NonStopTuning’s commitment to research & development includes putting products to the test in professional motorsports series and competitions.  NST has campaigned drivers in Formula Drift, holds records for most podium finishes during back to back Xtreme Drift Circuit National Championships, and holds multiple FD Pro Am Lone Star Drift Championships.

Check out the latest Alex Lichliter promo video to see a number of our products in action during the 2023 Formula Drift season! 

NonStopTuning Hydraulic Handbrakes:
CNC machined and anodized for extra strength and durability
Pass Through Master (single caliper) included with each handbrake
Dual Master (dual caliper) can be added as an upgrade
Three colors: Silver, Black, Neochrome

NonStopTuning Pulley kits: 
70-75% weight reduction vs OEM
Dyno Proven Horsepower & Torque
Better Throttle Response & Fuel Economy
​Ongoing Research & Development: 50+ Engines offered
Custom Pulleys Available As Special Order Items
Five colors: Red, Black, Purple, Blue, Gold

NonStopTuning Forged Steel Lug Nuts:
Full engagement, open top to accommodate long race studs
Quality Forged Steel for strength and durability
Compact size to fit small diameter wheel holes
​Backed by a full One Year warranty

NonStopTuning Steering Wheel Kits:
Carbon Fiber, Classic Leather, Alcantara Steering Wheels
Short Hubs & Splined Quick Releases for most Makes & Models
Seven Colors: Black, Red, Gold, Blue, Titanium, Purple, Neochrome

NST - NonStopTuning
​www.NonStopTuning.com

Our history in St Louis ranges from very good to very bad. This track has provided me with my 1st podium in pro-am, 1st place win in Pro 2 and 1st place qualifier in Pro but also was the only track I didn't qualify at in 2022. This year I wanted to leave World Wide Technology Raceway on a high note.

Thursday started out a bit rocky.. The first lap out, I threw down a killer lead run on the new improved layout but in the last corner my high pressure power steering line sprung a leak. Luckily we had all the parts to fix it but it did take some time and we ultimately lost out on a good deal of practice. Eventually I was able to get back out and get a few practice runs in. The weather was hot and humid which made for a very slick track all weekend. I was able to find my groove and felt good going into qualifying. Our first qualifying run started off great, I threw down snappy transitions and filled all the zones. However, in the last corner I went slightly too deep and tapped the wall which caused me to straighten before the finish resulting in an incomplete. Thankfully I was able to put down a safe second run and get us into the show.

We had a day off on Friday to watch ProSpec and hang out with fans which is always nice, especially because the weather was less than ideal for driving. By the time competition came around on Saturday the weather had cleared up and we found ourselves battling 3x champion, Fredric Aasbo. I knew that I had to throw it all out there in my runs and couldn't leave anything on the table. Chasing first, I initiated super aggressive on his door and made some contact in the first corner. We were both able to hold it together but it did put me slightly off line eventually causing me to spin in the last corner trying to gain proximity back. The judges deemed shared fault and due to the contact we were both able to take 5 minutes to check the car out and verify the alignment was ok to complete the battle. On my lead run I knew I had to stay deep and consistent in all the zones and hope for an independent mistake from him in the chase. When I got back on throttle after initiation the rear wheel dipped just slightly over the edge of the track and into a huge rut that had been dug out by cars all weekend. The rut grabbed the rear of the car and the front began to understeer at which point I lost feeling in the front end. I tried to find where the wheel was at and get the car transitioned for the second outer zone but the car was super unsettled and ultimately caused me to straighten out.  

It was a huge bummer, not so much because we lost the battle but because our runs had been pretty on point all weekend up until then. But those minor mistakes tend to compile and can lead to a botched run pretty quickly. Moving forward we are focused on consistency for the remainder of the season as that will be the key to getting up on the podium! Luckily we didn't move in points and retain our 21st position out of the 36 drivers. With 3 events left in the season we are pushing for a top 10 finish overall and will continue to strive for that goal! 

