First of all let me introduce Dirty South Drift, or as we call it DSD. Atlanta is kinda slack on the drift series events right now, so when I came up with the idea to start one up I didn’t have any issues getting support. As I started talking to people and had some of my crew start talking we ended up getting a few sponsors right of the bat. Pulling NOS Energy Drink, OMG Drift, S3 Mag and of course Drifted. After we got a few sponsors we then made it a point to keep the cost down but still be able to give out some kind of prize to the top 3 drivers.

As the drivers lined up for the top 8 and great battle for first smoke was still in the air. These guys had already put on a show, driving for 6 hours and burning tires all day long, they still wanted more.

Michael Westies Lindsey driving hard in his daily driver like he always does.

One of the staff with DSD just couldn’t help getting his 350Z smoking some. This car was driven down and driven back from the event.

Miles Gunther is one of those guys that just wants to drive, he doesnt care where, when or even how sometimes. With a car like his one of a kind extreme rolled fenders and purple paint it doesn’t make it easy to miss this thing.

Seth Jones didnt just come out with his LS1 powered S14, he also let Stephan Gutman drive his car in the Top 8 as another driver and his tire shop Midtown Tires also sponsored the event. Look for good things with Seth, he has a great car, good attitude and a willing to drive as much as he can.

J.J. Alfano had to wash off after attempting to replace his clutch before the qualifying ended. Sad to say he didn’t make it but didn’t make it out without something as you can see, as Alex Youe soaks him down. Too far???

Nicholas Frisky Walrus Hart always has fun when hes out on the track, and this time took on Alex Youe battling for 3rd but came up short. Frisky also is one of my staff that helped out with getting this event together. He kind of got thrown into the qualifying runs and surprised everyone when he took home 4th.

Alex Youe sliding into 3rd place.

After Sean Morgan with The Turbo Dave crew, Team Ginger Beard, took out Miles, he then went on to slide side by side with Howard Smith for first place.

Thanks Sean for rocking the KPFphotography logo, Turbo Dave#s crew is a sponsored by my photography and video work. Its always good to see one of your crew tearing it up and shredding tires with your logo flying by you.

Howard had been driving so smooth all day and like always loved to be out there putting on a show.

Howard chasing down Sean for first in the final run of the day, Sean ended up becoming the first winner of the DSD series of 2011.

Driving like this all day and actually breaking an axle in the final rounds is the reason he ended up in 1st at the end of the day. Sean Morgan with be represented at Formula Drift Atlanta with KPFphotography and Drifted by having a driver feature video made at the Pro Am event. Look for this video shortly after the Formula Drift Atlanta event May 6th and 7th. Also stay in touch to see more great drifting from all the guys plus more when the DSD series continues in the summer.

Thanks to all of the DSD sponsors and anyone who helped out to make this event possible. There are too many people to name everyone but to name a few, Nicholas Hart for doing anything I really asked him to do, Uriah Cox for being my go to guy,  Bryant Rosser for helping out with the planning and shooting some great photos with OMG Drift and Robert Graham for shooting some of the photos that you see above and doing a great job at it.

Sponsors:

NOS Energy Drinks

S3 Magazine

Drifted.com

OMG Drift

Duwerke

KPFphotography

Midtown Tires

JDM Parts Garage

Design Shop

Thanks for your time and interest and check out all my work on my other pages

Kenny Freeman

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I was just going through some of my shots from the 2010 season and came across some more shots I liked from the 2010 Formula Drift Series in Atlanta Georgia. It was one of my first events posted up on Drifted and was one of the most fun times I have ever had at a drift event. Even though there wasn’t anyone else from Drifted there, it still was a good time. I hope that changes this year, I need another fellow Drifted staff member along side me to catch more of the action!

So now that 2011 season is creeping upon us, I had to start looking for some creative views from some of the stuff I did last year and some shots that other photographers caught throughout the year to make myself a better photographer. I hope to bring the best shots I have ever taken to this 2011 season.

Formula Drift is definitely the best drift event in America, possibly the world? It would be interesting to see how the drivers from the respective championships would fare against each other.

I hope to be able to make it to the UK to shoot an event sometime soon and feel the rush and adrenaline that is captured in video and photos I’ve seen on Drifted. It really is unbelievable the amount of creative talent that is on this site and it blows me away to know that I am a part of this.

I cant wait to see what is in store for this season and what also I get into. Plan to see a lot of footage from my new drift series here in Georgia called DSD (Dirty South Drift). Its a place to give the drivers in the South somewhere to go to compete and be able to show what they all have been working on for the past 6 months. I plan on it being a very big thing.

