The Bloodmaster's Axe: Tony Angelo's Scion FR-S

The Bloodmaster's Axe: Tony Angelo's Scion FR-S

Text by Justin Banner, Photos by Tony Angelo/TAngelo Racing

Just as it was announced on Facebook and discussed on MotoIQ Radio, Tony Angelo is retiring the tC. It was the car that started Scion into Formula Drift and, honestly, time has not been kind to it. Let's take a very brief look at 2012 with the tC before we head into Tony's new ride, the 2013 Scion FR-S.

Long Beach marked Tony Angelo's return to Formula Drift competition. He was a judge for two seasons along with being the Technical Manager for FD. At the end of 2011, the call of the driver's seat was too much and he stepped back in the cockpit once again. Initial testing looked promising and Tony really felt good being back in a competition car.  At Long Beach he would qualify and finish in the Top 32.

Road Atlanta brought better luck. He would once again qualify, but contact with Walker Wilkerson ended his run at the Top 16.

A little less luck would follow Tony into the humid, soggy test of Palm Beach. He would qualify as a Top 16 driver, but would finish in the Top 32 eliminations. It began to look as if he was starting to get the bugs worked out of the car.

ACTIVE AERO, not really. Here at Wall Speedway, Tony would qualify in the bottom half of the Top 32 and not make it out. It may have been a blessing in disguise as the guy who knocked him out, Chelsea "I GOTTA BIG WING" Denofa would later crash into the back of Tyler McQuarrie and start a debate on who should move on if the lead and follow drivers both crash on their runs.

Seattle would be a bit of the same, Top 32 Qualification and finish. However, he did win a protest and re-ran a run against Toshiki Yoshioka, but it would not end in his favor.

Las Vegas and the dry heat brought out the demons of racing luck and hit Angelo hard. Qualifying in lower bracket of Top 32 and crashing out against eventual 2012 FD Champion, Daigo Saito. It looked like the car was done, then, but it was pieced back together for the final round.

Irwindale, the House of Drift. Well, in 2012 it was more the House of Despair with its future as a track up in the air earlier in the year. Then it became the House of Carnage. Drivers pushed hard, Irwindale pushed back.

The inner wall took many good cars out, Pawlak, Millen, Aono, Lee, and even Tony. This time, however, the car was done. Irwindale claimed a victim, it broke the head of the Axe of the Bloodmaster.