Female Spotlight: Luccia Cafiero

This is the one feature that I have been looking forward to write so I can really solidify my point in doing this project. The model turned driver.

When I began looking for female drivers and other inspirational women to feature, I knew I had to write about one that had always caught my attention that so happened to be sponsored by Turbo by Garrett. Her name is Luccia Cafiero and she is a Colorado based driver. When we first spoke over Facebook, she gave this laid back but very genuinely kind vibe that is rare for models in my opinion nowadays. She is not only gorgeous, but really knows her car and motorsport shit, which obviously attracts the male crowd. Nothing wrong at all with that, more power to ya girl, but other models that are "drivers" as well, have such a bad attitude and think they are God's gift to the world; they are just plain rude above all.

The merging of the two passions began about the sweet 16 age for Luccia when her now ex step father made the premature assumption that she would never make it in the motorsport industry. Shortly after signing with her current agency Donna Baldwin Talent, she decided to take another swing at racing. At about 17, she got her first STi and began making mistakes as well as learning from them all the while critics would sit and laugh at her mistakes. It's funny how people who aren't doing anything take pride in bringing others down, although, that usually motivates some people which in this case, motivated Luccia to push harder. About a year ago, she traveled out here to California to do work with Whiteline at Subiefest and eventually work SEMA with them following. There, she was able to properly network with people in the industry who also understood and saw her vision of professionally racing.

Although she has very few track days under her belt, she was given an opportunity to try Willow Springs out with a Crawford Racing BRZ where she without a doubt "prove to him and others that I was more than 'just a pretty face'". I have personally seen a lot of wannabe driver model types that rely on their looks and "pretty faces" to try and get their way, it is so refreshing that there is a pretty face with brains and dedication to back her dreams up. She is already sponsored by some heavy hitters including Turbo by Garrett, Whiteline Flatout, Turbosmart, Penrite Oil Company, and Suba Preformance, which you have to have something more than looks backing you to get these guys to take you seriously. Eventually the ones who are really in it for attention get their cover blown and are soon forgotten, however, with this road racing rookie, she will be nearly impossible to forget.

"I think being a women in this world presents its positives and negatives.  I want to prove to people that I'm not just some model that pretends to be a racer.  I actually want to be good at this and present realistically good outcomes from my driving.  I have a lot to learn and a lot to improve on, but it's something I am very focused on doing, just like what I was able to do with my modeling.  I try to keep the two of them balanced in different ways.  I was able to reach 10k followers on my Instagram through presenting my passions to a wide spread audience.  I am still to this day surprised that 10k people find my life so interesting, probably more than I do!  A lot of people like me because I'm "pretty," and I put pretty in that context because I am not one to at all call myself a pretty girl or talk about my looks, and because of my passion for cars, especially my build.  I am also very strict on the type of photos I put out there.  I am a firm believer in quality of photos because of my extensive background in fashion modeling.  Modeling and cars are two separate things for me.  Although, I do mix the two at times, I find it very relaxing to have two outlets to escape to when one may be more stressful than the other.  It's a perfect balance".

I can't wait to see what more seat time and development brings this talented woman in the next seasons, personally I'd like to see her one up the guys at Pike's Peak one day! I'm sure with her driver and backing of sponsors, that is going to seem more and more like a plan than a dream.













Oh, and let's not forget her tech sheet! 
2004 Subaru Impreza WRX STi


Engine:
GTX3071R with an ATPTurbo stock location kit
Turbosmart EWG 44mm
Turbosmart Duel Port BOV
Manley Rods
JE Pistons
OEM Crank, head studs, case halves
ACL bearings
KOYO radiator
Crawford Performance AOS
Cobb Intake 
Walbro 255 fuel pump
Processwest TMIC


