As much as I love the heads-up competition of seasonal series like Golden Gate Drift, local drift nights are a fantastic opportunity to hone your skills as a
driver in a much lower-stakes environment without the pressure to win. Going into this past Wednesday night's Sonoma Drift, I was slightly nervous about
some of the changes we had made to the car since GGD Round 1, specifically making the change from cap and rotor to coil-on-plug ignition. Are the gremlins finally gone?!
![13055214_948029041976319_7066624181843038366_o.jpg](/images/cache/407214fa5b9ca5f93a7b1cf7cfa90025_w650.jpg)
( Photo by Harry Chriest " Kings ")
At the shop that morning, I loaded all my Miro wheels and Accelera tires that I had mounted the night before so I could leave as soon as the work day ended. I gathered up my essential tools, jack and hit the road. We are still running pump-grade E85, so I needed to make a 45-minute detour to Fairfield to gas up for the night. We are in talks with the folks at Thunderbolt Racing Fuel so hopefully that is soon to change. Stay tuned...
![Sonoma Drift 2016 Joe 2](/images/cache/0260a349abfc0da146b39328002a6ccb_w650.jpg)
(Photo by @wall_hunter_photography )
Did I mention how much I love these local events? They truly serve as a relaxed, fun time with friendly and familiar faces that reinforce the idea of community before industry. Equally as important, they provide a test-and-tune opportunity to get our cars dialed-in between rounds. Suspension is critical to consistency in drifting, and nights like these allow us to make and evaluate changes without consequences to the standings. Thank you Sonoma Drift!
![Sonoma Drift 2016 Joe](/images/cache/95d8640040496b12572d288ca95a64b5_w650.jpg)
(Photo by Kevin Jacobs https://www.facebook.com/kjacobs.photo/?fref=ts )
I pulled into the track after signing the mandatory safety waiver. I found a place to park my tow rig and unloaded my car. All the lines and fluids checked out so I headed over to tech. Once that was done I was ready to hit the skid pad. I still wasn't 100% about the mechanical changes I made, so I joined the A group that allowed for single car runs so I could feel out the new ignition set-up and make a few more exploratory passes on the Accelera tires.
After a few shakedown runs, I started to get in the zone and began running the wall line. At this point, the car was feeling solid and I was comfortable with the limits of the tires. I held back a bit until the official wall ride competition started to save some tire. Points or not, I always do my best to put on a good show for the folks that come out to watch and support us. One smoke show later, I ended up in 2nd place with a $200 safety equipment certificate. I also won the Sonoma Drift Sprite Awared giving me a voucher for Dutchworks Thanks again Sonoma Drift!
![Sonoma drift 2016 kodi Joe Julian](/images/cache/2c669907b935608bedb487b4cd2699f5_w650.jpg)
(Photo by Kevin Jacobs https://www.facebook.com/kjacobs.photo/?fref=ts )
![](/images/cache/ae219ac45e55e08047c23353f7b72384_w650.jpg)
(Photography by Russel Bishop )