The first round of a new competitive season has a habit of setting the tone for the rest of the season, and if that proves to be true this year then we’re in for a hell of show from our Drift Indy Street League and Grand Prix drivers. Round One featured some of the best driving we’ve seen in DISL, and the inaugural round of DIGP delivered on its promise of bringing the best drivers and most competitive builds from past seasons of DISL together to throw down in a spectacle of driving skill and style.
Drawing 25 of the top DISL drivers out and putting them in their own league in DIGP opened the door for new shredders to stake their claim atop the DISL podium, and they wasted no time doing so. At the end of the day, DISL rookie Paul Tuttle took home the gold, fellow rookie Justin Bailey the silver and young ripper Jake Clark took the bronze. On the DIGP side, Kyle Antonovich, no stranger to the DISL podium but having never finished higher than third, got the gold, Mike Steele snagged the silver and Colten Terrell claimed the bronze.
It’s crazy that even after four years of DISL, our community of drivers continues to grow and develop their builds and their skills behind the wheel. It’s crazy to look all the way back at Volume One from 2020 and compare it to now. Everybody at Drift Indy is so proud to see how far everyone has come and how much everyone has bought into the idea that stylish, exciting drifting is attainable even at the grassroots level.
Friday morning’s drivers’ meeting included 6 or 7 DISL rookies, some of whom had never turned a lap at Kil-kare before. The DI team emphasized the importance of lining up with different drivers on grid, getting laps in with whoever you happened to be next to during practice, DIGP drivers included. Despite the daunting initiation and first turn of the classic DISL layout, the majority of the drivers were nailing it by the end of the day. The trick is to stay high, using gravity and the bank to help keep your momentum into the infield. We saw plenty of drivers, both DISL and DIGP, riding the wall and putting down heaters all through practice.
Early on, a few drivers were really standing out from the pack. On the DISL side, Ty Keller, Skyler Wainscott, Justin Bailey, Rodney Blankenship and Rob McCarter all looked super comfortable and confident. They treated the spectators that came out to watch practice to plenty of smoky wall rides along the bank and at the start/finish line.
Mike Steele and Kyle Antonovich both looked fast as hell all weekend long, and they were putting down killer lap after killer lap in practice. It should’ve come as no surprise to anyone that they both ended up on the DIGP podium. Quite a few of the other DIGP dudes including Cash Staub, Cory Misko and Kegan Leep, among others, were battling mechanical issues for a lot of the day Friday and some of Saturday morning, leaving some worries as to whether or not they’d be up and running in time for qualifying.
When Saturday’s drivers’ meeting finally rolled around, it was shaping up to be a really competitive weekend. We were fortunate enough to have great weather on Friday, albeit super, super windy (photographer Andrew Haring suggested we change the name to Drift Windy), but there was some rain on the horizon for Saturday. You could take your pick of weather apps and radar predictions for who that rain was going to screw over; they all suggested different timeframes and amounts of rain. Still, folks seemed dialed in and ready to squeeze in a couple more hours of practice ahead of qualifying.
“We all know what cool drifting looks like,” Derek King said during the meeting. As always, the ethos of DISL has been to encourage stylish driving of stylish builds, not the nerdy points scrounging and technicality-arguing of other comp series that sucks all the fun out of the motorsport. “If you’re trying to screw around and play games, we’ll see that,” said Mike Skudlarek.
Luckily, we’ve been blessed with some of the best drivers in the midwest and a killer community of folks that have bought into that mindset. After ten initial volumes and 2024’s three round series, it’s super rewarding to see everyone continue to level up their builds and their skill behind the wheel. With the meeting concluded and the zones chalked out on track, everybody headed out for a few more practice laps ahead of qualifying.
When DISL qualifying did roll around, it was a real toss-up as to who was going to end up on the top step at the end of the day. So many drivers were killing it, and being forced to tandem with a variety of drivers throughout practice seemed to have helped everybody work out the best lines. Edgar Sarmiento was joined in the commentator booth by Isaac Lemley and Jay Bee Ticao as everybody headed to grid and started getting through their two judged runs. Despite it just being qualifying, the commentators and spectators alike were getting pretty into it.
