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| Kenny Moen in the Lutz Performance 350Z would face the former rally driver, Odi Bakchis in the US Air Force/Nexen Tire S14 Nissan 240SX. Their first battle was too close to call and a OMT was required. After the epic battle of Aasbo and Saito, the judges were still struggling to find winners as every driver was on their best game. |
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| Kenny Moen would eventually move past Odi in the one and only OMT for these drivers. It was looking like a Force beyond his own control would be required to take Moen out of Round 1. |
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| It was the battle of the hood filters! Chris Forsberg in the NOS Energy Nissan 370Z with a Nissan V8 and filter out of the hood would look to strike down the Falken S14 Nissan Silvia with a GM V8 and filter out of the hood treatment of Darren McNamara. D-Mac's lead run was on point and Forsberg stayed just on his bumper. However, trouble would surface on D-Mac's follow run. After the starting line flagman waived his flag Darren's car came to a stop while Chris Forsberg kept going. In a panic, Darren got back on the gas but he had already fallen far behind. This lack of proximity meant that Darren would be eliminated. |
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| A little bit of controversy followed this one. JTP and Ryan Tuerck, Drift Alliance brothers, faced off and JTP had the edge due to the gap Justin had over Ryan. However, as Ryan led into turn 11, the judges declared that JTP had straightened out just enough to give Ryan the win. However, from the point of view of the fans, it didn't seem this way. Looking at the replay, the judges were right, but honestly, it was only just. No three-peat for JTP in 2013. |
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| Ken Gushi in the Greddy/Hankook Scion FR-S looked to better the GSR/Yokohama Tire E46 BMW of Mike Essa. Essa, despite more angle, did not have the same aggressive lines the judges were looking for. The Greddy FR-S was on point and more aggressive, thus Ken was in the Great 8 with the approval of Ken Miura, who designed the Rocket Bunny kit on the car and was at Long Beach. |
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| Vaughn Gittin Jr. in the Nitto Tire/Monster Energy Ford Mustang was the Goliath that defeated the Diamond Lighting Lexus of Pat Mordaunt. With a large gap in his lead run and great proximity in his follow run, Vaughn Gittin, Jr. bested the twin turbo V8 with pure cubic inches. |
