Formula D Irwindale Round 7
Going into Irwindale, I’m 5th in points and I have a realistic shot at getting 3rd or even 2nd for the 2009 Formula D Championship. I have nothing to lose but a lot to gain and I’m ready to ring the neck of the Falken Tire 350 Z! I’m either going to win or bring back the car in pieces, but all I can do is try.
For qualifying, my plan was to get a solid first run in so I could lay it all on the line for the second run since points are so important. My first run put me 16th but on my second run, I pushed a little too hard and hit the third clipping point. Unfortunately this means I had to settle for 16th and my first match up for top 32 was Rhys Millen.
Before the top 32 Rhys tried to pull a Tonya Harding and take me out at the legs as I was coming out of the bathrooms but I was not having any of that! On my lead run I pulled out a gap and Rhys also missed a shift on the infield so I had the advantage going into my follow run. When I followed him I had to left foot brake on the bank to prevent from hitting him. I took it easy on the rest of the run but was still able to sit on his rear quarter panel and the judges called me the winner. Top 16 here I come.
For the 16 I was matched up with the number 1 qualifier Justin Pawlak. I knew this was going to be tough for a couple of reasons. First, he has been killing it all weekend. Second, I kicked his butt at the Formula D K1 karting event the night before and he was looking for revenge! On my follow run I was able to stick close to him throughout the bank and infield. Going into the last corner I tried to get under him, but I ran out of room and clipped one of the barriers. I thought I might be done with that move, so on my lead run I knew I needed to go all out. I got a pretty good gap on him during my lead run so I knew it was going to be a tough call for judges. They called me the winner and that moved me up to 4th in points at that point in the event.
The great eight was bitter sweet. I was matched up with Samuel Hubinette driving the Shawn Carlson tribute Viper. Shawn was an awesome guy and very good to me. I will miss him very much. I think everyone wanted to see his Viper do well this weekend, but Sam is 4 points ahead of me in 3rd and I want that spot. I ran against Sam in Seattle and beat him so I knew what to expect here at Irwindale. He was fast in a straight line but I was able to close up on him on the rest of the track. On my lead run, he was all over me going into the bank but the Falken 350 checked out on the bank and helped me create a big gap. I would move on to the final 4 and also move up to 3rd in the Championship. Wheelz, who has been Shawn’s long time crew guy came up to me after the run. He told me if Sam couldn’t win that Shawn would want me to win and that he always thought very highly of me. That meant so much to me and truly gave me the strength to get to the finals.
Matt Powers is the only guy left between me and the finals. Even though he had the best top 16 driver introduction of all time, with a life size 80’s rocker stuck in his trunk. I had to take him down. Powers has been driving the crap out of his car but it is on the slow side. We stayed together going into the bank but I soon pulled out a big gap. I knew following him would be a little tricky because of the speed difference. I used a lot of hand brake and left foot braking to stay on his bumper. In the end Power’s had an awesome event but I moved on to the finals.
At this point, I have 3rd place in the Championship locked up, so I’m holding nothing back. Ryan Tuerck and I will be fighting for a win at the “House of Drift” and the biggest drift event ever! Our cars are very similar in speed so I tried to stick to him as close and drive as hard as I could. My follow run was good but I knew in order to win this event that I needed to lay down my best run of the weekend. I went through the bank as hard as I could and brought in more speed to the inner oval than I have all weekend. I knew I was going to hit the wall with the rear of the Z. I got on the gas to prevent the front from being sucked in but I didn’t hit as hard as I thought and me getting on the gas caused me to spin. I could see the smile on Ryan’s face as he passed me! So close to my first win and so close to winning the biggest event in Formula D, but I have no regrets for pushing as hard as I did. Congrats to Ryan for the win!
2009 was an awesome year and I owe it all to Team Falken and the ASD crew. I made it to the final four, four times, and got on the podium three of those times. All of this was done with my first year in the Falken 350Z and in the end I finished 3rd in Formula D points. I’m now the highest ranked Falken Tire driver EVER! Thanks to all my sponsors Falken Tire, GoPro Cameras, BC, Enkei, and Sparco. I can’t wait for 2010!
