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stickydiljoe

'Stickydiljoe' aka Joey Lee is a freelance photographer, writer, and creator of The Chronicles.
A Wild Weekend At Club Handz With The Boys!!… CHRNCLS Vlog 2020 #28

A Wild Weekend At Club Handz With The Boys!!… CHRNCLS Vlog 2020 #28

What a weekend! Originally I had only planned on going to the Super Lap Battle event hosted by Global Time Attack but being that it was a two-day event, I decided to make the trek back to Apple Valley Speedway once again to support my friend Kemritte’s “Club Handz” event. For those that aren’t aware, Club Handz is a grassroots drifting event put together by a group of friends that just want to go out and drive without points or politics. It’s just a great time and a real vibe (as Kemritte told me). I always wanted to go support but our schedules just never aligned. I was either out of the country or something else was going on. The stars finally aligned during this crazy year so Der and I decided to go to Club Handz on Saturday, and then head to Buttonwillow the next day for Super Lap Battle. It was a lot of driving since both tracks are in such different parts of California but well worth it to support friends!

GReddy GPP Live 2020 Event Coverage…

GReddy GPP Live 2020 Event Coverage…

There’s no SEMA event this year due to the ongoing “situation” we’re all going through, but I don’t know if I really miss it or not. On one hand, I do enjoy being in Las Vegas. Meeting up with industry friends is always nice and eating/drinking an insane amount throughout the week always makes things interesting. On the flip side, I don’t miss the crowds, the transportation to and from the show is always a bit of a headache, and to put it simply, I kind of enjoy saving money for other stuff. It’s funny because most of us who have been in the industry for some time now always bitch about not wanting to go to SEMA, but then we always end-up going and kinda having a good time. It’s a lot of work but it has its quirks that make life interesting enough where we do look forward to heading back to Vegas annually…

Phil’s B-Day Drift Party, A Random Car Meet, And More!!… CHRNCLS Vlog 2020 #27

Phil’s B-Day Drift Party, A Random Car Meet, And More!!… CHRNCLS Vlog 2020 #27

Don’t think we’ve ever done anything like this before but we actually had a birthday party at the track! Talk about a ‘themed party’! Haha. Phil wanted to drive his S2000 on his birthday so he decided to rent out the entire Apple Valley Speedway track to have some drifting fun with some friends! Most of us just went out to drink, hang-out and watch the boys drive but the guys that did drive were not messing around. Cars get thrashed in this episode and we didn’t even have cake at the end! Before the party however, Der and I head down to Orange County to check out a car meet with some of the most random assortment of cars that we’ve ever seen!

John Tran’s S2000 From Club Racer Reunion Weekend…

John Tran’s S2000 From Club Racer Reunion Weekend…

After getting some photos of Jose Mejia’s FK8 CTR on the track, I noticed we had some sunlight left which allowed us to bring one more car onto the scenic Chuckwalla Valley Raceway. There were some pretty nice builds at the Club Racer Reunion event so I had plenty of cars to choose from, but I wanted a car that really ‘popped’ against the orange glow of the setting sun. I had already shot a white car with Jose’s FK8 so it seemed only fitting to add some color to this photo set. Throughout the day, one of the cars that immediately caught my eye was John Tran’s S2000. Like Jose’s Civic, it had also once been white but he recently had the entire car wrapped in a very vibrant red/orange vinyl. I normally am not a huge fan of vinyl-wrappped cars but I do appreciate them a great deal when they are done right. Sometimes the wrap can just look a little flat where you can tell its obviously not paint but John Tran’s S2000 looked fantastic. At a glance you couldn’t even really tell. Add to that a good collection of aero and a wheel/tire combo that helped the car sit just right. John pointed-out that his front splitter had been damaged from racing throughout the day which caused it to sag a bit. I told him it was okay because it is a race car after all and nobody expects it to be perfect. Some battle damage would actually add to the aesthetic of the car anyway and people wouldn’t be credible to say that it was just a ‘show car’ on the track merely for photos…

Jose Mejia’s FK8 Civic Type R From Club Racer Reunion Weekend…

Jose Mejia’s FK8 Civic Type R From Club Racer Reunion Weekend…

Originally I had planned to just include this in the Club Racer Reunion Weekend coverage being that it was all shot on the same day at the same time but the more I thought about it, the more I felt that these photos should get their own separate post. I know many of you who have followed me through the years may be a bit surprised to see Jose’s FK8 CTR on my site because of his association, but I already let bygones be bygones so long ago that its hardly even an issue. For those who know what I’m talking about—it’s old news. I’m just here to enjoy cars. Even if there were an issue, it wouldn’t really be Jose’s fault because he wasn’t necessarily involved in any perceived ‘drama’ that had happened in the past…

