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| New and Old Rivals, Falken Tire Vs. Hankook Tire, Mustang Vs. Camaro! |
The final battle was a tire on tire, Mustang versus Camaro battle! It was the Hankook Tires 2011 Chevrolet Camaro with Conrad Grunewald taking on the Falken Tire 2011 Ford Mustang with Justin T. Pawlak. If Justin Pawlak wins, the points gap will be too large to over come for Daijiro Yoshihara, but if Conrad Grunewald wins, it means not only defeating the better funded team of Falken Tire, but the first win for a tire other than Falken this year and overcoming ignition issues in his LS7 powered 427 Cubic Inch engine. It may also lead to better funding for next year, as he is unsure if he will be competing in 2012, as only more money will be able to get him though next year. Coming to the line, Conrad lead first with JTP hot on his bumper. Initiating into the bank, Conrad held his bumper right on the wall but JTP was right with him! Coming into the first rear zone, JTP gave up some angle to close the small gap Conrad was able to build! At the next clipping point, Conrad increased the gap to pull through the whoops and on the final rear zone, JTP created a shallow angle to close the gap once again right at the finish! Would the sacrifices in angle hurt JTP?
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| Conrad losing some angle and coming in shallow. Due to this, many fans thought the battle had gone to JTP. |
On Justin’s lead run, JTP initiated into the bank with Conrad close behind, but with the gap starting to increase, Conrad lost some angle! JTP kept his lead through the first clipping point, but closed it by the rear zone. Pulling through the whoops, JTP poured the power on and gapped Conrad and at the final rear zone, Conrad lost further speed and the gap was increased by the finish! It would seem that would give Justin Pawlak the advantage, but on his follow run JTP gave up lots of angle to close the gaps. While Conrad was able to gap JTP through his lead run, he could not close them against JTP. Who would win? It was anyone’s guess as they all held their breaths, though many thought that the Drift Alliance Connection would pay off. Many also thought of the Falken Tire dominance for the first three events and JTP’s two wins at Long Beach and Palm Beach would give the victory and the championship to him. Did the Judges make the predicted call? Did Justin T. Pawlak get the win and the points needed for a guaranteed championship? Had Drift Alliance just ruined drifting once again?
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| Drift Alliance Connecting? |
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| Wait, I don’t hear a dial tone! Could that mean?! |
NO! Justin T. Pawlak was announced as the winner of second place! That gave Conrad Grunewald, Chevrolet, and Hankook their first win of the 2011 season! The connection failed, the dominance was lost, and this event is in the history books! While Conrad can celebrate his victory, it will still be a long road for the Texas native, as he will need to send his engine back to Detroit to solve his ignition problems. Justin T. Pawlak, however, can smile, as even though he lost he did gain a new FC3S RX-7 to play with back home in California!
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| Conrad Grunewald takes the win at Wall Stadium! |
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| Your Podium at Wall Stadium Speedway! |
See Y’all in Evergreen!
Post Event Note:
I really must thank the Gardellas while I was here at Wall. Not only was Gary a very generous host for his Pit Area, but also to his brother Richard and their Father. See, your genious writer here thought it would be a great idea to leave his lights on his truck… FOR THE WHOLE EVENT. Thanks to Richard and his father, they were able to get my truck jumped and started for my six hour trek home. So, I cannot thank them enough. I also want to thank the Kados as well, as they were just as hospitable offering water and sunblock! Drifting is such a wonderful, community minded motorsport and for anyone to knock it down for anything, just remember there are many more teams and families like the Kados and Gardellas in the pits of Formula Drift that will welcome and help people in this motorsport.
Click here to check out all the photos from the event!
