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| Yoshihara went first against Aasbo with Dai looking to increase his chances of being right up against JTP for championship points. |
The Final Four consisted of Rhys, Forsberg, Aasbo, and Yoshihara. Yoshihara went first against Aasbo with Dai looking to increase his chances of being right up against JTP for points. He was so close, Dai knew he had to pull his best tandems up to this point. Yoshihara got his initiation right on the straight and pulled through the oval with Aasbo tight on his tail. Dai then pulled more angle into the transition into the rear zone and that put him a little further away from the front zone as he had been running the entire weekend. To the final clipping point to the finish, Aasbo did not let Dai get too far away and both drivers had a great first run with no clear advantage to that point.
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| Depite a great run, Dai was able to defeat Fredric Aasbo! |
On Aasbo’s lead run, both drivers initiated into the oval at the same time. Dai used less angle to stay right on Aasbo, but as Cyrus showed, you can get away with that if you don’t go lower into the banking. Dai then closed the gap and stayed with Aasbo through the transition and both drivers were able to put their rear bumpers and noses right into their zones! With everyone waiting, Mike Kojima was holding his breath, waiting on the call by the judges. He knew this was a tight battle between the two drivers, but could Aasbo and Papadakis stop the streak of Falken Tire podiums? If Dai lost here and lost his consolation battle, it would mean that Hankook would take the podium and end the dominance! However, that was not meant to be as the Judges ruled in favor of Dai Yoshihara and the SPD Metalworks crew!
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| Dai moves on to the finals! |
Rhys Millen and his Hyundai/Red Bull Hyundai Genesis Coupe and Chris Forsberg in his NOS Energy Nissan 370Z were now battling for their spot in the Finals. Rhys led first and both drivers initiated right at the bank, up against that concrete wall! Even in his less powerful V6, Rhys was able to gap Forsberg with his Nissan Off Road V8 based on the Titan’s 5.6 liter engine! However, the ability to power through the transition gave Forsberg the advantage and he closed the gap right to the rear zone. Then Rhys straightened out and stalled going into the front zone, causing Forsberg to hit him! The hit was not hard enough to spin Rhys out and they both finished the course. The advantage went to Forsberg because Rhys had lost his drift prior to the front zone.
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| Rhys locking up the front tires to keep from hitting Forsberg! |
Forsberg’s lead run was next and Rhys needed Forsberg to spin or make a huge correction. Rhys pulled right against the door of Forsberg in the oval, locking the front tires to keep from hitting him! In doing so, Rhys spun out, giving the win to Forsberg to battle it out for first place. In being the showman that he is, Rhys popped open his door and pulled off some donuts and finished the course. The best he could hope for was third place and the consolation round was next!
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| The force was with Forsberg as it would be he and Yoshihara in the finals! |
It was Rhys Millen versus Fredric Aasbo, a Hankook tire battle for third place. No matter the result, Hankook tires have shown that they look to take advantage of the new tire rules and were guaranteed third and fourth place after Conrad Grunewald’s win in New Jersey. With Rhys Millen leading first, he initiated high and tight against the wall. Aasbo, though, was not far behind and stayed right with Millen through the transition! At the rear zone, Aasbo closed up even more and got right at the door of Millen! Through the front zone to the final clipping point, Rhys opened the gap back up, but it wasn’t by much!
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| Could Rhys reach the podium? |
Aasbo led this time and initiated on the straight prior to the oval with Rhys hanging right by him. Millen, though, had to lose some angle in-order to no hit Aasbo and lost some of his advantage! In doing so, Rhys straightened out at the transition and completely lost any advantage he had. The Judges saw it and ruled in favor of Fredric Aasbo and the Need for Speed Scion tC built by Papadakis Racing. Rhys Millen in his Hyundai/Red Bull Hyundai Genesis built by Rhys Millen Racing finished Fourth and was Rhys’ best finish in some time.
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| It was the Norwegian Hammer taking third this day! |
