The tables at Vegas have really been heating up with the popularity of games such as Texas Hold'em. Well, it looks like the House landed a "3 of a kind" on the flop and they scored a "Full House" as D1 Grand Prix, NHRA Sport Compact National, and Extreme Autofest came together to light up the night at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway last weekend.
The Strip came alive as Drag, Show and Drift united to deliver a triple dose of excitement. The event kept spectators dazzled with Pro Drag racers tearing up the 1320 and Pro Drifters keeping things sliding sideways. This marks the first time in history that the NHRA drag racing and D1GP has come together under one event. This plus the added attraction of Autofest's car show and entertainment, all under one "roof".
D1 Grand Prix
25 drifters from the US and Japan came together for the third D1GP Exhibition match of the year. Although this was just an exhibition match, D1 and track officials wanted to keep the crowds on the edge of their seat by designing a challenging course for our competitors. Drifters found themselves sliding sideways at speeds of over 100 MPH in the first turn. The honor of American Top Qualifier for the event went to Tanner Foust and the AEM 350Z. Tanner tied for overall event top qualifier with D1 Champion Yasuyuki Kazama scoring a perfect 100 points.
     
But after three rounds of grueling competition, AE86 driver Toshiki Yoshioka was able to show the audience that size doesn't matter. "The little engine that could" come out on top defeating the Subaru Impreza pilot Nobushige Kumakubo in a classic Initial D battle of Takumi vs. Bunta.
Inaugural Las Vegas D1 Grand Prix Results:
1. Toshiki Yoshioka - Toyota Corolla
2. Nobushige Kumakubo - Subaru Impreza
3. Kensaku Komoro - Toyota Corolla
4. Kazuhiro Tanaka - Nissan Skyline
5. Daigo Saito - Toyota
6. Vaughan Gittin Jr. - Ford Mustang
7. Hideo Hiraoka - Nissan Silvia
8. Takahiro Ueno - Toyota Soarer
9. Ken Gushi - Ford Mustang
10. Hiro Sumida - Nissan Silvia
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