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Kyle Mohan in the Energy X/Nexen Tires Mazda RX-8 would wrap up a mostly disappointing 2013 with a loss to the CX Racing/Blacktrax Nissan 240SX of Matt Field. Kyle will be debuting a new engine in 2014, but it will stay rotary powered. The RX-8 he campaigns in China will also be seeing upgrades for 2014 but the V8 will be staying since gas is so horrible there.
Toshiki Yoshioka ended the season in practice just prior to Top 32 in his GT.Net/Tomei Powered Subaru BRZ. The hard impact into the outer bank during practice was more than what his team would be able to repair in time for Top 32. This gave Forrest Wang and his Get Nuts Lab/Achilles Radial Nissan 240SX the bye-run into the Top 16.
Jhonnattan Castro is another driver who keeps making steady improvements each year he competes. His Banco Del Progresso/Hankook Tires Nissan 350Z is another old chassis and is the one that Carl Rydquist began in. Unfortunately, his improvements stopped in Top 32 as he crashed into the inner bank wall while driving against Ryan Tuerck and his Retaks Scion FR-S.
Conrad Grunewald and the Megan Racing/Hankook Tires Chevrolet Camaro would be defeated by his Hankook Tires teammate, Fredric Aasbo. Grunewald would actually end his season better than how he began, considering his clutch wasn't friction-welded together after qualifying this time.
While Taka Aono and his Megan Racing/Hankook Tires Toyota Corolla have been in Formula Drift since 2004, a championship and win have been just out of his grasp in the Flyin' 86. Despite that, Taka and his 86 chassis continues to be a fan favorite every year. He and Danny George will probably battle it out for People's Champion for some time, but that sort of momentum would not catapult Taka into the Top 16. His car would stall drift against Tyler McQuarrie at the exit of the inner bank and the GoPro Chevrolet Camaro driver only just missed colliding with Taka.
Matt Powers has had a very uncharacteristic 2013 season and that would continue against Pat Goodin in the Enjuku Racing Nissan 240SX. The Fatlace/Nitto Tires Nissan 240SX of Powers would get a zero in his follow run against Goodin. However, don't take anything away from Goodin as while this is his first Top 16 he has been on a streak of improvements late into the season and those improvements have finally come to fruition!
The Top 32 was done and the championship was still up for grabs. The crowd had also filled Irwindale to capacity and the 2013 Final Round was billed as not only the largest attendance for Irwindale, but also the largest attendance for drifting around the world. It wasn't hard to believe as this was the first time I recall seeing tailgating at a drifting event that wasn't Road Atlanta! Formula Drift fans knew that this final round was not one to be missed and we were only halfway done at this point.
