SDC Super Drift Competition 2025 SoCal Round 2

3/23/25

This past weekend was SDC 2025 SoCal Region Round 2 here at Super-G. Since we had 79 competitors last round, we had expected to lose about 30% for Round 2. (According to Dave) Instead, we ended up with 82 competitors. There were a lot of new faces and we were missing some from Round 1. So who knows what Round 3 has in store. What I do know is the driving was amazing and the level of competition seems to be raised with every round. At the very least, this is some serious monthly training for these guys. Being on the drivers stand in a room full of your peers, plus being on live stream, is a definite test of nerves, but as they say, the only way to get past it is to do it!

Since Round 1 had the top competitors battling at 2:30am, we decided we needed to make some changes. Normally I will come in early on comp day and get the line set for the competition. This has been tradition here since we started doing comps years ago. I want everyone to come in fresh. No extra practice for anyone. It usually takes me til just before we open to finalize the line. (I am pretty particular on how I want the flow) Since we were opening and starting earlier, we had decided to close early the night before. This was a lot easier and a lot less stressful. This will be the norm from here on out.

Comp Day
As soon as we opened, we had a line out the door. I flashed back to my conversation with Dave the night before. I was clear we would not be losing 30%, in fact, we ended up gaining a few. We went right into controlled practice. From the feedback we had received previously, we made each run group shorter. This way nobody would be forced to practice on a flat battery. This also allowed the competitors more opportunities to make more adjustments if necessary.

Spam, Portuguese Sausage, Egg, and Rice with Furikake!

Randy from Hanapaa Kine was on site providing some killer food all day! I grabbed one of his breakfast plates. That really hit the spot!

I was fortunate enough to be able to judge along side of Shaine Collins and Ted Britt. Judging this type of event is not for the faint of heart. Even judging a comp of 30 competitors is exhausting, but 82 is wild. Just qualifying alone, you are hyper-focused on every aspect of every run. That is 164 runs you are giving full concentration to. Then you move on to the battles. I really need to give a huge thank you to Shaine and Ted for putting in the work and making this possible. I don’t know about them, but I was so mentally drained the following day, I slept til 7PM! Thanks guys, you did an amazing job!

Qualifying
This time around there are a few runs that stick out in my mind. For the most part, after every run we need to clear our minds and try to forget what we just saw in order to judge the next run. There are a few that stick out to me.

First, James Goodluck, being one of the younger guys hitting the comp scene has been stepping into the arena and battling with the big boys. He really made an impression with his really aggressive entry from the straight to the sweeper. The rest of his run was obviously confidence inspired. He didn’t have the greatest scores, but I will say the impression he left on me this last round tells me he is on his way to being a real contender. Keep an eye on him, for real!

Then we had Vittorio of Team Shibata. Just before qualifying, he had told me he was having issues with his car, but he didn’t want to do anything til he qualified since as we all know, when you change something, it always feels different. So with a bunch of screeching and grinding, Vittorio did his two qualifying runs. Everyone was on edge, wondering if he was even going to be able to finish. He did, and as soon as he finished his final qualifying run, it died! It was a lot of fun to watch and root for!

Then finally the real lasting impression, Bret Trevino of Team Yokomo USA. Out of the gate he throws a wicked run and scores a 90! But wait, there’s more! After throwing a solid 90, Bret gets even more aggressive and blasts out a 95!!! Now THAT is what we want to see! Aggressive, confident, and accurate driving. It was hard to find any fault in that run! Congratulations to Bret for stepping up and grabbing that Top Qualifier position for SDC 2025 Round 2!!!

Mikko Yang (L) Bret Trevino (R) The Final Battle for 1st and 2nd

Tsuiso - The Battles
For Round 2 we ended up with Top 32, Bottom 32, and the Lower Bracket which consisted of 20 competitors. As always, the winner of the bracket always bumps up to the next bracket.

From the Lower Bracket, Greg Marquez battled his way up, eliminating Alex Kingsbury to bump to the Bottom 32! Way to go Greg!

In the Bottom 32, Greg met his match when he battled Kenny Chung. Then Kenny battled Robert Clinker, and Robert was able to pull off the win! Robert was able to hold it together and won the Bottom 32! This bumped Robert into the 31st spot in the Top 32!!! Great job Robert!

This brought us to the Top 32. Robert Clinker from Dialed In Smoked Out was matched up with Jason Fordyce of Team Super-G. Jason ended up being victorious, ending Robert’s run from the Bottom 32. Great Job Robert!

The Top 32 all came down to Bret Trevino of Team Yokomo USA vs. Mikko Yang of Team ReveD USA battling for 1st and 2nd, and Alfredo Chan III of Team Weld Overdose vs. Jason Fordyce of Team Super-G battling for 3rd and 4th.

First up with Alfredo vs. Jason. Both of these guys are extremely strong drivers and we have witnessed these two battling countless times over the years. Both drivers put down amazing leads and amazing chases. They kept the proximity tight, and both were filling the zones as they should. Typically in battles like this, the judges are looking for who made the bigger error, but this time the driving was so good, it came down to who did it better. For both the Lead and Chase runs, Jason kept his line deeper. With everything else being about equal, this was enough to secure Jason the win, and lock down the 3rd spot on the podium! Congratulations Jason!!!

Finally it came down to the battle we had all been waiting for. Of 82 competitors, it all boiled down to 2, Bret Trevino vs. Mikko Yang for 1st and 2nd Place! First up was Bret on the Lead and Mikko on the Chase. Bret put down a near flawless lead run, and Mikko put down what is possibly the best chase I have seen him execute. It was clear he was leaving nothing to chance and was not going conservative at all. Then it was Mikko’s lead and Bret chasing. Mikko went aggressive and we saw the old Bret chase return. Aggressive and tight the entire time. Between Zone 3 and 4, there was some contact made, and the judges needed to go to the replay. As it turns out, Mikko was going into the last turn a bit too hot, so he choked up to avoid hitting the wall. With Bret’s tight proximity, that much of a disruption in speed and line was enough to cause the contact. This was enough to put Mikko solidly in 2nd, and locking Bret into the top spot on the podium!

Congratulations Mikko on 2nd Place, and a huge congratulations to Bret for coming out 1st AND Top Qualifier of 82 competitors!!! Either are an accomplishment by themselves, but to pull off both in a single comp, what else can be said other than Bret was on fire!

Thank you to everyone who came out! You guys all made Round 2 run smoothly! We always appreciate all the support and we look forward to doing it all again for Round 3! Also a big thank you to ScaleMagic and Ninjonaah for coming out to cover the event!

Congratulations to First Place - Bret Trevino of Team Yokomo USA, Second Place - Mikko Yang of ReveD USA, and Third Place - Jason Fordyce of Team Super-G!!!