“If you can be flooring it the whole time, that’s pretty gangster,” Isaac said after a particularly smoky run.
One of the best moments from DISL qualifying came after Deidra Drake’s qualifying runs. She’s been absolutely killing it so far this season, looking super comfortable and confident behind the wheel, and her runs were enough to secure her spot as the first ever woman to qualify for the main event.
Deidra won the 2024 "Mrs. Consistent" award, and she seems to be carrying that consistency into this season.
The top four DISL qualifiers were Chandler Marshall, Rodney Blankenship, Justin Keith and Matt Berlin. They each earned a few points toward their overall season standings. The top three DIGP qualifiers were Roy Outcalt, Chad Anderson and Kyle Antonovich. Each of those seven dudes put on an absolute clinic on how to get around the classic DISL layout.
DIGP qualifying was especially impressive. It’s not easy to make single runs entertaining to watch, but with this roster they managed it.
“There’s no grassroots organization on the f*****g planet that can f**k with DIGP, from the bottom of the heart that I don’t have,” Edgar said before announcing their seeding. “I’ve never seen a qualifying as good as that, going back to the prehistoric times… I’m proud of all of you guys.”
DISL
With all the matchups announced, the DISL Top 32 kicked off. Justin Bailey and Chris Morton had the first one-more-time call of the day in an exciting matchup that was one of the last before the rain started. It came down pretty heavy for 10 or 15 minutes and turned the track into an ice rink for most of the rest of the 32. We didn’t really start seeing tire smoke again until the first battle of the Top 16.
Justin Bailey and Neil Dellaria had a nice battle on a mostly dry track, and they were followed by Matt Berlin and Kenny Kearns. Kenny opened up a big gap on Matt in his lead run after putting down a pretty solid chase in the first leg of their battle, but he met with some really rough luck just as he was closing the lap out. He said that as he was leaving the final outer zone and winding it out along the wall, letting the car self-steer back to grip, the steering wheel caught his thumb, yanked his arms crossed and sent him straight into the wall. It was an unfortunate end to a solid DISL run from Kenny.
From one exciting battle to the next, Justin Keith and Jake Clark had a pretty killer matchup that went to the day’s second OMT. Both of these dudes were killing it all through practice, putting their very differently-styled and setup S-chassis builds in all the right places. Jake put together a great chase run, keeping good proximity and angle, with a strong lead that saw him open up a decent gap on Justin to secure the dub.
Paul Tuttle knocked out Miles Harrelson in yet another tight battle, and Rodney Blankenship got the nod over Tommy Coldwaters to close out the Top 16. Rodney’s turned about as many laps as anybody at Kil-kare, and he really started to push to stake his claim in DISL last season. He looks like he’s on a mission this season, too.
Rodney and Paul Tuttle had a real knock-down, drag-out battle to decide who’d be advancing to the semifinals. Rodney led first and put down a solid lead, with Paul not far behind in the chase. It wasn’t entirely clear whether it was a bump from Rodney or a bobble of his own doing, but on initiation in his lead lap, Paul got into the wall. Luckily, the front end didn’t get sucked in and it seemed not to have had too much of an adverse effect on the car’s performance. After much deliberation, the judges called for an OMT.
This was when Paul and Rodney's cars were still in one piece.
They swapped places and sent it again. Unshaken by his contact on the last run, Paul stuck right with Rodney, putting it on his door through the bank and into the final turn. At that point, the Mustang over-rotated and they came together fairly hard right around the start/finish line. With both cars showing some significant battle scars, they set off for their final lap. With Rodney at a disadvantage following his spin, Paul just needed to complete his lead lap without any issues, and he managed to do just that.
Less in one piece here.
Our semifinals came down to matchups between Gage Pamer and Justin Bailey on one side, and Jake Clark and Paul Tuttle on the other. For all but Jake, this was their first DISL main event. It’s hard to imagine a better way to ring in a new competition season than with a bunch of rookies coming in and kicking the door down.
