The U.S. Premier Overdose Cross Games at Super-G

July 16, 2024

This past weekend was definitely a memorable one for the U.S. Drift Scene. Super-G had the honor of hosing the very first Overdose Cross Games in the United States. This has been a long time in the making, and this year everything lined up to make it possible! From the very beginning, the goal was to bring Japanese style competition to the U.S. We have all known there are differences, but to experience it first hand was a dream for many. We were glad we could finally make it happen.

 

The weekend started out early Friday morning. Joe and I headed to LAX to pick up our guests, Atsushi, Ryo, Junta, and Taka. We headed straight to Porto’s to grab breakfast before starting the day.  During that time, we found out Junta was looking to have an American style hamburger, “hard to eat.” We were hoping to make that happen, but the schedule was tight this time around. We would attempt to make this happen over the weekend, but the best we were able to do was a 4x4 from In N Out, and a Triple from Wendy’s. Next time we hope to really get him what he’s asking for.

 

From Porto’s we headed straight to Super-G since they wanted to dial in the layout and get the line set before we opened. We had set the layout from a drawing provided a few weeks before their arrival, but of course they would need to tweak it a bit to match what they had in mind. I was really excited Atsushi adjusted to what he wanted for the competition. This ensured everyone would get the full Cross Games experience.

The session that evening was awesome! A lot of the people from out of town, as well as a lot of locals had shown up early to get some tuning and practice in. Not only was it a completely different layout, but the tire for the event were the new Buzz Break tires. They definitely have different characteristics than our spec tire. This made for an exciting new experience here. Roy Urata (Team Saiko) met with Atsushi to get the run down on the judging style for the competition.

After the track was set, Team Weld Overdose went to get checked in at their hotel. Took a break and rested up to come hang out at night. But there was a small field trip from the Hotel to Super-G. Ito-San and Junta wanted to check out Bass Pro Shop! 

In-N-Out was a must try! 

Sean Lewis made a DAY 1 video:

DAY 2

We picked up picked up the guys early for a quick breakfast at Dennys. Figured out the game plan for the day as we got some energy for the day.

Saturday - Cross Games Competition

Doors opened at 11am and there were plenty of people here ready to get to it. Since it was a pre-sale event, things went really smoothly. All competitors picked up their competitors package - badge, shirt, and tires. Then they could get right to it.

The Judges

The judges for the event would be Atsushi Ito and Roy Urata (Team Saiko). Roy spent a few hours Friday and also Saturday going over how Cross Games would be judged. Interestingly, we were under the impression the rules would be strict. Different, but strict. As it turned out, Cross Games is meant to be a more relaxed and fun style competition. It is judged more on what the judges would like to see, and less on the hard set rules which more serious competitions are based on. This made for a really fun and exciting competition. Definitely different than our typical comps here.

Qualifying

This was a very exciting part of Cross Games. Qualifying consisted of 2 rounds of 1 run each then the Top 16 would be seeded. Then a final round of 1 run each to get into the Top 8 of the last bracket.

The first round, no scores were announced, so everyone did their first run, and did not know how they did. Being different rules, it was really a mystery to everyone and tensions were high as they waited to find out how they did.  After the 64th competitor finished their first run, the results were posted, slowly. The way the results came out, was in small batches. It felt as if they were being shuffled as more and more scores were added. Finally settling on who the Top 16 were after Round 1.

The top 3 for the first round were:
Joe Durkee (Team Super-G), Ryo Ishii (Team Weld Overdose), and Charles Ong (Tech 1 Drift)

Now on to the second round. The first round scores were now posted, so after each second round run, the competitor’s score was posted and everyone watched as the positions were shuffled. Many of the top 16 of the first round were knocked down and out of the top 16. This meant they would need to attempt to qualify for the battles in the final round of qualifying. Watching Ryo and Junta drive was an amazing experience. At the same time, it was good to see many U.S. drivers putting down some really good runs along side of them. I mean, this is what we came to see, right?

The top 3 overall for the Top 16 were:
Ryo Ishii (Team Weld Overdose), Joe Durkee (Team Super-G), and Alfredo Chan III (Team Weld Overdose). Great job guys!

The final 8 qualifiers would now all start fresh with no points carrying over from the previous rounds. Only the top 8 would be competing in the upcoming battles. This was a one time shot, top 8 scores move on! The pressure was clearly on. You could see it in the competitors faces. This wasn’t SDC where everyone moves on. This was cut throat, top 24 and that is it.