Suspension/misc.:
Tien Super Street coil overs (soon to purchase racing coils)
Whiteline 22mm front sway bar
Whiteline 24mm rear sway bar
Whiteline front and rear endlinks
Whiteline powersteering rack bushings
Whiteline front and rear diff bushings
Whiteline anti-roll lift kit
Whiteline roll centre kit
TIC linkage bushings
Kart Boy shifter bushings
Penrite racing coolant and oil

Enkei RP03 17x9
Nitto NT05's
Cobb V2 AP
Custom rear diffuser, front splitter, brake ducts
Slotted front and rear rotors
Currently deciding on a racing brake pad
Stainless steel brake lines
And soon to be E85 tuned by Travis at Snail Performance 

Luccia says the list will obviously change as she gets dialed in more, along with moving out here to California to further pursue racing in the professional light. One thing that is cool about her, she never sounded entitled, she is sincere and thankful for all the help and challenges that will ultimately make her an amazing racer in the near future.

Product Review: Mother's Polishes, Wax, and Cleaners

I own am 08 Mercedes C300, and I am guilty of neglecting the poor thing. The carpet is tinted with a soft brown haze, there is makeup in the gear box boot, and the outside, don’t even get me started… She stays outside, so you can imagine the hard water stains on the doors and fenders. Thanks to our friend John Nadri, we have some great detailing products from Mother’s that brought my car back to life.

We first scrubbed down and vacuumed at our local car wash. We did not towel off the car and brought it back damp to the garage. Starting from the inside, we used Mother’s VLR spray all over the seats, dash, steering wheel, and any where my powdered makeup landed. Next after scrubbing in the VLR, we used the new Mother’s Leather Wash Foaming Cleaner for a deeper clean and to restore the leather especially in the back seats. Once the leather was done we moved on to the outside to clay bar. Yukio explained that cars should be clay bar’d 2 a year to remove the contaminates that are trapped within the top coat. 

The clay bar system comes with two small gummy like bars of clay (duh) that smell like cinnamon and Showtime spray that generously gets applied to the car so the bar can “glide” over.  My car was so abused from the elements, it felt like I was reading brail with how much the little bar was collecting. After every few passes, it is important to kneed and fold over the bar for a fresh patch of clay to continue removing all the gunk within the paint. While I was still clay bar-ing, Yukes helped expedite the process by laying down and buffing in Mother’s synthetic wax Liquid & Paste. The wax comes with a round sponge to apply a generous coat on the already clay smudged areas. I was told it is better not to buffer in a circular motion, rather horizontally and vertically, just enough to where it will haze. 

While we waited for the hazing to settle in, we used Mother’s glass cleaner for the windows, rear view mirror, windshield, and rear window. Pretty explanatory. I took care of the glass while Yukes applied Mother’s Back to Black tire renew to my Achilles Radial shoes and polished them to a shiny finish. The final step was taking a super soft microfiber towel and going over the no longer hazed wax on the car for that final glossy finish. My car hasn’t looked this good, well, since the last time Yukio detailed it about 5 onths ago, and of course when I first tested it off the lot at the dealership. It is so shiny you can CLEARLY see any reflection that comes it's way!

 

 so pretty!

I highly recommend Mother’s polishes-waxes-cleaners products to anyone who is serious about keeping a show car appearance or just have a lot of pride in their important investment. Big thank you to John Naderi for generously hooking us up and of course, Yukio for being patient and teaching me the ropes in proper car detailing.

The Weekly

What an awesome holiday weekend it was! I hope you all had lots of fun and didn’t make your liver send you an angry letter this morning. This was the first weekend in about 5 weeks that I got to spend with my turbo by Garrett busy bee and it was one of the best in a long time; everything from spring cleaning (yawn) to car activities, and hanging out on the town. We even saw 3 super cars, except I’ve seen Ferraris daily driven constantly in Redondo Beach, so I only count the black on black LFA in Palos Verdes or the sexy silver SLS on 190th st.