G35s are no strangers to the DISL roster, but this is the first time we’ve seen so much success from dudes piloting them. Two of our four semifinal competitors, Paul and Gage, were behind the wheel of a G and were absolutely killing it, despite both being DISL rookies. Those cars can be tough to make look good, but both of their cars are pretty solid examples of how to do them up right. If it weren’t for Jake Clark, we’d have ended up with two G35s on the podium.
Justin, behind the wheel of his banana-yellow BMW E90, continued his dominant performance through his battle with Gage Pamer, opening up a gap in his lead run and then maintaining decent proximity in his chase, punching his ticket to the final.
Justin Bailey threw down every. single. lap.
Paul and Jake had an exciting one and three-quarters of a lap, but the fuel cutting issues that Jake had been battling during practice returned, making him lose power and straighten coming down the bank. Paul, then, was headed to a final matchup with Justin, and Jake to a battle for third place with Gage.
That battle for bronze kicked off with Gage leading and Jake sticking close behind him in the chase. Seemingly without the fuel cutting issue cropping up again, Jake put down a seriously impressive lead in the second half of their matchup. Despite Gage straightening and losing speed near the inner clip, Jake kept the hammer down, tapping the wall on the bank and finishing the lap in style, securing himself the bronze.
Jake shown here trying to give the wall a fresh lick of yellow paint.
Paul and Justin lined it up and set off to decide who’d be going home with the gold. Justin led first, but the Bimmer encountered a mechanical issue as the pair headed to the bank. The car shut down and was out of commission for long enough that Paul was given the win. It’s not how anybody wants to win a comp, but a dub is a dub.
“The battles were a lot of fun. I would’ve loved to win, like more fair and square for sure… We were already planning on going to Round Two, because I definitely want to check out Woodward Dream Cruise as well, and now we definitely have to go,” Paul said after the podium ceremony.
From left, Justin Bailey, Paul Tuttle and Jake Clark on the podium.
DIGP
The inaugural Drift Indy Grand Prix main event kicked off immediately following the conclusion of DISL, and Roy Outcalt and Steve Scherzer rang in the new series in style. Their battle really set the tone for the rest of the battles to come. Roy dragged his drag wing along the bank wall with Steve close behind before they both smoked out the start/finish line. The mood among drivers, spectators, commentators and media was electric, and all we’d seen was half a battle. The second half followed suit, keeping that energy rocking. Steve didn’t achieve quite the same deep line that Roy had, but it garnered cheers and applause all the same.
Roy wasn't afraid to drag his bumper along the same wall that claimed the life of his last car.
Cash Staub, 2024’s DISL champ, was matched up with Cameron Stone, another DISL veteran and past DK award winner, in the Top 16. Whether or not Cash would continue his dominant run from last season into 2025 and DIGP was a big question ahead of this round, but with the clutch going out in his freshly rebuilt Foxbody on Friday, and the fix being a used clutch that they had laying around at home, it’s not clear whether he was really driving at 100% when it came to the main event.
Their battle was a really exciting one, with Cash producing his signature killer lead run and Cameron doing his best to maintain proximity. Cameron, in turn, put down his own strong lead, with Cash doing a solid job mirroring him. Too close to call, the judges called for the first OMT of the DIGP season. It was another close battle, but Cash did enough to get the nod in the end.
Kyle Antonovich won his first battle of the day against Dan Sommer, Britt Kaukeinen won a close, exciting battle with Cody Edmiston, Cory Misko got the nod in a tough matchup with Josh Estey, and Chad Anderson advanced after a tough couple of laps against Sam Cornewell in one of the best battles of the Top 16.
The Top 8 kept up the same electric tempo, kicking off with a matchup between teammates Colten Terrell and Roy Outcalt. Both of these guys are masters of Kil-kare, both are former DISL first-place finishers, and both were on a tear all weekend. Their cars look sick together, and they put on a great show for everybody in the stands as the sun sunk further behind the trees. Colty got the nod, knocking off the top qualifier on his way to his first podium finish since Volume 6.
