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Alex, The flying Hawaiian Pfeiffer now has a full time ride with Megan Racing in a 350Z. Alex is on the gas hard despite heading backwards. No harm no foul. |
The Long Beach venue was sold out and packed to the gills. There was absolutely no room in the stands. |
Newcomer Walker Wilkerson surpriseded everyone by making it into the top 16 in his very first Formula D event. It was great to see so many fresh faces move up from Pro-Am. It took a seasoned pro with a top car from a strong team in Ryan Tuerck to stop his charge. |
Dennis Mertzanis advanced to the Top 16. It was cool to see many new faces doing well at Long Beach. Here Dennis battles Kyle Mohan who eliminated him. |
Like it or not, the V8 revolution is taking over drifting. Ross Petty, Matt Powers and Ryan Tuerck are all powered by Chevy LS engines. Chris Forsberg is also V8 powered but his car is motivated by a Nissan V8 built by Menards originally for trophy truck racing. |
Patrick Mordaunt was running strong in practice in his beautiful 350Z. The car was extensively rebuilt over the off season, so much so that it is basically a new car. Unfortunately for Pat his car’s handling deteriorated and the car became difficult to manage on Saturday causing his early elimination from the top 32. |
Dai Yoshihara’s crew led by SPD Metalworks chief Scott Dodgion worked around the clock before the event to overcome the handicap of the 2011 suspension rules. It seemed to work though and Dai dove like a madman all weekend long. |
Fredric Aasbo shook off new car blues with a bang and moved the brand new Need For Speed Scion TC into the great 8 with tons of smoke. Hankook tires seem to make the most smoke of any brand. |
Justin Pawlak is one of our favorite drivers and really deserved the win. Justin fought hard tooth and nail through a tough field to bring his brand new Falken ASD built Mustang to the winner’s circle for his first victory. The ASD Mustang packs an 800 plus hp Roush Yates motor with ASD’s innovations in chassis design. A near twin of Jr’s killer Mustang the car is one to be respected by technopiles and feared by competitors. ASD has their act together and simply does not seem to suffer from new car blues at all! |