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With Hubinette trying to make up for a bad 2011 season, he would have to surpass Forsberg to move on to the Top 8. However, Forsberg was on a mission to win the 2011 Championship, since Matt Powers was now knocked out of the hunt being eliminated in the Top 32. With the prospect of being able to pull off the upset of the season, Chris Forsberg battled hard against Hubinette, resulting in an OMT! While both drivers put on a clinic, Forsberg was declared the winner and continued on his Championship hunt! Conrad Grunewald looked to put the smoke show on Robbie Nishida, considering that Grunewald was doing a burnout from the start to the entry on the bank. However, Robbie would lead first and would initiate on the bank and pull up to the rear zone. According to the judges, Conrad did hit Robbie and, in the end, despite the close gap that Conrad was able to pull Robbie was able to move on to the Great 8!
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| Robbie Nishida moving on to the Great 8! Corporate types listen up, Robbie is an awesome driver and would be one of the best in a top car, please someone sponsor him! |
Ryan Tuerck and Kyle Mohan faced each other for their spot in the Great 8. While Mohan was able to catch Tuerck in the inner portion of the course, Ryan Tuerck was able to pull off a better follow run and moved on to the Great 8. Next was that nights' giant slayer, Mike Essa, going up against the man who wanted to give back to his guys for such hard work this weekend, Rhys Millen. Rhys, who would lead first, was not only able to pull gap against Essa, but get more angle and deeper lines, as Essa had to pull some sacrifice to keep pace against Millen. Essa began to pull gap against Rhys, but hit the wall on the inner bank, killing his line and giving the win to Millen.
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| Rhys Millen takes out Mike Esaa and goes to the Great 8! Rhys would be instrumental in upsetting the points structure! |
Luke Lonberger was now facing the man second in points, Justin Pawlak. Unfortunately for Luke, Lonberger would spin out on the oval, giving a huge advantage to JTP. All JTP would have to do is follow Lonberger which he did, but still in competitive fashion moving on to the Great 8! Next was Ross Petty and Darren McNamara, with D-Mac in a far more powerful and lighter car, it would be an uphill challenge for Ross to keep up! However, with Ross leading first, he put on a battle and was able to pull a small gap through the inner section and finish. On D-Mac's lead run, Ross wasn't able to keep up and D-Mac was able to pull off a huge advantage and moved on to the Great 8!
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| Darren McNamara defeats Ross Petty. |
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Dennis Mertzanis |
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A lot of fans from Norway were present. |
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The new Irwindale track was exceptionally hard on tires. Teams were reporting that the tires would only last 1.5 to 2 runs per set of tires! Team Need For Speed's Crew Chief Costa Gialamis examines some of the rubber removed from Matt Powers wheel wells after just one pass.