Memorial Day weekend began after I got off work and returned to the Taira/Candelario nest with additional groceries for one of my favorite dinners we make together; do it yourself pizza. Yukio has a whole shelf of liquor, with Grey Goose being my poison and a long week under my belt, I was definitely drinking few cosmos. Long talks on life, motorsports, and everything in between, the night turned out to be just perfect, especially with our bunny Nico running all over the place and discovering beyond the living room.

Saturday was such a beautiful day and started off great especially after knocking out like a rock the night before. Today was the day that Yukio would fulfill his goal of finally getting a small piece of the American dream; a grill. This was just necessary for such a weekend, ALL our neighbors had theirs out and we needed to hop on that bandwagon! Of course with most shopping trips, it is nearly impossible to get in and out with what is needed, and for us, that is constantly the story. We walked out with a grill and apparent expensive vacuum that was double what the price said. Being the total woman I am and not wanting to leave wrong, I insisted on going back in and making sure we really just bought the $150 cleaning tool that was listed for $90. The chick who helped us decided to just give it to us for that price since it was so confusing to understand, thank goodness for my nosiness and holler for understanding Walmart employees!

After getting home and setting up our new toys for the apartment, it was time to light up that piece of the American dream with flammable liquids and woodchips. I haven’t used a coal/woodchip grill in ages, so when I heard “relax, I’ve done this before” along with seeing huge flames spew from the small grill I believed we were totally screwed. Of course, my boyfriend is worldly and intelligent, so we didn’t die, and our dinner of pork and veggies turned out AMAZING. Again, drinks, movie, and bunny on the loose followed to make it a second great night.

Sunday morning soon began, started with our morning routine of snuggling up next to each other and checking our social media accounts. My day started on the right foot since my favorite F1 driver, Nico Rosberg, got pole position during qualifying for Monaco. *sigh* F1 Monaco, one day I’ll get to cover that event WITH driver interviews. A girl can dream, can’t she? After our daily dose of phone time, we got ready for the Hermosa Beach street festival. I remember going to one of those years ago, and this time it was spent with someone who would crack jokes at the awkward people that always seem to be at these things. The string of booths was a descent size, the middle of everything was the entrance to the pier and bars that sprinkled all around. Everything from art vendors, boutiques, and driveway pavers were present and interesting to take a gander at. There was a really interesting booth where a guy had dipped leaves, acorns, baby pinecones, even peanuts in 24k gold and you could create your own necklace or earrings with them.  It’s been a while since I’ve really gotten any trinkets for myself, so Yukio had me pick one to make my own necklace. It was really sweet, especially since he knows I like things that are unique and not cookie cutter to what everyone else owns. After the street festival, we headed home to change but ended up staying. Okay, I ended up falling asleep on the couch, but how could I not? There was a gorgeous breeze, the sun was out, and Yukio was playing Halo on Xbox. Nap time was no compromise. Like the past 2 perfect nights; survived to start of the grill, amazing dinner on the patio, hookah with movies, and Nico running laps around the house.

Monday morning had arrived so quickly, and today we were going to FINALLY clean out my stupid car. If you knew the stupid story behind my car, you would understand why I am so mean and neglect the damn thing. First things first, we needed to find a new spot for breakfast burritos, since our usual Grace Deli’s had closed down and Yukio is a total foodie for excellent burritos. We found a little Mexican restaurant in Manhattan Beach on Sepulveda that hit the spot and made decent chilaquiles, which is what I had been jonesing for lately. Finally, we got to my car, and gave her a much needed scrubbing. After vacuuming the inside, we headed home to where the fun really started. Yukio’s good friend John Naderi sent a care package of Mother’s Polish brand detailing supplies a while ago, and we used everything in that box to make my little Benz sparkle like the day I bought it. It took about 3 hours from wash to wax total, but we got the job done! Feel free to check out my review on all the Mother’s products we used to detail my car with!