WORDS: Alec Robbins
​PHOTOS: grandschemeviews

NST - NonStopTuning
​www.NonStopTuning.com

Every event seems to have less hospitable conditions than the last one and FD St Louis was definitely on brand in this regard. We arrived and got the car unloaded in blistering heat and humidity, and were lined up ready for practice bright and early on Thursday.

One advantage to the new St Louis layout (the track was widened significantly in OZ3) for me was that all drivers were on an equal playing field as it meant nobody had experience on the track. I got about five practice laps in and was battling a bit of a front end steering issue as well as a melting fuse issue that meant we needed to take a bit of extra time between runs to get the car cooled down and change fuses. 

We rolled pretty quickly from practice right into competition and I 5th to qualify given my standing from previous rounds - the car felt good and I was able to put down a run that felt pretty solid, scoring a 79.66 - given the high scores at New Jersey, I wasn't sure if it would be enough to keep me in the top 24, but as qualifying went on it started to look more and more like I was going to be in the upper half of the qualifiers, which was somehow more stressful than knowing I would have to run again - I ended up qualifying P9, which for my third FD event, I was very happy with. 

As the first qualifying runs came to a finish, something else also became apparent - my qualifying position would match me up to battle with Kelsey Rowlings for the first ever female battle in Formula Drift - I have to say I was pretty excited to get to be a part of such a historical moment!

On Friday morning, we put the car in line and I went in for the drivers' meeting before practice. St Louis had other plans, however, and midway through the drivers' meeting, pandemonium broke loose outside, with a massive storm throwing tents all over the place and filling OZ4 with over a foot of water. Shockingly, this did absolutely nothing for the ambient temperature and by the time the FD crew had gotten the zones cleared out, it was just as sweltering as it had been before the storm.

Both myself and Kelsey had a very eventful practice - Kelsey did an impressive wall ride (50/50 board slide) on her first practice lap that had her crew working all the way until the end of practice to get the car back together and on my end, after two laps with continuing steering issues, we made the call to swap the entire steering system again, which we completed just in time to do one final practice lap - in tandem with Kelsey, conveniently enough!

The car felt good on that lap and I felt ready to come out swinging into our battle - always easier said than done, of course! The first battle had a few errors on both sides, and though I wanted the win, I can't say I was disappointed when the judges called for a One More Time - if you have two women battling for the first time EVER in FD history, I think it's definitely worth running the battle again!

We got the tires swapped and the car ready to get back to the line, however, this time in the burnout box I felt a weird clunk from the rear end. The burnout box is pretty hectic in St Louis, with a lot of potholes and generally uneven surfaces - I continued into battle without too much more thought, but I definitely struggled to control my angle and speed of car rotation, especially on my follow run, which I believe ultimately cost me the win since I over-rotated in my follow in OZ4.  We measured the rear toe when I brought the car back in and I gained 1" of toe out, which does explain the difference in handling that I experienced. 

Kelsey took the well-deserved win and that brought the competitive part of St Louis to a close for me, and although I would have very much preferred to continue onward through the brackets, I left St Louis proud of my progress and especially proud of my qualifying position. I hope to improve on both the next round. 

As always, it is surreal and incredible to experience each part of this journey - my crew continues to grow and always makes sure I make it to the line in time, and I am so thrilled to be on this journey with the NonStopTuning team. Since the East coast portion of the FD year is coming to a close, the S14 is headed back to the West Coast for a refresh, and some more practice days for me before the final ProSpec round in Utah. I can't wait!  

WORDS: Zandara Kennedy
PHOTOS: Tracking Focus

NST - NonStopTuning
www.NonStopTuning.com

Alex Lichliter and the NST 86 visit St Louis for round 3 of the 2023 Formula Drift ProSpec Series. It was a hot one!

