Friday, there was a massive storm heading towards the speedway.  We really had no idea when it would hit, just that it might be sometime during qualifying.  As we went through qualifying, the rain held off and we made two solid passes.  As we were pulling into the pits and getting ready to head over to the drivers meeting to get the official results of qualifying, the storm moved in.  I’m originally from the east coast so I’m no stranger to adverse weather but this storm moved in faster and stronger than any storm I had ever seen!  In a matter of minutes, we went from a light rain to practically hurricane force winds!  We pushed the car farther into the pits and literally held down the awning with straps as debris started flying through the air.  A few minutes later, the storm passed and we went out to survey the damage.  Luckily, we had little to no damage but there was a ton of carnage all around the pits.  One tent had even been blown up and onto a power line!  I finally got word that I had qualified in 6th place and that our evening practice session was canceled due to the mini-apocalypse that had moved through the track!

Saturday was a new day and most importantly a clear day!  We got a few practice laps in and were ready for tandem.  Our first run was against Walker Wilkerson, who is currently the highest ranked rookie in Formula Drift.  He really came out of the woodworks and has been driving very well for his first year in competition.  Our first run with him was pretty solid, I lead through the course and although he had made a couple corrections, he stayed close behind.  On my chase run I stayed right up with him on the straight to make sure we were together on the bank, however Walker’s drivetrain broke on the straight and we rolled together to a stop while he was trying to get his car into 3rd gear.  He signaled his car was broken and we were given the win since there was no way he could fix it in 5 minutes.  Next we faced Ross Petty, who has been a force to reckon with ever since he made the switch to a V8 engine.  On my lead run, Ross followed closely which meant that I needed to stay closer on his.  As we pushed into the last corner, Ross carried in with a little too much speed and as his rear tires pushed up onto the steep banking, he spun.  We were now moving into the Top 8!

In top 8, we went against Daijiro Yoshihara, who has been a contender for the Formula Drift Championship almost every year.  He is also one of the most consistently fast cars on the course so we decided to tighten up our car a little bit in order to gain some extra speed.  As we pushed down the straight, we were side by side but as we went into the first corner, he flicked out into a slight feint entry maneuver and his rear bumper almost came into our car.  As I initiated, I steered around him but at this point, I felt I was off my line so I made a correction and got into the throttle but as I was adjusting I lost grip in the front end and hit the guard rail.  As I was trying to drive off course, Formula Drift officials told me to stop because both of my driver side wheels were broken with flat tires.  We called 5 minutes and were towed back to our pit where Kevin and Sergio were waiting, along with the Bergenholtz and SHR crew guys.  The car hit the ground and the clock started.   They immediately jacked the car up and started ripping the wheels off; Kevin inspected everything for damage while Bergenholtz taped the hood down.  Kevin said that the suspension was good so the guys slapped on new wheels and tires while he adjusted the tire pressure.  Kevin also said the alignment looked okay except that the front camber and toe were off but as long as the back end was ok we could still control the car.  Bergenholtz cleared a path for me as I headed back to the line to make my second run.  As I tore down the straight for my lead run, I had a little bobble on the entry due to the crooked front end but then it drifted through the rest of the course quite well.  Although we did not get the win, we were able to give the crowd a great second run and also show them how dedicated we are to getting back out there to complete our runs!  I cannot say enough about the level of camaraderie in the drifting paddock, it is truly is amazing and is why I love drifting!  I hope it never changes.

We finished the event in 6th Place overall, and maintained our 4^th Place Championship position.  There is only a 30 point spread between 2nd and 6th so it’s all still up for grabs!

Chris Forsberg

I headed over to Genius Tools earlier this week to stop by and see Andy and pickup some product.

Genius Tools has pics of all of the cars that they sponsor up at the office as well.

I got an awesome setup from Genius Tools! Sockets, wrenches, screwdrivers, the works!

Even replaced my old tool box with this counter top unit!

And here is what it looks like with all the tools in their trays in the drawers! I feel so much more organized and now I can work so much more efficiently! Thank you Genius Tools!

In other news… we are still Top 3 in points! We are doing our best to maintain that position for 2009, Kevin has been working on new things for the car for our Las Vegas event next weekend. The SR car rebuild will be on hold until we return from Vegas as well. We are looking to finish that car and bringing it to Hot Import Nights in Pleasanton, CA, July 25th. More updates coming this week!