During the clay bar-ing, Yukio told me stories about his show car days with his Camary he built and showed at HIN, DUB, and other car shows back in the day. After working together, my little C300 absolutely sparkled! I was then informed we needed to take a cruise to enjoy our hard work along with take glamour shots of it, so a drive to my favorite spot in Palos Verde was our destination. The rest of our weekend was spent just relaxing at home after I treated my detailing teacher to some in n out. This long weekend was so nice being spent doing few things here and there as well as some much needed productive activities that included our new vacuum and cleaning out my car. The rest of the work week should fly by and I am really looking forward to the adventures next weekend has planned for us.

xoxo Drift Bunny

I love you.

Today is a special little landmark in my life. It has been 6 months since things have been "official" my my boyfriend Yukio and I and about 7 months since we have been together. Sure, 6 months is a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of life, however this time in my life have been the most intense and precious time in my adult life. In social media, people will share their spectrum of emotions or keep it light and positive, light and positive is what I do my best to continue. The past couple of months have been quite challenging with being laid off from a temporary work assignment to the hurdle of adapting to cohabitation. I am so human; I whine, complain, I want to run away. On the flip side of the coin, I am happy, secure and the sun shines. Now it is clear to me that these rough patches are going to always happen and I need to have faith it will be okay. Love is more than just love, it is a process that includes patience and hard work, which is now clear to me.

Although it's been a journey, it's one that is accompanied by with a wonderfully intelligent, imperfect, loving, smart mouthed, beautiful soul that is my partner in crime and boyfriend. Thank you for supporting me when I was down, challenging me with life experienced, and loving every bit of my perfectly flawed existence. You make my world worth fighting for because you are so special and I will never stop shaking my head at those who have deliberately hurt you. I promise to keep trying and keep doing beyond my best to make something successful of myself.

My support, my muse, my best friend , my Yukio. I love you dearly through thick and thin.

Here's to the next 6 months, year and years to come.

Female Spotlight: Denise Lmamas

There are few people in this crazy industry that I would consider a friend and even fewer that I’d say I am close to. One of those is none other than real girl drifter Denise Llamas. I have known Denise for about 5 years now and I haven’t come across many girl drifters that not only know their stuff, but live the sport. She lives in the beautiful San Gabriel part of Los Angeles. Together with her boyfriend Daniel (DK), they run the shop Garage Life in El Monte. Opposites do attract because Daniel runs a competition FC with temperamental rotaries and Denise runs a competition S14 with preferred pistons.

 

 

 

Cars have always run in the family and driving for Denise began at the age of 6. Her dad was a mechanic and she wanted to mimic what he did, so she began to tinker with her Barbie battery powered ride. She later upgraded to a Honda Civic that she would race here and there in the street racing scene of the Philippines, and not surprisingly, her mom raced her Lancer (Hi Denises’ mom! I need to come visit for those clear noodles soon!).  Eventually, Denise moved to the United States where she discovered Drifting and soon began her journey down this path.  Sooner than later, she met Chuck Uemura who first inspired her with drifting with canyon runs and sliding around corners on the streets. Usually when you meet one person from a group of friends in Drifting, you tend to meet them all shortly after which is exactly what happened. The 626 Drift family is such a tight knit little community and their passion for the sport is undeniable, true family of enthusiasts which Denise was welcomed into.

 

 

 

In the beginning, Denise was asked to join one of the first and well respected all female teams Drifting Pretty where serious female Drifters ran together after proving their skills and dedication. She has also run with groups like JustDrift!, Drift Social, RAD experience, as well as her own group she started, Suislide Girls. Currently, Denise competes in TopDrift, the completion series of JustDrift. Besides knowing how to drive, she also is very handy with her own car, not just one of those girls who claim to know things, throw out few terms and get attention. She does WORK and that also contributes to her skills, knowing your car and the mechanics of it makes you so much more in sync.

 

Denise is definitely one Drifter who needs to be watched as she fine tunes her skills on the track and eventually to the big stage of Formula D. Not only does she dedicate herself to absorbing what is learned with seat time, she prides herself in knowledge with motorsports and the vehicles themselves. I really hope more and more young females can appreciate the journey it takes to make something of themselves in the Drifting industry. It takes more than slothing around, and Denise proves it with her take no prisoners attitude that blazes a trail for the next generation of ladies. Here is to you my dear friend, one of the few female pioneers still out there representing the spirit of Drifting and all that goes along with it.

