Firstly, once again I want to apologise for the lack of blog posts on here recently, unfortunately it just hasn’t been high enough on the priority list of things to do over the past few months but here is the first of many updates to come; Kansai All Stars 2019 (20th Year Anniversary).

Post qualifying for Nara Precture for this years Kansai All Stars most definitely got my nerves going for the first time in a long time like nothing else. The amount of hours I used to spend back home in Australia daydreaming of running in this exact event for so many years was almost a daily thought and motivation to keep pushing forward.

The morning begins extremely early, earlier than any regular Meihan drift day purely of the fact of how many cars, entrants and spectators there are and how much there is to get through within the time frame of the sun rising and setting. After the drivers meeting you are given 1 session of practice for roughly 10 minutes in which you run with your prefecture in seperate classes which isn’t long but more or less to make sure both you and your car are ready and everything is working as it should. Immediately after the practice session you’re straight into 2 qualifying rounds which are divided into the qualifying number you came within your prefecture. I qualified 9th out of 16 which meant I was to run in the same class from the other prefectures as too qualified 9 in their prefectures.

Getting warmed up in the first qualifying session was definitely heart racing but was feeling somewhat confident in myself and the car for the most part as I had driven quite frequently prior to the event. The Kansai All Stars judging criteria is short and simple; make it as aggressive, fast and exciting as possible for the judges and spectators, the flick has to be aggressive and your 2 rear wheels on the jagged cement on the outer line around the main corner at the bottom. The entire day too is single runs only so there is definitely a brighter spotlight shining on you and your driving throughout the day for everyone.

Into the second qualifying session I got about 4 solid laps in before the car decided to break down and into limp mode around the bottom corner causing me to sit out for the remaining 10 or so minutes. Managing to get the car back into pits and check it over it was luckily just a loose bolt that holds the TPS sensor. Missing 3/4 of the second qualifying session definitely didn’t help with more chances of getting through to top 32 however the level of driving at this event is seriously hard to grasp but the urge to continue running and practicing is as high as ever.

At the end of the day there are multiple winners, prizes and what not. There is also an overall prefecture winner in which who gained the most points overall. For this years 20th anniversary Nara Prefecture managed to take the win :)).

Below is a brief summary in photos throughout the day. A huge huge thank you to Keisuke Nagashima from 86 Fighters who I leant my camera equipment to for the day to shoot with. We have both been coming to Kansai All Stars for many years in a row and to have run in this years was something I will genuinely never forget not to mention having some amazing photos to compliment.

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Concluding with a group photo of Nara Prefecture for 2019 in last months Drift Tengoku. A big love to all of you who to continue to support myself and SHIRTSTUCKEDIN. Such goals, challenges and accomplishments are 100% helped by each and every single one of you. Casey xxx

last monday at meihan sports land, c course. a few runs in the 3037 car x

with the main event of kansai all stars getting closer and closer there are only a few prefectures left for qualifying. osaka took place yesterday at meihan sports land, c course. following this the only prefecture remaining will be shiga-ken due to run later this month.

since the last day of driving for nara and mie-ken qualifying there were a few things i needed to amend with the car. with the mechanical skills and help of Naoki-san and the boys at N-STYLE the car was ready a few days before which meant i was able to head out for more practice.

the drive from jake’s and i’s new place in nara is about 20ish minutes on low roads (free) to meihan, super close and convenient. usually there is a decent convoy going out together in a pack however this day it was just myself to soon meet a few friends at the circuit. gas stand photo on a humid, rainy morning. summer is coming.

one of those people being ryota / SPLASH in his newly finished TD-06 kouki S14 silvia. this was recently completed and ready for shake-down by the hands of both ryota and takumi from SKY MOTORS. this was ryota’s first day back in his faster car, recently driving his missile which is just completely factory engine setup. ryota has been a strong contender for kansai all stars in the previous years representing osaka and was back for this years qualifying in hopes to retain that spot.

braden was also out for qualifying in his T517 S14. residing in osaka for the past 5-6 years this was his first time having a crack at being a competitor in this years kansai all stars.