Following their battle, Mike Steele and Cash Staub lined up opposite each other. Mike’s a real wheelman, but he’s faltered in the past when it came to DISL battles. He earned the DK award for his shredding during practice and prelims up at USAir for Round Two last season, but was unable to advance beyond the Top 16. This weekend, though, he looked absolutely dialed. Unfazed by coming up against last season’s champ, Mike handed Cash his first loss in a Drift Indy comp since Round One last season. That was 364 days before this year’s first round, just one day away from a whole year without taking a loss. That really speaks to the level of competition that all our DIGP drivers are facing this season.
Mike was on a tear that even Cash couldn't put a stop to.
Kyle put it on Britt Kaukeinen’s door in his chase, following a super solid lead run and putting himself through to the semis. Chad Anderson and Cory Misko pitted their very different E46 builds against each other in the final battle of the Top 8, with Chad continuing his dominant performance and getting the dub after yet another close, exciting battle.
The semifinals, then, came down to Colten Terrell, Mike Steele, Kyle Antonovich and Chad Anderson. Any one of these four had what it takes to walk away with the gold, but it just came down to who was really feeling it on the day.
Unfortunately for Colty, Mike was, in fact, really feeling it. Mike put down yet another screamer of a lead lap, and Colty couldn’t quite keep the proximity he needed in the chase position. Mike, in turn, kept a little closer to Colty’s slightly shallower lead. Mike headed to the final battle.
Kyle actually seemed to start off a little on the backfoot in his matchup with Chad, with Chad opening up a small gap in the lead as they left the infield and headed up the bank. Kyle returned the favor once they swapped spots, though, and the judges called for a OMT. This time around, Kyle kept much better proximity in his chase and opened up an even bigger gap in his lead, sending himself to a final matchup with Mike.
First, though, Colty and Chad had to settle who’d be taking home the bronze. They put on a show in the dying light, putting down two similar laps that resulted in yet another OMT. It was a super tight one, but in the end, Colty did enough to earn the nod from the judges, earning himself his third piece of Drift Indy hardware.
With the sun having sunk behind the horizon and the track lights kicking on, Kyle Antonovich and Mike Steele lined up for what was both of their first times in the final battle. Kyle led first and emphatically made his case for why he deserved to finally climb to the top step. It seemed like he had that skinny pedal buried through the bank, but Mike managed to suck up onto his door as they swung through the final outer zone. Swapping sides, Mike wasn’t quite able to match Kyle’s lead run, while Kyle did a better job of mirroring Mike from the chase position. With the judges not seeing any need for a OMT, Kyle made history as the winner of the inaugural round of DIGP.
Kyle Antonovich has been a big proponent of the DISL ethos since the early days. His first podium came at Volume Four, his second at Volume Six and his third at Volume Ten, all bronze medals. It’d be hard to call any podium finish anything less than a success, but you could tell Kyle was looking for more, pushing hard for more. He got to town on Thursday with his car in various shades of white, black and grey before he and his buddies at Fleet Graphics wrapped the whole car in time for practice Friday. In less than 48 hours, he was popping a bottle of champagne on the podium, on the top step this time around.
“It feels great to finally come in and get a win. I had three years in DISL, so to come into DIGP and actually take it home, the very first one, it's satisfying, it feels great,” Kyle said. “You know, last year, I didn't have a good season because I wanted to win so bad that I'd get in my own head and I'd botch it every time. So this one, I came in just wanting to test the car and every single battle, I laid it down and we finally took it home.”
He was joined by two other absolutely killer drivers in Mike Steele and Colten Terrell as they celebrated their performance in what was a perfect demonstration of what competitive drifting should be all about.
From left, Mike Steele, Kyle Antonovich and Colten Terrell on the DIGP podium.
DIGP is the culmination of years of development from the drivers in the Drift Indy community. Season after season of pushing style and skill to new heights produced this stellar roster, comprised of the best drifting talent in the midwest. Round One set the standard for what this series is all about, and we’re all on the edge of our seats to see what the next two rounds have in store.
DISL and DIGP Round Two will be held at the excellent facilities at the M1 Concourse in Pontiac, MI on August 16 and 17.