After the closing of CFRC, our new home in Orlando is going to be OSW. This is a old drift venue from the days of Florida's start. 2005 or so OSW started hearing the squeals and seeing the smoke from drifters as we tried to learn what the hell we were doing. Not much knowledge of car setup and low powered cars made for a crazy time. SR powered cars were half way rare and RB was no where to be seen. LSx swaps were not even a dream yet. The famed BANK made many drivers who they are today while also destroying countless cars and hopes as it swallowed mistakes into the wall.
Fast forward to 2014 and there is a healthy mix of engine and chassis setups. The bank is still large and in charge, but drivers have a high level of respect for such a treacherous route. I was a little nervous as it was the first time back since 2008. I used to rip the banks in the SR with little fear, confidence I had no bearing on with the LS. I realized in the 4 years I have had the V8 torque, never have I faced a bigger bank. Closest thing was the Beech Bend Park for Holley's LS Fest (where I took first in 2012).
My first run I decided to take it easy before pulling out on track. I went down the sloped straightaway and turned around with a snap of the ebrake. Still skidding the u-turn, I let the throttle rip in 3rd gear- instantly spinning tires. I have resorted back to used tires at this point and there is little confidence in grip. It is very obvious how low grip these tires have since I was spinning 3rd gear while moving at around a mere 5 mph. Strangely, this gave me almost and instant comfort as I headed for the first corner. Suddenly, all the thoughts of playing it safe flew out of my head and I tossed the car into the big bank.
Riding the steep bend around, I flicked back on the straight away with some more throttle. Already I am at the next bank and whip back to the left and more bank action... it was like I was back in 2008- no worries, no problems... Now I just wanted to run the wall.
We were running pretty low tire pressures to overcome the terrible quality. Some transitions from infield to bank have a small 1-2 inch lip and I hit this spot (unknown to me until post-event) with the low pressure setup and the tire was actually pulled of the new Square G8 wheels THREE times this day. Thankfully, this issue is being fixed when the infield is repaved in the next few months.
Due to the sketchy grip, and the 3 different sets of random used tire setups, we never ran a consistent wall line, but did manage to get a couple of passes where I could feel the hair on my neck standing up. WHAT A RUSH!
OSW should prove to be the new, best spot for drifting in Florida.
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