Justin Pawlak celebrates with his car and its shredded tires. Photos by Dale Brown.

An adrenaline-fueled weekend came to a close on Saturday as Justin Pawlak captured the first Formula Drift victory of his career on the streets of downtown Long Beach.

The Formula Drift event brought flying rubber to the streets six days before the Long Beach Grand Prix kicks off with an assortment of open-wheel and sports car racing events. Among the most popular are the Thunder Thursday concert and exhibitions this Thursday, then the American Le Mans Series race on Saturday and IndyCar race on Sunday. Special events like practice, qualifying and drifting will be sprinkled throughout the entire weekend.

But this weekend it was all about Pawlak, who whittled through a 32-car field to eventually defeat Matt Powers in the finals. Drifting is judged by form and style as two racers slide around corners side-by-side, at speeds nearing 100mph. It’s kind of like motorsport figure skating, but louder. Check out these beautiful photos from Dale Brown to relive the event, and for a sneak peak at the Grand Prix coverage that we’ll have in the coming days!