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Eliminations came Saturday and the first pair up were Sam Hubinette in the SHR Challenger and Pat Mordaunt in his Patrick Mordaunt Racing (PM Racing) Nissan 350Z. With the huge gap Sam was able to pull on Pat during his lead run, Sam Hubinette was able to move on to Top 16. Next was Matt Field in the Fatlace/Blacktrax Nissan 240SX and Chris Forsberg in the NOS Energy Drink 370Z, with Chris leading first. While Matt was able to hang with Chris, Forsberg's ability to gap and better angles gave him the advantage along with Field tapping the wall and messing up his line during Matt's lead run led to Matt Field being eliminated.
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| Chris Forsberg moving on for the win! |
Next was Robbie Nishida in his Bridges Racing Nissan 240SX hatchback S13 and Dennis Mertzanis in the Kenda Tire Nissan 240SX S14. Both cars use a supercharged variant of the Nissan VQ35, but the Bridges Racing car was able to pull away from the Kenda Tire car on Robbie's lead run and was able to keep right on Dennis' bumper on his follow run and move on to the Top 16. The next pair were Emmanuel Armandio in the Achilles Tire 350Z and Conrad Grunewald in the Hankook Tire Chevrolet Camaro. With Conrad's ability to hold a burnout from the start to the bank, he put on a bold display of power the entire weekend. That power helped him as he moved on to the Top 16!
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| Mr. Burnout, himself, Conrad Grunewald's smoke show this weekend was spectacular! |
The first heavy hit of the day took place with the Kenny Moen and Ryan Tuerck battle. Kenny, in his Falken Tire 350Z, followed as the Red Bull Camaro pulled a small gap. On Kenny's lead run, Moen took it to the inner bank wall and wrecked, ending his day and allowing Ryan Tuerck to move on. Kyle Mohan in the Nexen Tire/Mazdatrix Mazda RX-8 battled against the Norwegian Hammer, Fredric Aasbo in the Team Need for Speed Scion tC. The next hard hit happened here, taking out Aasbo, giving the win to Mohan. Pat Cyr in his HSD Toyota Corolla faced Rhys Millen in his Red Bull Hyundai Genesis, and while Cyr put on a great charge, he could not keep up with the power of the Red Bull Genesis. To make this more impressive was the fact that the RMR Crew had to make two engine changes this weekend. The second change happened between Saturday's Practice session and Top 32! Rhys Millen carried the charge for the RMR Crew this weekend and moved on to the Top 16.
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| Patrick Cyr in The little Corolla that could, couldn't this weekend against Rhys Millen and his Hyundai Genesis |
The next battle proves that despite where you qualify or even if you were a champion, you aren't always the guy who will finish on top. Mike Essa, in the Team Nitto/GSR Auto Works BMW Z4, faced off against the Monster Energy Ford Mustang of 2010 Champion, Vaughn Gittin, Jr. The first battle wasn't enough as the drivers had to go One More Time! While Vaughn initially was able to pull away in his OMT lead run, Essa was able to pull him back in before finishing the course. On Essa's lead run, he was able to pull good angles when compared to Vaughn and still have a small gap. With two very good runs, Mike Essa was able to move on and the 2010 Champion ended his year in the Top 32. It was still a good year for Gittin, however, as he was able o overcome a DNQ at Long Beach and still finish the season in 11th place overall.
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| Mike Essa took out 2010 champ Vaughn Gittin, Jr. in an upset. You want to know how he did it? Check out his article here on MotoIQ! |
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Darren McNamara showed speed all weekend long in his Team Falken Saturn Sky.Fellow nerd Dennis Mertzanis keeps it real with a turbo V6. Dennis is an engineer and earns his nerd title!
