When you first walk up to the Wall Speedway’s oval track, the openness
of the track is the first thing that hits you. After that first initial
reaction, you are then bathed with an eerily haunting, feeling. This
very piece of paved concrete, with its banked turns, has history
embedded in have the ghosts of age old battles ever present in every
bit of this track. But after a year of absence at the Wall Speedway,
Formula D returned to
the track to continue the 2009 driver championship battle.

Previously, I posted shots from my two film cameras. But now, here are the shots from my digital light capturing device.

This was the scene at the Wall throughout the day. It was absolutely
breath taking to see the sun streak through the trees as the tire smoke
filled the air.’

The whole weekend at the Wall Speedway, Ross Petty in his Garage
Boso S15 was one of the few people to take the bank with the a wide
open throttle. This resulted in a fantastic veil of tire smoke that
first covered the high speed bank then engulfed the rest of the
stadium.

The Wall Speedway really lent itself for some amazing photo
opportunities. When the sun started to duck lower, a beautiful warm New
Jersey sun bathed the track with an almost mystical way.

Rhys Millen rocked it out hardcore. But not hardcore enough before he
got eliminated by Robbie Nishida in the Hankook 350z for the battle in
the Top 8.

Battle of the V8s.

Eric O’Sullivan and the privateer from San Diego, Pat Mordaunt, had a
fantastic battle. But Eric could not hold up to the pressure from
the youngest Formula D driver on the grid.

Darren McNamara showing what his little Saturn Sky can do by putting absolute pressure on Jeff Jones.

Ruji Miki and Michihiro Takatori battle it out….

…but Ruji Miki walks away with the win.

Chris Forsberg and Doug Van Den Brink, with his Streetwise Mustang, taking on the mighty bank.

I love how this photo turned out. The blurred streaks across Millen’s
car accompanied by the blur of the track gives a total sense of speed.
These guys with their works cars were absolutely killing it.

My personal favorite shot from the weekend. The lighting, the
composition, the moment were all perfect. I assure you all that there
will be a wallpaper of this shot!

The sun peaked in and out throughout the day. Some photographers were
not too happy about changing their settings every few minutes, but damn
did the clouds make for an absolutely gorgeous day.

Pat Mordaunt gets my two thumbs up for coming all the way out to New
Jersey to compete. He was also one of the few to go balls out on the
high speed bank. A fantastic example of driving prowess at such a young
age.

I fell in love with how the trees played with the light towards the end
of the day. The streaks of light and shadow that came from the tire
smoke makes for some seriously atmosphereic shots!

Tommy Brakohiapa in the Toyo Mustang just as he is about to spin out…

Ross Petty may have created some amazing smoke shows throughout the
day, but Tyler McQuarrie threw down the tire smoke gaunlet. Tyler was
responsible for a lot of the loss of visability for the other drivers.

It’s
always interesting to see drift photos in black and white, it gives a
completely different perspective, and atmosphere to the event.

I’ll
close with this shot. The rawness of the race cars paired up with the
tire smoke, the light streaking through the smoke, the trees, the blue
sky, the clouds, and the New Jersey sun makes for an absolutely awesome
feeling. It’s scenes like this that we take away from such events and
relish for the next few days, weeks, and the rest of our lives.

-Linhbergh Nguyen

Speedhunters Formula D: Round 3 New Jersey Coverage