Club Racer Reunion Weekend 2020 Coverage…

Club Racer Reunion Weekend 2020 Coverage…

Y’all wanna hear some gossip??? Boy do I got some info for you… Lol. I’m kidding of course but you’ll certainly find some of this interesting if you’re not familiar with what “Club Racer” is and have heard of the “VTEC Club” series before. Most Honda enthusiasts will have heard of the racing series either through friends or through various media online but Club Racer, or Club Racer Events, may be new to many of you. VTEC Club USA was originally an all-Honda time trial series operated within a larger racing event host, Extreme Speed Track Events. The Honda-dedicated racing series worked in unison with Extreme Speed over the years and grew to great success until 2020, when the managing party responsible for VTEC Club USA’s continued growth decided it was time to forge a new path. I don’t want to get into all the little nuanced details of it all but let’s just say that it was a relationship where one partner had outgrown the other and someone wanted to spread their wings, if you know what I mean. I’m just on the outside looking in so it isn’t my story to tell in detail but all you really need to know is that VTEC Club USA is operating on its own and under the umbrella of a new entity known as—you guessed it, Club Racer Events…

Attacking Time At Club Racer Reunion Weekend!!… CHRNCLS Vlog 2020 #26

Attacking Time At Club Racer Reunion Weekend!!… CHRNCLS Vlog 2020 #26

Boy does it feel nice to be out and about again. In the midst of all the madness that is 2020, there hasn’t been very many car events to go to so I was excited to head out to Chuckwalla Valley Raceway for the first time ever with Der to support our friends from Club Racer/VTEC Club USA. It was a hot one but definitely worth it to check out some cars, catch up with friends, and see some racing. I myself spent most of my time hiding in the shade but when golden hour came around and the sun was just right, we went out on the track ourselves to get some photos. On day 2, which was the NDF Attack Challenge, I give you guys some in-car footage of Amir’s K-swapped NSX which is running fantastic now. It took some time but the car is finally performing as it should and good lord is it fast now. He ended up setting the fastest lap overall in his class and was likely one of the fastest cars there! A far cry from when we first started covering the build and it was just breaking all the time, lol.

More Build Updates & A First-Look At Sara’s New Livery!!…  CHRNCLS Vlog 2020 #25

More Build Updates & A First-Look At Sara’s New Livery!!… CHRNCLS Vlog 2020 #25

Is it October already? What a weird year it has been. Even with the heatwave still hitting California pretty hard, things have not slowed down at all here at the shop. We talk about the recent developments with Andrew’s TSX lightweight project, Phil’s drift S2000, and something pretty special shows up from Russia for my IS300. A few days after that, I meet up with Sara to check out the newly-completed livery on her IS300 drift car…

The Exceed S2000 Hits The Track For Some Testing!!… CHRNCLS Vlog 2020 #24

The Exceed S2000 Hits The Track For Some Testing!!… CHRNCLS Vlog 2020 #24

With the S2000 all prepped and ready for some drifting, we head to Apple Valley Speedway in the middle-of-nowhere California for a private test day. There are still some parts we’d like to install on the S2000 but Phil really wanted to get some seat-time in the car before further changes. Unfortunately, AVS has no night-time lighting and the sun is coming down extra early these days as the seasons change so we didn’t get as much footage as we wanted. However, the car is running great and we had a blast out there!

The New S2000 Project Car & An Update On The TSX!!… CHRNCLS Vlog 2020 #23

The New S2000 Project Car & An Update On The TSX!!… CHRNCLS Vlog 2020 #23

We’re really starting to have some fun now getting fully adjusted to this summer heat and figuring out ways to keep ourselves entertained here at the shop. On this episode we introduce you to our friend Philstar’s S2000 project that Yuta has been tinkering with the last few late nights. The TSX is all together and ready to head-off to our friend Ken Suen’s shop for some custom fab-work but before it leaves, we decide to get it on the scale to see where we were in terms of reaching our goal weight of 2500 lbs. How close are we and is it even possible to get a CL9 chassis down to that weight while keeping it streetable? Watch and find out!…