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There have been a couple of Pro drivers to come out of Atlanta. You can't talk about drifting in the A-T-L without mentioning them. First of the drivers is Andy Sapp, he drove during the heyday of Formula D from 2005-2008 with his BMW being the only European car in the series at the time. In 2009, Andy also took a year off from his full time job to shoot and edit a little film called, Slide America. While he was not driving this weekend he was in attendance at this event but with video camera in tow (as well as a pretty sweet moped). He has promised that his car will be back on the track soon (it currently has a busted LSD).
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Dennis Mertzanis is an Atlanta Native and still makes it out to events when he's in town. |
Second to come out of the great city, is the Greek Drifter himself, Dennis Mertzanis. Dennis started his drifting career in 2006 with various events on the Each Coast and continued this into the 2007 season. In 2008 he stepped up to the NOPI Drift series and 2009 competed at various events across the nation. This year and last year Dennis made the great leap into the world of Formula Drift and has not looked back, he racked up several top 32 qualifying spots and will be returning next season.
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A couple of series regulars: J.J. Alfano and Jonathan “Marty” Martin tandem at 2nd Inning. |
The Atlanta drivers list always has a list of great up and coming drivers and the practice events are always a spectacle. Layered through the day with single car and tandem runs it keeps the crowd always coming back to the lonely parking lot for great action. The cars that attend these events have a little something for everyone. There’s everything from your normal 240s and Corollas to Mustangs, Subarus, Q45s and even a couple trucks.
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Chad Copeland's 1973 Datsun 620. |
Chad Copeland's truck is always an eye catcher and gets a lot of oogles when sitting in the paddock. Chad built this truck in his garage and don't let it fool you, it's not just a normal Datsun truck. Basically his truck is a Datsun body and frame the rest is all 240SX. You can look up more info on his build and truck it's quite interesting what modifications are done to this little pickup.
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Mr. Copeland's truck is not the only unique truck that attends events in the Atlanta area. |
Turbo Dave's turbo V8 truck has been tearing up the track for a number of years. Its obviously Duke's inspired paint scheme is noticed by everyone who enters the paddock. Known to all as Turbo Dave, which also happens to be the name of his fabrication shop. Dave is known for some pretty unique builds in and around the Atlanta area.
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| Gary Morgan slides his Q45 around at these events. |