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We’re back at Cordele Ga, Watermelon Capital Speedway, but this time with the guys from Prime Auto. Waking up that morning only to find a gray haze coming through my window, I knew that it was going to be an interesting day and as I stepped out my front door only to find that the rain that the weatherman said wouldn’t come…..came. So as I drove two hours away down 75 Southbound I was praying the rain would let up….

Driving up to the track all I could see is mud and tire marks deep enough to drown in. I trek on and get my lowered 1998 Blazer up the hill, sliding and throwing mud everywhere. I then top the hill and see that these guys are out in the pouring rain, sliding, splashing water everywhere and making a fool of themselves. I then see that it was worth the drive to Cordele because these guys don’t stop at anything to do what they loved.

Miles Gunther was one of the guys that impressed me all day, when there wasn’t anyone else to do a bank run, he would. His car is rough around the edges but his style and angle was phenomenal. This was the first time I saw this guy, actually the first time I saw a lot of these guys but the way they all just went out without any doubts that they could do it really impressed me.

This practice session brought out all kinds of new and exciting people. One of them was a guy I knew had a dope car but I never knew he drifted til I saw his car fly by my lens the first time this day. I don’t know if you are in the same boat but his car to me is one of those cars that is so unique that every time I see if I just stare and have to take a picture. I think I have a picture of his car at every car show, car meet and now drift event I have ever seen him at. The name is Derek Wise… and this is his blue, caged Mazda Miata.

Matt Brueck with his White Mazda Miata is the guy that invited me out to this. With not knowing much about him and if it was a legit practice day, I still said that I would come. Thank God I did too.

Matt tore it up from the minute I was there. I don’t think there was a time I didn’t see Matt on the track, unless he was changing out his tires. It was amazing watching this car and Matt as he would rip, dent and beat his car to death.

It wasn’t from hitting things at all, it was just from having an insane entry speed for this track and hitting the lip of the dip in the track. Scrapping his bumper on the asphalt and hitting cones would be a norm for Matt this day.

At one point ripping his rear bumper off and kept on truckin’.

Sebastian Suaza and his crazy hair tearing it up coming around the horse shoe. This is where most people would loose control on the track, not Seb.

Always representing is Nicholas”Frisky Walrus” Hart. He has been one of the guys that strives to get in Drifted ever since I starting shooting. So now his hard worked has finally payed off and he just earned himself a new sponsorship, Congrats Nick. Look forward to the car feature on this guy soon.

Thanks to Prime Auto for letting me come out and shoot this amazing day. Also look for these guys at the event in March, Dirty South Drift Round 1-187 In Glendale that Drifted is sponsoring. Also Thanks to Gregg Brucell from S3 Magazine for the use of their Go Pro footage to use toward the video.

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Cordele, Georgia… Watermelon Capital Speedway…. Need I say more?

Despite being in the middle of nowhere and about 3 hours out of my comfort zone, the day started off really well. The guys from Lethal Injection can pretty much tear it up anywhere. What surprised me about this group was that just about every time I saw the same car out on track, a different driver was in it. It made it for a very varied and interesting day.

Some of these guys are just starting out in the drifting world. They’re already getting the lines, motions and flow down. All types were here; first timers at their first drift event, as well as the guys who know their cars from top to bottom. Being an invite only day, the only way to get an invite is to be a customer of Lethal Injection. These guys learned so much and had tonnes of seat time. Derek McLaughlin, the owner of Lethal Injection, puts these days on to show appreciation to his customers and help them out to be able to learn all out their cars.

Lethal Injection Motorsports is a performance upgrade and full service maintenance automotive shop based out of Alpharetta, Gerogia. With Lethal being one of the only shops in and around Atlanta that offer full service upgrades, you can go to get you car’s engine rebuilt, tuned on their in house dyno, painted and back out the door ready for the track.

Above, Lethal Injection driver Nick Ward hit the bank hard. Being able to see this so up close as he slid down towards me was such a rush.

Lethal Injection Practice Day from Kenny Freeman on Vimeo.

Thanks to Lethal Injection for inviting me out, I can’t wait for the next one. I hope next time you guys will be getting some tandem action going. Visit them at www.lethalmotorsports.com

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Nashville Super Speedway, Nashville Tennessee.

What a great track, for only about a five hour drive from me in Atlanta Georgia. NSS is a Nascar type track that will pit drivers at around 100+ mph entries into the first turn. In fact there were 3 drivers that I know of that hit over a 100mph entry several times. The best of the day was Sammy in his Tiger Racing S13 vert doing a insane 118 mph!