NST - NonStopTuning
www.NonStopTuning.com

Wednesday – Load in
Happy to be back at STL. Last year I had made it to the Great 8, we had good data, and vibes were great! As always, it was disgustingly hot this week. Temps in the high 90’s and even up to 100. Luckily, we have Chads RV this year so we felt like kings having AC at the track :) We did our track walk, which is important to do at every round. But it was extremely important this time because STL made some changes to the track. They poured new asphalt, widening OZ3 by like 100 feet! We were all out there trying to determine where we thought the lines would be, since those were not painted yet. We needed tires to be mounted, but the truck delivering the tires were delayed a few hours. When they did arrive, we helped Tirestacks unload them (1040 tires) in 100 degree weather. That was fun. Lol. They got 10 tires mounted up for us, and the guys were able to complete the nut and bolt check. We were ready for practice the next day. We left the tack around dinner time. It had started thunder storming and raining so we were concerned about track conditions early in the morning…

Thursday – Practice/Qualifying
This track has hot pits, which means we need to make an additional pit, closer to the track. If something severe would happen to our car, we are allowed to go back to the trailer. But normal things like tire changes and fuel would be done at hot pits. Hot pits is about 5 mins drive away from the trailer. One of the cool things about STL is that the hot pit section is in a covered garage with electricity, so we did not need to bring a tent. We were able to start setting up our hot pit at 9am, followed by a drivers meeting at 9:30am. Immediately after the meeting, practice was hot from 10am-1:15pm. We didn’t get out of the drivers meeting until 10:15am, which delayed practice. There were a bunch of wrecks early on in practice too. The track was still a little wet in some spots, but it was drying up quickly. I finally got my first practice lap after about 45 mins of being in line. It looked good, but I felt like the car was under powered. I asked my spotter if it seemed under powered from the outside watching. I did another lap, and I was now 100% certain it was down. The guys took a quick look, and we noticed that the flex pipe on the passenger side had blown out. It looked like we would need to weld, and we didn’t have all the tooling to replace this at hot pits. So we all went back to the trailer and got to work. The guys did great, and in about 45 mins I was back out on track. On my next lap, I initiated and immediately felt something break. I assumed it was an axle, I was able to drive the car, but only the drivers wheel was making tire smoke. So back to the trailer it was to replace the axle. After the team completed the repairs, I went back out and got 2 more practice laps. So I got a total of 4 practice laps for the entire day. Now it went straight into Qualifying.

I was the 8th driver to qualify. So I felt good that I was able to do it pretty quickly after practice. This keeps my rhythm going well. I go out, and go 3 wheels off in OZ1. I couldn’t believe it! How did this happen? I didn’t take into consideration that the track surface was increasing in temperature and I would have less grip. I wish I would have taken 5lbs of air pressure out to make up for it. Good to know, as I now have to do another qualifying run. So a lot of time goes by, and its now my turn to redo my run. I thought I did great, filled OZ1 and 2, was short on OZ3, and did perfect in OZ4. But the judges only gave me a 69 pt score. Unfortunately, this was too low of a score, preventing me from being in the competition. In order to be in the show, you needed a 70.5. I missed it by a point and a half…

Tough weekend! Between the hot weather, random rainstorms that happened every day, mechanical issues, lack of practice, and low qualifying scores preventing me from being in comp blended together for not a fun weekend.

The team and I got to spend some time in STL. Sightseeing and having a night on the town was fun. We also went Go Karting at the track. It was lots of fun driving with the team. On Friday and Saturday, I was able to spend a lot of time with the fans. I also attended the autographing session, which is always a great time. I got to play SKATE (a skateboarding game) with a few fans. I think I’m going to make that a thing at EVERY FD event from this point on. It got interrupted by another crazy thunderstorm, but it was still a lot of fun. 

I’m down on season points. This is something that will haunt my thoughts for the next 8 weeks until SLC in September. But I love SLC, it’s my favorite track. So it’s time to start winning, and get some overall points! I’ll be doing lots of driving locally every weekend to maintain my driving skills to help prepare for SLC. See you guys in September!

​WORDS:  Alex Lichliter
PHOTOS: Ignition Source TV

NST - NonStopTuning
www.NonStopTuning.com

​Check out all the action as Alex Lichliter recaps his trip to New Jersey for round 2 of the 2023 Formula Drift ProSpec Series.  Alex and his supercharged LSX 86 are looking to surge in the second half of the season.

