun) and Spooky’s restaurant called Taste Buds for some amazing food before jumping a jet back home.

This trip was one of the best things I have ever been a part of and the atmosphere and people there are what make it so good. Thank you Aruba, all the local bros for the insane efforts, Tyler for letting us store our cars, and Thank you to the entire Ter-Tech crew Harri, Minna, Hannu, Chris, Jeff, Joey, Jim and Bladder for being our one man judging machine.

I can NOT wait for CURACAO~!!