The NOS Energy Drink Drift Team was at its home track Toyota Speedway of Irwindale this weekend for the Formula D Championship Finale. Chris Forsberg and the NOS Energy Drink Nissan 350Z had plenty of track time going into the weekend as team sponsor K&N Filters had reserved the entire track just days before the event for Forsberg and his Drift Alliance brothers Vaughn Gittin Jr. and Tony Angelo. “Being able to have an entire day to run on the track and make fine adjustments gave me a lot of confidence going into Fridays practice,” stated Forsberg. “K&N helped us have a great advantage.”
The weather was perfect as fans packed the grand stands at the birth place of American drifting called the “House of Drift”. The points were very close for the top 5 competitors going into the finale and the teams certainly brought their best as Saturdays qualifying showed a fierce competition. Forsberg put down a great first qualifying run with the 2nd fastest entry speed placing him in the top 3. Having guaranteed a qualifying position and knowing the risks of pushing the car too hard, Forsberg played it safe with his 2nd run and ended up qualifying 10th overall.
Going into the Top 16 tandem rounds, The NOS Energy Drink Drift Team was paired up with friend and Drift Alliance brother Ryan Tuerck who was sitting 6th in the championship points directly behind Forsberg. The pair started off with Tuerck leading and both had great speed and angle on the steep bank and into the transition to the infield. As the competitors came speeding into the main clipping point, Tuerck missed a shift causing him to slow down and start to spin. Forsberg, coming in fully committed right behind him, could not compensate for Tuerck’s declining speed and hit Tuerck’s Mobil 1 Solstice GXP in the door breaking Forsberg’s right front lower control arm. NOS Energy Drink Drift Team crew chief Kevin Wells worked quickly to evaluate the damage and make repairs, but the damage was too extensive and their 5 min allotted time expired giving the win to Tuerck.
“It wasn’t how I expected to end the season,” said Forsberg, “I was pushing hard and when Tuerck spun in front of me I had nowhere to go. That’s racing. Overall the team had a great year running in the Top 5 the entire year and taking the win at our season opener in Long Beach. We’re looking forward to the Formula D World Finals next month.”
The NOS Energy Drink Drift Team will be making appearances at Hot Import Nights – Night Shift in Phoenix , AZ on October, 18th, Maxxis Tires booth at the SEMA Auto Show in Las Vegas, NV November 4th -7th before heading to the Formula D World Championship at the Port of Long Beach on November 14th-15th.
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