Weekend Report

This weekend was the first time in 3 weeks I got to spend with Yukio, but because we are officially in the motorsport season, this was another race weekend. 

Friday Yukio was out in Pomona supporting the first day of the weekend for his teams while I was up on the westide of LA working away in my new awesome job. We decided it would be a good idea to have a date night before knowing the next two evenings would be spent falling asleep early from heat exhaustion due to the heat off the track. It's moments like date nights that remind us that we are just regular people outside of racing and it is important to keep it in check off the asphalt.

Saturday morning rolls around and it is time to head out to the famous Pomona drag strip. I have been there before, ironically, that is where I first experienced Drifting almost a decade ago. We get there and meet up with the one and only Bro Photo aka Kyle Lewis that has been shooting for Yukes since forever. Turbo by Garrett has 4 cars that race out of about 80 teams in the series more or less and there is one dragster that is a 2jz with Garrett turbos. Three of the 4 come from the shop MMR (Modular Mustang Racing) from up in Camarillo which is super close to where I grew up. They specialize in of course, mustangs, in which they began specializing in mustang part installations and eventually began turbo charging few years after prototyping and installing super charger kits. The owner Mark expanded his knowledge in aftermarket for mustangs by learning the science of airflow dynamics when he accepted a position working for Best Products/Pro-M. 

The other car belongs to Garret’s distributor, Turbos Direct. They run their Outlaw 10.5 2005 Mustang W/ Smith Racecraft Backhalf that produced a Best 1/4 ET 6.62 @223 MPH and a Best 1/8 ET 4.32 @177 MPH. This was my second NMCA event, and I am starting to understand the complexity that goes into Drag racing; the different classes, brackets, mods, rules, everything. As with any other motorsport, there is a lot of waiting around for your drivers to run, but when they have their turn after patiently waiting in the staging lanes, it is nothing short of pure adrenaline. At Fontana, I got my first taste of how badly methanol burns, and to listen and smell for those cars, my eyes and lungs burned like hell!

We basically sat in the VIP box the entire time with our friend Rossy and Yukio’s pal from Turbosmart, Marty. After qualifying, Rossy, Bro photo, and us went to Korean BBQ which is always a good idea. The food there was super fresh, especially their chicken, which still had a feather on it despite being friend and dead. Yum, yum, super fresh feather chicken!

Saturday night is not complete without a date night to our favorite hookah spot in Redondo Beach, skyline hookah. The ambience is very upscale club setting, but they don’t have their liquor license, which draws a younger crowd. Unfortunately more and more it feels like high school seniors hang out here with their vapes and talk about how PCP and pills don’t show up on drug screening. Always a good time I suppose? Yukio has a fan boy there as well, he is so fascinated with Yukes’ WRX and always tries to start up a conversation on builds and what he is getting next. So adorable!
Soon after it was Sunday morning and time to hit Pomona for the finals, all of the Garrett cars had qualified. Again, lots of waiting around for our bracket, the Turbo by Garrett Pro Mod. Everyone ran really well and laid down some solid time,and we had one podium for Mickey Thompson Tires True Ten 5, Mark Luton, the owner of MMR. 

We ended the race weekend with a quick visit to my aunt, uncle, and cousins down the street from the track and dinner at Malibu Fish Grill which was just about the most amazing thing I’ve had in a while. If you are in the South Bay, I highly recommend you try it! To top off the exciting weekend, we gave into our guilty pleasures and tried a new ice cream sandwich place, Baby G’s on PCH in Hermosa Beach. Another weekend of successfully combining racing with cohabitation which will get tested again with more and more race events coming up soon. Never a dull moment, and that’s the way I like it.

xo Drift Bunny