NST - NonStopTuning
www.NonStopTuning.com

Zandara Kennedy recaps her 2023 trip to Formula Drift New Jersey, detailing her first ever One More Time battle in Formula Drift!  Zee and her turbocharged JZ powered S14 are ready to charge on to St Louis!

NST - NonStopTuning
​www.NonStopTuning.com

​Alec Robbins recaps his 2023 Formula Drift New Jersey weekend in his Supercharged LS powered Nissan 350Z.  Half way through the 20th FD season and looking to charge forward!

NST - NonStopTuning
​www.NonStopTuning.com

In between ProSpec rounds 1 and 2 I got busy making adjustments to both car and driver to help prepare for New Jersey. This included flying to Orlando for a whirlwind trip to install nitrous into my car, extra training sessions in Taka Aono's 1JZ Is 300 (left foot + turbo practice), and arriving to New Jersey a few days early to get the S14 re-tuned and to do a day of testing.

Englishtown has an amazing support system, and Chris Napp helped us out with shop space, a truck and trailer to get the car to the dyno, and some track time.

As is common with drifting, nothing ever goes according to plan, and I ended up very glad for the extra time. The dyno went well, hearing the sound of the nitrous kick in was amazing - the car sounded so much more aggressive right away, and I was really excited to get out on track. Even though the forecast called for rain, we ended up testing in the dry, and while the engine performance felt amazing, I quickly noticed progressively heavier and heavier steering, especially closer to full lock, and then it became clear the pump had failed.

We replaced that pump rather quickly, and got back on track, only for the same symptoms to arise after just one lap. We made the call to replace the rack, the pump, and flush the system, which did solve the problem. In spite of all of the work on the car, I still went through 10 pairs of GT Radials – the car was definitely working!

I walked the track the night before practice and noticed many features that were not apparent on the livestream, including inches of flaking, caked on rubber, and steep drop offs towards the walls at the outside of the track.

The forecast for both the practice and qualifying days called for rain but that did not come before qualifying.  FD set up a dual burnout box for this event, and it was really efficient, allowing us to get a lot of laps in!  We battled a few small electrical issues, but I missed very few practice laps, keeping my crew busy by repeatedly ripping off the bumper on various walls.

Due to not qualifying in Atlanta, I was sitting on 0 points, and I had to qualify first. I was reasonably satisfied with my first qualifying run, though I did get a little deep into the wall, and I pulled a score of 67, which ultimately did not put me above the safe line and I went into the second round of knockout qualifying. I did my best to fix my second lap and received a 79.66, which was enough to put me in 30th place and I made the show.

The following day we had additional practice before competition and it rained heavily in the morning. While it started to dry up and dried up completely before the battles, I definitely struggled in the wet at the beginning of practice, and then as I was starting to get confident, I got a little too aggressive on the wrong line and slammed my driver's rear into the wall on initiation.  I relayed what I thought was damaged to the crew and rode with the car back to the pits. Luckily for us, I was one of the last battles in the top 32, and we were well prepared with spares.

By the time I made it back to the pits, my crew along with bonus Drift Cave team members GD and Matt Field, and FDF Race shop owner, Josiah Fallaise, were ready to go waiting for me. We assessed the damage and replaced the rear toe arm, a mounting bracket, bled the handbrake and removed, inspected and reinstalled the rear coilover.  I got very lucky - the wheel took the brunt of the damage and the rear arms worked as designed. We actually got the car back to the line more than 10 minutes before my battle.

My first battle was against Dmitry Brutskiy – a two time season champion for Prospec. Not the first battle I would have chosen, but I was excited for the challenge. It was a close battle and we initially thought we had taken it, but ultimately the judges called for one more time. In the second battle, I focused on correcting my chase run and being as aggressive as possible, and I definitely succeeded in that, however I was not as deep in the zones as Dmitry and ultimately the judges gave him the win.  Regardless of the outcome, I was happy that I was able to demonstrate that I could contend with one of the higher performing drivers in the ProSpec category. 

