ROCKINGHAM — Casey Rodriguez made the 10-hour drive home from Rockingham Speedway on Sunday $800 richer.
Rodriguez, of northwest Ohio, took home the prize after winning the Door Bangers Ball shootout at the half-mile Little Rock during MB Drift’s Spring Matsuri.
The open competition had eight competitors, including Rodriguez, 2024 MB Drift season champ Andy Lacause-Wright and 2024 Door Bangers Ball winner Gray Champion.
Competitors went head-to-head in tandem battles — taking turns leading and following — on the quarter-mile section of the paperclip track, built as a replica of Martinsville Speedway.
Driving a Nissan 350Z, Rodriguez bested Lacause-Wright and his ‘95 BMW M3 in the final battle to take home the top prize, which was determined by the number of drivers entered in the contest.
“The level of driving this weekend was spectacular with drivers pushing their cars and themselves to the absolute limit,” said Nathan McDuffie of Driftaholic Racing, who has been hosting the shootout since 2023.
Judges this year were: Joe Busam, winner of MB Drift’s 2021 season and the 2023 shootout; Nicholas Abbott, who secured the 2023 season championship by winning all four competitions; and Andreas Messner.
McDuffie said the judges “had to make some tough calls but their expertise helped make the event run smoothly.”
For placing second, Wright received a $500 voucher from Stage Wheels, and Matt Gancos was awarded a $300 gift card from On Point Parts for coming in third. All three of the top drivers will also get a dyno session from Cruzin Auto Performance in Fayetteville.
Rodriguez said he started drifting after watching a video of YouTuber and Formula Drift driver Adam LZ.
“That’s when I realized there was grassroots drifting and I was like, ‘That’s what I want to do,’” Rodriguez said. “So I bought a car like a week later.”
With there being only two or three tracks to drift in Ohio, Rodriguez said he and his friends travel across the north and northeast including Pennsylvania, Michigan and New Jersey.
This was his first time drifting at the Rock, both on the banked curves of Little Rock and the infield road course of the main track.
“The track is awesome, I love the track,” he said about Little Rock. “I like fast tracks and this was a pretty quick one — it chews tires up, but it’s pretty quick.”
As for the road course, Rodriguez said it was “fun.”
“You definitely have to know how to drive … with like a faster car,” he said. “Some of the manjis are a little close …but we made it work.
“I love how you can drive and drive and drive (and) don’t burn tires,” Rodriguez added.
The speedway repaved the road course in 2024 and drivers have been impressed with the increased longevity of their tires.
Rodriguez said he would like to return to Rockingham if his schedule allows it.
“We have normal day jobs — I’ve got to go to work tomorrow morning,” he said. “We have a stacked schedule so, if it ever allows it … we’d do it again.”
The Spring Matsuri cranked up Saturday with the road course split into two layouts to give drivers plenty of seat time and varying degrees of difficulty, with the action continuing throughout the evening and after dark. There was also action at the main track during Sunday’s competition.
MB Drift’s competitive season starts when the grassroots series returns the weekend of May 3-4. This year only has three competitions, with the other two being June 14-15 and Aug. 30-31.
There are also two other non-competitive events for the 2025 season: Summer Matsuri July 29-30; and Halloween Havoc Oct. 25-26.
Free ride-alongs are available for spectators 18 or older during non-competition runs.
This year marks 20 years since the founding of MB Drift and the organization’s fifth season at Rockingham Speedway.
Marshall Eggerling, MB Drift co-founder, told the RO in 2021 that the series started in 2005 to give young drifters “a place to have fun with their cars — not on the streets where they can get in trouble and get hurt.”
Drivers and passengers are required to wear helmets and be strapped in for safety.
Two drifters — Alex Bradley of Rockingham and Derick Gaskins of Rock Hill, South Carolina — will also be competing in the speedway’s Crown 9 Champion Series, which starts March 22 and is scheduled to feature nine races through November.
NASCAR returns to the Rock April 18-19 with the Crafstman Truck Series, Xfinity Series and ARCA Menards Series East. Tickets are still available.
See additional photos from Spring Matsuri at the writer's personal Facebook page.
