Shout out to B-Wagg and Fleet Graphics for always coming through with all of our printing needs. The NSB banner is tight.
Despite the added challenges of an extra day and a full round of Drift Indy Street League, this 13th edition of No Star Bash delivered on the promise of a four-day shredfest. With over 165 drivers and around 2,500 spectators packed into Kil-kare, the Drift Indy community showed out for our annual all-out celebration of drifting.
“That’s a lot of years and a lot of beers,” Edgar Sarmiento said during the drivers’ meeting one day, reflecting on over a decade of bashing in celebration of Midwest drifting. With folks coming from as far away as Texas to party with us this year, NSB continues to grow.
We were joined by our friend Nick Swann as well, a man with years of experience running grids at a wide variety of tracks. Even he was surprised by the No Star Bash tradition of sending 150 cars out to grid to party and kill each other. Still, he took it like a champ and it was rad to have him join the team for an event.
Who wouldn't be intimidated by a grid of killers like this?
The action at NSB isn’t limited to the track, of course. Vendors and food trucks are another piece of what makes the experience special, and while the food trucks were something of a revolving door with trucks coming and going each day, the food ripped. Tacos from El Cardenal, a fry bucket and fried oreo from Chester’s, a breakfast sandwich from Derrick’s, all bomb.
Our vendors this year brought their A-game, too. Grip Royal and their friends at Yankii Special had an especially impressive setup that seemed to draw quite a few folks. JEM-Sport and Link ECU had a nice compliment of DISL drivers’ rides on display, and the ladies of Girls Gone Drifting, Halyn Crate and Sammie Gerde had some super cool products on offer. Coilover Depot came in clutch to help a few drivers that had something break get back out on track. Obsess Worldwide brought out some very cool non-drift cars to display, including a sick lowrider and a slammed Beetle. Sponsored Adrenaline offered some very cool shirts and stickers, and Michael Feldkamp’s Doctored booth sold some very cool one-of-a-kind upcycled clothes.
Our vendors this year had so much cool stuff that it felt like my wallet had a big hole in it. No complaints, though. Y'all are rad.
Wandering the pits, especially in the evening, is such a fun way to take in the breadth of the Drift Indy community. From drivers who opted to make NSB their first event (a wild decision, if we’re being real) to guys that have been driving for 10+ years, it’s rad to see everybody coalescing around a love for drifting, or at the very least a love for social drinking. Our DISL drivers, the pinnacles of style and skill that so many of them are, hopefully imparted some of their knowledge on newcomers. Speaking of newcomers, there were plenty. While past NSBs have brought back tons of midwest OGs, it felt like this year’s edition brought out just as many new faces.
As the driving wrapped up Thursday night, everybody headed over to the Vyral Compound for their Thirsty Thursday party. Everybody’s favorite deadbeat Uncle Jimmy even made an appearance to host bingo. The lucky winners were awarded tire pressure gauges, condoms and even a pack of cigarettes, albeit with a few missing. Uncle Jimmy doesn’t work for free.
It turns out Uncle Jimmy isn't the only one that takes his Bingo serious. These games got as competitive as Bingo can be.
With just a little over half the driver list rolling in Thursday, most everybody else arrived on Friday. Team Shade got right down to business, hopping almost immediately into four- and five-car trains. Fresh off another Formula Drift ProSpec season, Geoff Donati even hopped in some in his G37.
Geoff Donati, Clint Stotts, Cash Staub and Chad Stoelting showing everybody how it's done.
Bobby’s Crew got some sick team laps in early, too. It seemed like Kenny Kearns was really feeling himself all weekend long. He was driving with a ton of confidence, and it was super fun to watch him and his teammates shredding together. Josh Estey got into the wall a little on Saturday, but was able to get his car buttoned back up before DISL.
Not pictured here is the impressive air that Josh Estey, in the chase here, almost certainly got coming over that little ramp into the infield.
With DISL practice scheduled for Saturday evening, the all-out, packed-grid and 15+ cars trains usually reserved for Saturday ended up taking place Friday. The change made no difference to the drivers, though, and we got a good hour or so of the bashing that NSB is all about. With the top lane populated by our A-group killers, B-group in the middle lane and C-group down low, we were treated to an impressive display of commitment and driving skill.
Leading up to the event, there was some concern that the specter of DISL looming at the end of the event might discourage some of the drivers from enjoying themselves on track during NSB, but by and large it felt like they managed both really well. Justin Medina blew his S2000’s motor early on, but he had a backup car in place. Kyle Robertson also blew up the SR20 in his S15, but hopped in his wife’s Miata instead. If anything, the carnage of three days of No Star Bash served as an incredibly thorough shakedown ahead of DISL.
Speaking of carnage, this year included the return of the legendary Roller Dog Championship after last year’s hiatus. For those of you unfamiliar with our hot dog eating contest, it’s usually held Saturday of No Star Bash and is a chance for some of the hungriest folks in the midwest to scarf down as many glizzies as they can in the time allotted. This year’s contestants included familiar faces like Alex Dane, Nathan St. John and ‘22 RDC champion Seth St. Myers, as well as newcomers Caleb Schmidt (clad in a nice hotdog costume), Rick Wainscott and Grip Royal’s Scott Allinder. Armed only with a cup of water and as many hotdogs as they could possibly want, they threw down in front of an impressive crowd, including a guy in a gorilla costume. Where he came from is a little bit of a mystery, but it was nice to have him all the same.
The glizzy gladiators’ techniques were varied, ranging from soaking the dogs and buns in water to help them go down more easily to eating them slowly, kind of like they were just enjoying a free lunch. When the timer ran out and it was time to crown a champ, the contestants’ spotters announced their scores. With an impressive six dogs downed, Rick Wainscott beat out his more seasoned competition to take ownership of the 2024 RDC belt.
An absolute specimen of a man.
All-in-all, No Star Bash XIII was a killer party. Whether you were turning a million laps on track, frequenting the food trucks and vendors, reuniting with old friends or just partying the nights away, there was something for everybody. It’s been a busy season, and there’s plenty more drifting to come, but NSB is always a huge highlight. With Drift Indy’s 20th season right around the corner in 2025, NSB XIV promises to be even more kickass. We’ll see you all there.