The weekend started the night before with The Turbo Dave crew, or know as Team Ginger Beard, watching them all at the shop getting everything ready to get on the road. At around 4pm Dave was actually just putting his engine in his Datsun “The General” Drift Truck. Unfortunately by the time we were packed and loading up Dave was just getting the headers in place and kicking us out the door.  So we headed to the track without Dave, towing just Sean Morgan with his S13 and Harrison Ritchie with his Celica.

By the time morning came we were too pumped to be tired. So grabbing some breakfast and a few energy drinks we headed to the track. The day was just a practice day so there were only 15 spots open to the first people to register. That made it so anyone could come out if they signed up and they could run as many laps as their tires could handle.

Beginners to seasoned regulars were out at the track.  Sammy, Sean and Harrison were all getting some great angles and keeping some very tight lines.

The first long stretch was the obstacle of the day, guys ended up in the dirt all day. Some just trying to conquer this turn, like Harrison above. This guy made about 10 passes on this one turn to get it perfect before he even thought about the rest of the track. Once he got the perfect drift, then he slid into the other turns. One of his best runs was caught on the Go Pro and is in the video posted at the end of this post.

First time ever seeing this guy, Josh Murphy and his S14 looked great out on the track, drifting some beautiful lines and being consistent.

Sammy tearing it up all day in his S13 vert. Riding with 2 of the guys that day, Sammy being one of them and also the only one that has ever made me kinda sick to my stomach after the joy ride.

Sean Morgan, was one of the most insane drivers on the track. Sean was out on the track all day long and going through tires like crazy. He even took a chance to chase down a truck with me in the back of it , strapped down to a racing seat. Sean and Josh both went hard all the way to the last turn. Unfortunately Josh lost control and spun around into Sean, hitting each other head on. To make him happy, Sean declared “ITS NOT MY FAULT” after it was all done.

Harrison on the left, Sean on the right. Just a side note. Harrison was one of the first guys to get a RUN THE WALL sticker from me. That night at a drift practice day, Harrison actually RAN THE WALL and totalled out his car.  When I saw the sticker on his new Celica he ran at this event I asked his where did he get another sticker from. He told me that he liked it so much that he ended up peeling it off his old car and put it on his Celica. It lives to scrape another day!

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Yet another Sunday practice day has come. I always wake up in such a good mood when I know these days are here. As you can see, these guys dont play. They may be practicing but they bring “it”.

Last time I was out here with this group it was just a few people. Still exciting, but this time they stepped it up a bit. Nicky Hart was one of the guys out last time and so was Bryce Harris. Nicky put on some great moments but as you can see form above, Bryce wasn’t too impressed.

Nicky was getting great angle and he is definitely getting better every time I see him. Like i said in Slide or Die! he is doing it with the bare minimum equipment.

I’m impressed every time I see this guy. Michael Lindsey and his 2006 Pontiac GTO are always kicking up some smoke.

Above , Michael is followed by Todd Parks is his 350Z.

Josh Proctor rocking out of the GTO as Michael tears it up and gets some serious angle.

The last practice day had its ups and downs. Shredded tires, blowing radiators and destroyed turbos were regular occurrences. This time around it was great, the worst anyone had to deal with was changing a few tires and pulling tire tread from beneath their car. Here Josh Proctor checks out the damage from the previous run, only to find a tread-less tire still hanging on to dear life.

Uriah Cox taking a moment to let his car cool down and enjoy the Atlanta sun. Still able to catch a view of the after effects of a driver’s rubber sliding across the asphalt behind it.

Tire marks all around but one SOLID line came from this S13, letting no one even come close to putting out as much smoke as he did.

This S2k got out and took over for a few laps to show everyone how to make your VTAK pop.

Above, Jonathan Stancel drives his Lexus IS300.

Just 2 days before, these guys were at Lanier sliding for a night event. Check out more of that event here.

Beautiful Atlanta day, great sky, and amazing machines sliding in perfect control with hearts racing, what is better?

The first time I saw Alex Youe driving his S14 at Lanier I was in awe. Alex can put his car anywhere he pleases, with such precision. Alex has only been drifting for a little over a year now and is about to have some great things happen very soon. Look for more on Alex Youe on a near future post.

Also a guy that impresses me every time I see him drive. Todd Parks drives his car like he stole it.

Keep checking back to see a full feature on Todd soon where we can explain some of his shenanigans. Also check out his blog spot, BunnyTooth.

Thanks for checking out some of my work!

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To start things off, I haven’t posted in a while and I’ve actually missed it quite a lot, so I’m really glad to have a couple things lined up to shoot and to post. We recently received news that sadly, all the local Atlanta drift events were to be cancelled for the year. This was bad as I didn’t know what I was going to be able to shoot! Luckily, it was announced that there was going to be a practice event at Lanier National Speedway and what a deal it was.

From guys out drifting for the first time, to guys that have been out for years, there was plenty of action to go around. The talent was here all night, and so was the smoke.

Guys like George Grob were tearing it up on the bank, coming in high and staying high, with a huge line of rubber to follow. The first time I saw him on the track he lit it up and didn’t come off until his car started to overheat. After stepping out of the car, the first words out of his mouth were “I need more smoke”.  I looked around the track to see clouds of smoke still in the air from his last run. He had plenty!

This sweet street-style S13 was going well all day. I’m pretty sure thats George Grob’s smoke screen still lingering behind him!

Controlled, stunning, graceful, are all words that can be used to describe Jonathan Stancel and his IS300. It wasn’t until Sunday when we all met up for some more practice at another location that I realized how good this guy really was.  At first glance you notice the crazy wrapped wheels and cleanliness of the car, but once he was out on track doing what he did best, that’s when you see the true beauty of this car.

It looks effortless to get as close to the wall as he could, yet keeping full control of every inch of his car.  This guy knows how to have a good time, and by the sounds of things from hearing him talk, it looks like he has only just begun.

After waiting 3 hours to get 2 tires mounted,  pushing his way through Atlanta rush hour traffic, and driving for 3 hours, David seemed to still be able to have some fun out there in his blue 240sx. I mean isn’t that what it is all about anyway? The thrill, speed and smoke? David was putting in some solid runs until it was time for the Pro Am guys to go out and enjoy the track. The shot above was his last full run in this car. Unfortunately in his next run he slid into a wall and tore his car up pretty bad. Down but not out, he is currently working with friends on getting up and running again. Hopefully he will be back out sliding again very soon. Look out for David in future posts of mine.

Above, a sweet black Kouki S14 lights them up coming down off the bank. Lanier Speedway allows the drivers a taste of drifting a fast banked oval, as commonly found in pro level drifting. Who knows, maybe one day you’ll see some of the Atlanta locals battling with the D-Macs and Fousts of Formula D.

Despite the license plate, this Zenki S14 isn’t exactly what I’d class as a ‘redneck’ drift car. Above he dials in the angle on the bank.

Harrison Ritchie’s Lexus would also have it’s last few runs here on this track. The following day he took another trip up to practice and also totalled his car. On the Friday night, Harrison was driving with pure ‘no lift’ determination, linking the full course and manjiing down the straight aways. Not bad for an auto! Harrison, with the help of his team mates in team ‘Ginger Beard’, will also be back, and I for one cant wait to see him back out there because this guy puts on an show.

Not a good night for Atlanta’s drift car population but an awesome night to have drifting back in Atlanta!

Kenny

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Showing up to this practice session was looking like it would turn out to be a dull day. Only 30 cars showing up to drive and out of those 30, only about 8 were SED Pro Am drivers. As you can tell, I was so wrong and boy was I glad.

South East Drift guys always put on a good show. Teams such as Batlground, Turbo Dave and Gran Turismo East all showed up to practice and show off some mad skills.

It wasn’t just the Pro Am guys that showed up to kill it, what surprised me was the amount of new talent that came out. Including Juan “J” Calmenero, a driver that was featured in my recent post “Grassroots: Slide or Die!”, and some other some other great guys that just kept shredding some tires.

Byron Hill is the main guy that updates the South East Drift website and does the flyer’s for the events, its only right to mention him and all the hard work he puts in. Plus his lines and style are so smooth.

These guys just kept coming, because of the such short amount of guys that showed up to drive, everyone had 8 runs to get in each session. I was none stop smoke and excitement.

After a few runs from the Pro Am guys and gal, it started getting crazy. The Tandem Began!

These two were going at it all day, Sammy from Tiger Racing was getting great angle and was looking good all day.

Pro Am guys tearing it up at the end, always making for some good photos. Its like they were showing off or something, all I know is I ate it up. Thanks guys for the great drifting and thanks to South East Drift and all the crew. You guys put this all together so well and do a great job at it.

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KPFphotography Flickr- for all 80 photos from this event.

By the way, Happy Birthday to me!

