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Odi Bakchis in the US Air Force/Nexen Tire Nissan 240SX driver would take out 2011 DMCC Champion Dave Briggs and his AV Fab/Achilles Radial Nissan 240SX. While Dave got a zero in his follow run, you can't really call Briggs 2013 season a total failure when you consider that he was able to win round 3 of the DMCC in 2013 in this same car.
Dean Kearney in the Oracle Lighting/Achilles Radial Dodge Viper would defeat Pat Mordaunt in the Diamond Lighting Lexus SC430. However, Dean did have to use his only Competition Time Out in order to change his rear tires. This would come back to bite Dean at the close of his 2013 season. Pat would have to look towards the start of the 2014 season to get his elusive win, but he continues to inch closer every year.
Ken Gushi in the Greddy/Hankook Scion FR-S would move on against the BC Racing/US Air Force BMW E46 Sedan of Chelsea Denofa. Denofa's follow run was judged as a zero because he straightened out prior to the finish line.
Robbie Nishida in the Achilles Radial Lexus SC400 would move on to the Top 16. While this would end fan favorite Danny George and his Wreckhouse/Hankook Tires' V8 Miata 2013 season, this would be the best season of George's career so far with two Top 16 appearances and a car that was sponsored by the fans. Despite all of that, Danny isn't resting on his laurels and will be working towards 2014 with a planned appearance at Pikes Peak.
Darren McNamara and the Falken Tires Nissan Silvia would have a better start to Round 7 than teammate Daijiro Yoshihara, mostly because he didn't need an engine, but also because he was able to move into the Top 16 after beating Tony Angelo in the Turn 14/Hankook Tires Scion FR-S.
Carl Rydquist, the Swedish driver of the Berk Technology/Hankook Tires Nissan 350Z would be handily defeated by Vaughn Gittin, Jr. Carl was looking to make a more triumphant return to Formula Drift and while his start in the VQ engine wasn't great, his finish in the V8 powerplant proved to be a good move as he was able to qualify. 2014 sounds like it will be an even better year as Carl will be looking at a better engine for next season.
Ryan Kado in the DNA/Nexen Tire Nissan 350Z would move on to the Top 16 after defeating rookie Matts Baribeau in the Gold In The Net Toyota Mark II. However, with his Top 32 qualification, Baribeau would receive the honor of winning Rookie of the Year for 2013. Had Mark Landerville or Nate Hamilton made it into the Top 32, this would have still been a fight until the last one was left standing. Landerville could not make the event and Hamilton was just not able to put down a good enought run to earn a Top 32 spot,Hamilton is looking forward to 2014 already.