After competition, I once again had an opportunity to meet and interact with the fans at the autograph signing, and I was especially stoked to see so many female fans and a lot of French Canadians – people drive a long way to attend FD and it just speaks to the power of drifting to bring people together. I was also invited to be one of the drivers giving the track walk experience, and I really enjoyed chatting with the fans and explaining the track from my perspective.

From round 1 to round 2, I'm extre mely happy with my development as a driver. As we head towards round 3, I am Non Stop Training to put on an even better show in St Louis, and I couldn't be more happy to be working with the team that I have.

WORDS: Zandara Kennedy
PHOTOS: Ignition Source TV | Nickelbag Media

NST - NonStopTuning
www.NonStopTuning.com

Weds – Load in
Englishtown, NJ is probably my favorite FD event of the year. Both for the fans and the drivers. It has the highest attendance over any other round (30k spectators). It’s also only 3hrs away from where I live in Maryland, so it’s super convenient. We arrived at 3pm, got the car unloaded and set up our pit space. Tirestacks mounts all of our GT Radial tires for us, but they closed at 5pm so we squeezed that in to be better prepared for tomorrow. The team did a nut & bolt check over the car so that it was fully prepped and ready for practice in the morning. PS- this is the FIRST FD event that I am debuting my Wisefab angle kit. We all camped at the track at this round. I had my enclosed trailer, Chad had his Class A RV, so we were pretty set up! They guys stayed up, but I had a super boring night and totally went to bed early at 8:30pm.

Thurs – Practice / Qualifying
The day started early with putting the car in line for practice at 8am. As you guys know, practice has been shortened this year to only 3 hours so getting a good spot in line is crucial in order to get familiar with the track and its current conditions. While my team was getting the car prepped and ready in line, Mateen and I had a Drivers meeting to attend to at 8:30am. Practice was from 9am - 12:15pm (with a 15 min break halfway through). It had rained the night before, so conditions were wet! But we weren’t anticipating any more rain for the rest of the day so we decided to not waste too much time dialing in the car for wet conditions, considering it would most likely be dry within the hour. Practice went well. I felt extremely comfortable and the car was dialed in from last year’s data. We were able to get 8 practice laps! In fact, we had to stop practice about 30 mins early because we did not bring enough tires! I had brought 14, and we were down to 8. With qualifying approaching, we would only have 6 total for practice and comp the following day. This was NOT enough; it was time to source some tires!!! Shout out to Richard Advani for hooking me up with 10 more additional tires.

Qualifying started at 12:30pm. We were the 10th car to go, which was nice since I had just ended practice confidently and I could pick up right where I left off. I go out, run my qualifying lap, and did great! My qualifying run scored us a 76.33. I was pretty happy with that! But as I continued to watch the other drivers after me, I started to get nervous… Everyone was getting higher scores than me. It’s like I scored a 90% on my high school exam, but everyone else in the class got 91% or higher so overall, it doesn’t put me in the best spot in the class. The way that Knock Out Qualifying works is you do ONE qualifying run. Then, when every driver has done their one run, whoever is in the Top 24 is secured and in the competition the next day. For everyone else (the remaining 18 because there are 42 drivers), they have to do a SECOND qualifying run. Now, even if they did a perfect 100pt qualifying run on their second run, they would only be placed in the 25-32 section of the bracket. So watching every driver get a higher score than me made me wonder, am I going to have to do a second qualifying run? I was #24 and there was one more driver left to run. He is a fantastic driver and I was for sure going to get knocked down one more and put into #25th. But this is drifting, and anything can happen. Sure enough, he spun out resulting in a incomplete score, solidifying me in the Top 24 at 24th place! The team and I celebrated slightly, as we were making our way back to the pits to prepare to run again. Needless to say, the night was celebrated with good company, food, and smiles!

We ended the day with an autograph signing at 5:15pm. I spent the rest of the night engaging with fans and watching the show.