Irwindale is known as the "House of Drift" and for good reason as this past Saturday 15,000 Drift-hungry fans packed the Irwindale Speedway to watch the final round of the Formula D season come to a close in dramatic fashion. GMTS was all hands on deck as we rooted for our man Ryan Tuerck and his Mobil 1/Gardella Racing Pontiac Solstice as he faced an uphill battle against some of the top names in Drifting at a packed house at Irwindale. Tuerck took to the challenge like a sideways fish to water and in his typical style, went all out in every aspect of every matchup.

Darren McNamara of Falken Tires Motorsports pilots one of the baddest Saturn Sky's in the world. He has been charging hard in the car all year and his hard work finally paid off at the Formula D event in New Jersey. Darren was running really strong at this event and has made all of us ECOtec lovers proud with his performance and win. We love seeing performances like this and I'm sure Mr. Roger Penske does as well. Saturn, may it live forever!

The first Formula Drift event was in beautiful Long Beach, California. A clear blue sky, 85-degree weather, and intense drifting competition drew a huge crowd to the Streets of Long Beach. Pontiac Motorsports was proud to be represented at this event by Rhys Millen Racing and, new this year, Gardella Racing.

The GM Tuner Tour made its most recent stop at the Sonoma Formula D event to let all the fans get an up close look at the drift favorite Pontiac Solstice. The Solstice'€™s short wheel base, excellent weight distribution and powerful 2.0L LNF ECOtec power plant, allow it to make consistent podium appearances in the ultra competitive Formula D series

At the annual Formula D awards banquet in Long Beach there were several awards given out throughout the night but none were more sought after than the "€œDriver of the Year"€ award. Debuting this season with his new Gardella Racing team, not much was expected of Tuerck and his almost stock Pontiac Solstice GXP but that'€™s where they all got it wrong, as Tuerck stole the show all season and came away with the 2008 Formula D Driver of the Year award.

Gary Gardella made a name for himself the right way in the racing industry. His reputation is very good and always well received because he has been there from the beginning, has maintained an incredible attitude and runs with an amazing passion to win! I have rarely seen Gary stop at a table to sign autographs where there wasn'€™t a line of enthusiasts waiting to get his autograph and to have a chance to talk to him. One of my favorite things about Gary is that he approaches each fan as his most important. And it shows!

Drifting is the hottest form of motorsport right now so it was only a matter of time before these sideways phenoms got some official air time on the old moving picture box. Drifting is a fantastic sport but unless you live in one of the 7 scheduled event stops, you probably haven't seen an actual drifting competition in its entirety and are left wondering what all the hype is about. Starting this Sunday though, you'll have the chance to watch the 2009 Formula DRIFT season from start to finish, right from the comfort of your own home, courtesy of VERSUS. If you're an ECOtec fan, you'll start out with a favorite driver too as Ryan Tuerck in his Mobil 1 Pontiac Solstice has been tearing it up all season.

The GM Tuner Tour heard that Formula D and Red Bull were hosting a little drifting competition, called the Red Bull Drifting World Championship, in Long Beach, CA so we decided to stop by and get in on the action. Thirty-two of the world'€™s best drifters were there showing off their skills, but while they were doing their thing, the GM Tuner Tour was showing off some of the hottest GM cars around and giving away tons of free stuff.

This past weekend was Round 4 of Formula D and while our boy Ryan Tuerck didn’t capture the top spot on the podium, he did manage to steal the limelight by accomplishing the first (that we know of) vehicle to catch air under competition and complete the course. The story goes a little something like this…

Ryan Tuerck was matched up against Katsuhiro Ueo for a spot in the Great 8. Ueo was in front coming into the corner and slide a too far out off the line when Tuerck, who was coming in hard as usual, seemed to attempt to overtake Ueo by following a more shallow line. Tuerck ended up placing his back right tire right next to Ueo's front left tire and pop went the Solstice. In resilient fashion, Ryan drove his Mobil 1 Pontiac Solstice through the rest of the course like nothing even happened.