In the end, the Top 3 were:
Shaine Collins (Rogue Factory), Jayson Flores (Tech 1 Drift), and Jaycen Wong (Team Super-G)

This brought us to the Top 24 Battles, and as expected they were as exciting as ever. Every battle was good since this was the crème de la crème from the start. It all came down to the Final 4, Ryo (Team Weld Overdose) vs. Joe Durkee (Team Super-G) for First and Second Place. Charles Ong (Tech 1 Drift) vs. Jason Fordyce (Team Super-G) for Third and Forth Place.

First up was Charles vs. Jason. Both the runs were clean and exciting. A decision was made, but Atsushi decided the result would not be disclosed until the award ceremony.

Then it was time for the battle we had all been waiting for, Ryo vs. Joe. Both these drivers had been driving well all weekend! Joe was TQ (Top Qualifier) for the first round of qualifying, but ultimately Ryo took the TQ spot over all with Joe in the second qualifying spot. Both were undefeated for the entire day. On Joe’s way to the top, he even faced legendary Junta Shiroi (Team Weld Overdose). So it’s safe to say Joe was on his A Game.

Out of the gate, it was Ryo on the Lead and Joe on the Chase. Ryo put down a very clean lead. Hard flicks and solid lines throughout the run. On Joe’s Lead he was able to put down a very solid run as well. Ryo had answered back with a very tight Chase and remained on Joe’s door the entire run. On Joe’s Chase, he had a bit of an issue going into Zone 2 which seemed to seal his fate, and lock down a very hard fought and well deserved Second Place! Ryo of course with his immaculate performance took home the Top Spot, First Place!!! Charles Ong landed that Third Spot.

Congratulations to the winners!

Ryo Ishii (Team Weld Overdose) - First Place, Joe Durkee (Team Super-G) - Second Place, and Charles Ong (Tech 1 Drift) - Third Place

This would conclude the competition part of the Overdose Cross Games USA Premier. Next up, the Overdose Cross Games Matsuri!

 

 

Sunday - Overdose Cross Games Matsuri!

The Matsuri started at 11am and was packed from the moment we opened. Most of the competitors from the night before were there, as well as a lot of people who showed up just for the matsuri. Ryo and Junta were present to get doors with everyone, as well as help with setups and even allow people to drive their cars! Truly a great experience for everyone present.

 The entire day was filled with just good driving and a lot of laughs and fun! Around 3pm we had a raffle! We started out with Overdose giving a ton of prizes! For the final 5, Overdose had hats. Atsushi played Rock, Paper, Scisors / Roshambo / Jon Ken Po, It was everyone vs. Atsushi! Alfredo Chan III (Team Weld Overdose) won a round, so Atsushi said NO! Ha ha! Then Bret Trevino (Team Yokomo) won! Atsushi had to question Bret to see if it was Ok to win an Overdose Hat! Ha ha! It was a lot of fun. Then it was time for the Super-G part of the Raffle. Since it was an Overdose event, of course we had to give away some Overdose wheels, Bodies, and for the grand prize, the latest version of the Overdose Galm!!!

 

 

We just let the event run its course, and it started to die down around 9pm. With everyone needing to catch flights, and get home to rest up for work on Monday, it just seem like it was about the right time.

 

What an honor

Working with Overdose for the first ever Cross Games in the United States has been nothing short of amazing! This has been in the works for years now, but finally this year the schedules aligned and it became a reality. We had enjoyed sharing thoughts and theories with Atsushi throughout the weekend and I believe we all learned a lot on both sides. I know I did.

We need to give a big thank you do Roy Urata from Team Saiko for stepping up to the task of judging. You did an amazing job! Thank you to Shaine Collins and Rogue Factory for all your help in the prep leading up to the event, as well as during. Also Scalemagic, Ninjonah, Sean Lewis Media, and Street Animal for covering the event. An extra huge thank you to all of you who supported and participated in this memorable event. This couldn’t be possible without your support. And finally the Legendary Team Weld Overdose - Atsushi, Ryo, Junta, and Taka! Thank you for traveling all the way from Japan to give the U.S. Drift Community such a fun annd memorable event! This is definitely one to go down in history. All of us here at Super-G are looking forward to the next project together!!!

LIVE STREAM:

SEAN LEWIS COVERAGE: