Final Bout Special Stage West
BUT FIRST!
WE GOTTA TAKE A SECOND AND DROOL OVER MY FAVORITE TEAM FROM SSW, TEAM BLVKMOON.
FUN FACT: Those beautiful Advan Model T5 you see on the back of the Lexus IS300 were sold to the driver (@christiansantos) by me. So cool to see my old wheels put to good use <3.
BLACK ON CHROME IS FREAKING PERFECT.
Ok, now we can speak on how absolutely awesome Final Bout Special Stage West was amidst the incoming pandemic of the now infamous COVID19 outbreak that was about to hit the United States. Major sporting events, concerts, movie theaters, restaurant dining rooms, social distancing was all happening right around March 15th, and because of this Final Bout decided to be closed for spectators.
Which was a real bummer, because the quality of cars and driving was amazing.
FULL OF LEGENDS FROM THE MOTHERLAND
Tomoya Suzuki of Team Sexy Knights and Forumla Drift Driver Kazuya Taguchi of Team Moccomans both shipped their cars from Japan for SSW, and this only added the already awesome cars and drivers that were there.
Tomoya Suzuki of legendary Team Sexy Knights, please google Sexy Knights if you don’t know.
Kazuya Taguchi of legendary Team Moccomans in their very loud yellow signature color.
It was so awesome to see them ripping it down Horse Thief Mile 😍
US OG/LEGEND, Benson Hsu
I remember Ben’s red BN Sport 240SX Fastback along with his wife’s pink Ichigo Fastback gracing the pages of Super Street. And it was so awesome to follow his Final Bout prep, as he did all the necessary maintenance with the help of the community to get his car ready for the event.
I mean, look at these photos below provided by Super Street circa 2007.
13 Years Ago! I got three words:
Style is Forever
A Friend of a Friend recently said this to describe Final Bout:
To look good you gotta be good, to be good you gotta look good.
MIND BLOWN
But absolutely true, and the teams that showed up carried this energy with them.
Look let’s be honest, the ultimate final form of any Final Bout participant is to rip it down the track with your stylish machine, that’s the goal. When it comes to driving, SSW did not disappoint since clearly the drivers had way more experience & seat time compared to some drivers in SSS. It’s going to be a challenge to compare both events because no matter what I say or how I say it, it’ll sound like SSS wasn’t as great as SSW and I’m sure some will probably agree when looking at the driving only.
Yes the driving at SSW was just as good as the cars, but I cannot write that and feel as if I’m taking something away from SSS, because if Team Run-Up or Team Blvkmoon were spinning out or struggling to drive throughout the day, it would still be a delight to see because their cars were so cool.
let’s look at the teams of Final Bout SSW:
Team Hammertime, winners of Special Stage West. White cars with loud wheels and consistent driving all day earned them the win and an invitation fo FB4.
Chicago’s own Team Proceed, as in ProceeeDeezNutz.
Second place winners of SSW so they shall Proceed to FB4.
Team Animal Style, doing Animal Style things.
PRO TIP:
go to In-N-Out burger, ORDER your fries “Animal Style.” ;)
Yep, as the banner says. Team Handsome boys. That’s Ken Gushi in the black IS300….you guys remember when Ken Gushi was a young high school kid driving around in his S13 with dreams of being a pro drifter.
…Time flies man….
Ken Gushi old AF now boi.
Catch Team Handsome Boys at FB4, as they were the 3rd place Handsome winners of SSW.
The bad ass, and I mean bad ass cars of Team Run-Up!
There’s a particular member of this team that owns a whole bunch of super cool wheels.
FC3S Drift Masters, Auto Bliss.
Vargas Drift with the black FC on Chrome XT7 Jawnies owns the cutest pupper:
Not cuter than my pupper, but cute…Ok now I have to show you my pupper, her name is Bailey and she matches my car when I throw on the bronze bois. CUTEST PUPPER EVAR:
And Team Auto-Factory Realize with their teal themed drift machines.
We’re glad too man…..we’re glad too.
Shout out to the homie Lord Scheme of Adult Vacation (make sure to check out his gallery as well) for taking these photos. The atmosphere at SSW was electric and there was something in the air that could only be felt if you were there. (Insert CoronaVirus Jokes…too soon man XD)
Until the next one!
Stay Stylish My Friends!