Gresham Motorsports Park, Jefferson Ga. South East Drift Pro Am series- Fuera De Control; 16 Drivers, only one winner.

The day started off great, with drivers coming round the bank at 100mph and hitting BIG drift. There were so many amazing drivers that showed up to this event. Dan Willie from Batlground, Doug Van Den Brink with ASD Motorsports, Jodin LeJeune and the Drift Emorium’s G35.

Drivers like A. from Kindai Neo Motorsports came out to really impress everyone, with mad driving skills and a style that is amazing to watch. (Look for a Driver Feature coming soon for A. and the Kindai Neo Motorsports guys)

Big drifts and solid lines went on all day, these drivers know this track, know the speed they can initiate, and know where to go. The fun part is when they came in for the top 16.

These drivers did nothing but have fun. Good angles from driver Chris Ward from Batlground and Zoltan Hajdu.

All in all, the drivers at the South East events always put on a good show. They go all out and always get great angles. If you live anywhere near Atlanta, please come out and support these guys. You will not be disappointed. Go to Southeastdrift.com for all the events coming up.

Congratulations to the  winner of Fuera De Control – Doug Van Den Brink and his ASD Motorsports 2004 Ford Mustang,4.6L Single Turbo V8.

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Waking up on Sunday morning at 7:00am to the sound of my alarm clock definitely didn’t put me in the mood to get up, but then I remembered that soon I would get to smell burning rubber. That would put a smile on my face.

At around 8:00am we all pulled up to a place in Atlanta to burn some tires. Right out of the box these guys start putting on a show for me. They definitely don’t take to much time to start getting sideways.

Nicholas Hart aka FriskyWalrus (don’t ask) got some good angles after everyone else had their turn. Nicholas has had his 1993 240SX hatch for about 8 months now and has been drifting since day one. This guy is doing it with the bare minimum, with upgrades like a 3 inch cat back exhaust, Skunk 2 Springs and some cheap tires. This kid will have fun no matter who is around.

Now, I don’t even know what to say about this guy. He is a character truly on his own level, and he knows how to have fun no matter where he goes. His name is Bryce Harris and he’s from the South Atlanta area as well. He will get out and roast a set of tires quicker than anyone I know, the picture above was from his first run! Unfortunately his day ended soon with a cracked radiator.

Bryce has been drifting his 1991 240sx SE coupe for about a year now. The car has aKA24DE, K&N Cold air intake, Buddy Club spec 2 exhaust and Megan full track coil overs. He plans for more upgrades in the near future, and also to get to some events in the area. I asked Bryce why he does this and he explained:

“I don’t drift to impress, I do it for fun. It’s something I enjoy. Some people like to grow plants. Others make stuff out of wood. I prefer to slide across the asphalt, making the apex feel as if a 2700lb car is about to leave its 19 year old parts as ruins on it. Reaching the innermost part of the apex where less then a foot could print that next receipt of a repair bill. Experiencing the split second of silence that overcomes me as I pull out and away from the turn… I still question why I drive my car like a suicidal mad man, but to me its just… well, love.”

Too bad I didnt get any good enough shots of him sliding. Maybe next time Bryce!

GTO?!

I must add, this was this guys first time drifting. His name is Michael Lindsey, although some call him Dr. Westies. He is driving a 2006 Pontiac GTO 6.0L with SLP Exhaust and Volant cold air intake. He’s only had this thing for a week!!!

We couldn’t keep this guy from the asphalt, he loved it. With Bryce in the passenger seat directing and guiding his every move, Mike put on a nice couple passes.

Lastly we have Juan Colmenero, or as we all know him by, “J”.  His modded 1995 240SX (s14)  has some nice goodies under the hood. J is one of the drivers that doesn’t care for looks (well, until a sponsor comes along). He puts most of his time and effort into his motor and chassis. With guys from 240Atlanta.com hassling him about the looks of his car, J just keeps on doing what he loves to do. The smoke, close calls, and pure feeling are the reasons J keeps coming out.

He bought his 240 about 2 years ago, but didn’t start drifting right away. He said no to “all that drifting crap”, and stuck with what he loved, drag racing. Running a 12.3 time in the quarter with a terrible 60 ft time, J decided about 6 months after he bought the car to start drifting. He’s been hooked ever since. Since then, J said that he’s drifted solidly every Sunday. Goes to show that hard work pays off.

J’s day ended quickly, unfortunately blowing his turbo. J hopes to have his car ready for the next South East Drift practice run in July, with a new upgraded turbo. Until then, he will be tuning and testing. Good luck J.

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