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| Forsberg and Wilkerson on track with MotoIQ in the background! |
On Saturday, it was announced that there would be an extra 30 minutes of practice for the now 30 drivers. Chris Forsberg could appreciate the lack of a Friday practice, “I think it’s good to have the extra practice on the main day,” he stated, “you know some things get a little skewed from Friday night into today. People push a little extra hard on Friday night which usually causes extra wrecks because people know they probably have overnight to fix it.”
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| Dai Yoshihara’s crew chief Scott Dodgion tells Falken Team Manager Johnathan Bradford the grim motor situation. Blow it up if you have to, just try to advance a few rounds, Jbrad says. Dai did just that, even with the sick engine losing power. |
Some of the small disasters prior to the start of Top 32 included Ryan Kado not being able to start his car at all, Matt Field tagging the wall and bending some suspension pieces and breaking a tension rod, and Daijiro Yoshihara’s car suffering from a freak thermostat failure, with flash overheating damaging the engine. Fortunately, Ryan Kado was the only one not able to make the 31 car field and we now had a 30 car field for competition.
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| Matt Field, Stone Cone Killer! |
With Practice done it was now time to whittle down the field to the Top 16. First up in the Gardella Racing Red Bull Chevrolet Camaro, Ryan Tuerck had a bye run as there was no number 32 Qualifier which made his entry into the Top 16 a no-brainer and an easy win. Next was the Fatlace, highlighter yellow driver Matt Field and Formula Drift Rookie Kenneth Moen in Sam Hubinette’s Discount Tire Direct Dodge Challenger. Earlier, Kenneth’s car had been using up oil then looked to be leaking fluids onto the track, but after some clean up, he was cleared. Matt Field was trying to overcome his practice wreck earlier in the day.
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| Matt Field hit the wall and broke a tension rod in Top 32 practice but was able to make the show. |
Field would lead first with Kenneth Moen just behind him, while both drivers are in V8 powered cars, Moen’s car is a 410 Cubic Inch Sprint Car engine while Matt’s car is powered by a GM LS engine. Despite tagging the wall, Matt was able to rip his bumper off and keep going! After the first clipping point, Moen got very close to Matt, showing the power of the Dodge 410, but also what car control is needed to drive a powerful car as Moen clipped Field going into the first rear zone inside the banking of turns 1 and 2. While Matt spun, Moen completed the course, would the Judges think the contact and the resulting spin could have been avoided?
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| Kenneth Moen in the SHR Challenger, filling in for Sam Hubinette. |
With Moen leading this time, Matt began to give a little gap in the bank, but by the time they entered the infield portion of the course Matt did everything he could to prevent from hitting Moen, proving that the smaller chassis and the smaller V8 had what it would take to keep up! He stayed right at his bumper until the finish, where the Judges made their call for Matt Field and the spin could have been avoided if Moen didn’t tag Matt!
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| With the love tap by Moen. |
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| Matt Field moves on in 777! |