tsuneda-san from NEO STYLE cafe and tuning with no days off. here looking over settings on his wife’s S15. this is the very talented fellow that tuned my turbo, 3037 car. tsuneda has been fiddling and learning his way around multiple computers and SR20s for the past 23 years and is very known in the kansai region of japan.

hiro from MIDNIGHT GARAGE MILK TEA was also back out in force and has been back into meihan recently after a little break…

…along with yuya and naru.

akun, as always was there in his factory and reliable 1JZ S15 and managed to qualify second out of a total 16 drivers.

takumi was not only judging for osaka but was out driving also however didn’t get too much driving in with a broken 3rd gear in his NISMO cross mission 6 speed.

driving to the circuit, driving all day and driving home safely without next to no dramas will forever be a good day. another day with 0 problems. car didn’t breach 73 degrees. time for another look over and some more simple maintenance and hopefully be back out for another few practice days before all stars early to mid next month 🙂 caseyy xx

GX71 in kagoshima springs. still have so many images from trips far down south to kyüshü i need to sort, edit and upload at some stage which showcase some of the coolest, rarest cars i’ve ever come across. for now enjoy this photo of takeshi-san’s nana-ichi x

i have always been thoroughly into NA S13s and ever since i crashed the beige one in late 2017 in japan a replacement had to come along and be built sooner rather than later. i have done a few posts here and there more-so on social media of the new 4 throttle black one. this week last year i actually purchased it off a good friend i’ve known for quite some time in osaka.

early last week the new computer – haltech elite 550 which replaced the old tech TOMEI raytech was installed alongside its harness & tuned out in hyogo prefecture right near central circuit. following so a day of maintenance was cured over the car before agreeing to drive a free soukoukai (practice) day at suzuka twin last saturday.

i have included a 15ish minute RAW video at the bottom of this post just like late last year in the 3037 turbo silvia which seemed to gain some interest. i have always enjoyed raw non-edited videos with no music. enjoy xxx

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if you follow my instagram i mentioned 2 weeks ago today that i would be residing in japan over the next few months to come to somewhat of a conclusion if this is the country for me to live in full-time or not. with Australian residents we’re granted access to a working holiday visa which initially allows you 6 months in japan which can be renewed 3 times, totalling 1 and a half years. 

2 weeks later and i am somewhat grounded and straight back into my daily routines. the past 1.5 weeks have been spent up north in the tokyo region traveling and shooting as much as possible. this time of the year in japan is usually flourishing with car events and practice days at many circuits on the weekends along with week days too. i traveled as far north as fukushima to link circuit, utsunomiya for nikko circuit and sports land yamanashi in yamanashi prefecture which is located somewhat behind mt fuji. in-between events i have just been enjoying driving around with andrew date in his blue 180SX and this little S14 i picked up to drive for a few weeks to then be sold to a fellow Australian too moving over to japan late next month.

for now im awaiting a few more things to arrive from home and i’ll be able to get into some more editing and frequent blog posts (hopefully once a week). firstly will be my coverage and vision from D1GP last weekend in odaiba. casey xxx

the newest product to be added to the DRIVING FORCE range – full carbon bucket racing seats produced by SHIRTSTUCKEDIN. these are now available for pre-order and the first 25 sold will also receive a free SHIRTSTUCKEDIN full nylon, waterproof bomber jacket at your preferred size & a pair of side bolster cushions to protect your seat from wear. 3 different colors to choose from – black, blue and red all weighing in at at a very lightweight 5.1KG – 11.2LBS thanks to the carbon kevlar backing. all seats come with brand new hardware (allen key head bolts and washers) ready to bolted straight onto your desired side mount rail. to shop please visit the online store – www.store.shirtstuckedin.com

For more updates on car racing and other related subjects, visit GrandPrixTimes. They publish articles about updates on the Grand Prix and Formula One world.

PS: we are only a few short weeks away from our newest collection plus a large re-stock of inventory to be online and available for purchase very shortly – to follow more frequent updates feel free to follow our INSTAGRAM 

SHIRTSTUCKEDIN Driving Force full racing bucket seats available for pre-order. SUNDAY 17th 9PM PST / MONDAY 18th 2PM AEST. have fun along the way xxx

suzuka twin circuit hitomiGO practice day. enjoy 11 minutes of uncut raw footage. can’t wait to drive this car again x