The guys over at DSport Magazine just released this amazing 6 page feature of our NOS Energy Drink Nissan 370Z. They highlight many different aspects of the vehicle however they seemed to be quite fond of our Nissan Motorsports 5.6L V8 engine. Scroll down to see for yourself!

If you are having trouble reading the print, you can also CLICK HERE to see the entire article including images on their website.

This is a very sad day. I have just heard the terrible news that Dan Wheldon has passed away today during the Las Vegas IRL race. It is awful to hear that another great racer has died while doing what he loves.

Our thoughts go out to his wife and 2 little kids.

A great pic taken by Jose Martinez at the Formula Drift banquet. Could not be happier coming back to win 3rd Place Overall! Congratulations to Daijiro for winning his first championship and to Justin Pawlak for his best finish in Formula Drift!

We did it! We got 3rd place overall in the Formula Drift Championship! It was a long year with some ups and downs, especially with me sorting out how to drive the new chassis so finishing the year in the Top 3 feels incredible! I can’t tell you how proud I am of Kevin and Sergio, they are the best! On top of everything, I was so honored to receive the “Team Manager of the Year” award at our end of year banquet! I’m pretty certain I am the first driver/owner to win this award but I really can’t take all the credit, everything at CFR is a team effort! I really want to thank Kevin, Sergio, Blair, and Michelle for all their support!

As for the weekend, it was pretty intense. We were looking forward to hitting the track a day early on Wednesday to get in some extra testing but it rained… all day. The infield literally should have been renamed Lake Irwindale. So Thursday we got geared up for the Formula Drift practice day where we would drive the new extended course for the very first time but before we even hit the track, Formula Drift decided to change the last turn of the course to be a little shorter. We hit the course and got to working on the car and our set-up for the weekend. We got it almost right just as practice was ending. Kevin made some more changes but with Thursday’s practice session over, we would have to wait until Friday morning to test them out.

On Friday, we hit the track for practice and the car felt incredible so I thought that was it, we were totally set for qualifying. Unfortunately, we weren’t so lucky because right at the end of practice, the timing pickup ring broke off our engine and ripped through our dry sump pulleys! A few other things were damaged as well, but they weren’t nearly as important as our oiling system because if that were to fail, we would blow the engine which would have ended our weekend right then and there. We got the car towed back to our pit and the guys immediately started repairing the timing sensor and pulley while I sat with a round file and filed all of the grooves in the dry sump pulleys.

At this point, qualifying had already began and I honestly wasn’t sure if we would make it back out in time for our turn. I was relieved when the guys fired the car up for the first time and thought it was ready to go but then we noticed that the dry sump pulley was bent which caused the pump itself to vibrate and the belt to slip back and forth while revving. With little time left to do anything else, we dragged the car to the grid and waited until it was our time to run. Afraid I would throw the belt off of the pulley, I limited my warm-up to a small burnout and had to hit the track without warming the front tires or brakes. As I eased through the course, I worked the throttle as smoothly as possible so that the belt would not flip off because if it had, we would lose oil pressure immediately and blow the engine. As I came around the last clipping point and headed towards the finish, I hit the kill switch so that I could coast the car back to the grid. Thankfully, we still had oil pressure and the belt was still on! We received a solid score for our run and were assured a spot in Top 32 so we decided not to take our chances by running our second pass. We ended up in the 16th spot overall! Friday night, Kevin and Serge set to fixing the car which was no easy task since there had been so much damage to so many different parts. After burning the midnight oil, the guys returned to the track bright and early to continue the repairs. Just as practice began, they dropped the car, fired it up and we hit the track! It was a new day and thanks to Kevin and Sergio, we were ready to go for it!!

We lined up for Top 32 against Matt Field. As we powered down the straight, I felt the clutch starting to slip, really bad. I then had to lift off throttle to get the clutch to reengage and pedaled through the rest of the bank with light throttle hoping it would not break loose again. On our chase lap, I literally had to run the bank at almost quarter throttle to keep the clutch from slipping but we made it through and got the win! There was no rest for the weary… I pulled the car back into the pits and the guys immediately went to work on replacing our clutch.

Top 16 was against Samuel Hubinette. I swear we have run each other more than any other set of drivers in FD history. Of course our runs were “too close to call” and we went one more time, just as we have done so many times in the past. On my second lead run, I was able to run a real tight line and Samuel jumped the barriers on the infield which gave us a clear cut win. Top 8 was against Robbie Nishida who really was having an amazing weekend. We had a bobble in our first pair of runs but he spun out towards the end of the second run and we got the win. In the Semi Finals we went against Rhys Millen, he was on fire and had been driving like a madman since Seattle. His car was very fast and he was able to put down a decent gap while I tried to chase him so he was given the win and the pass into the finals. We still had one more chance at the podium.

Now remember, going into the event, I was in 4th for the overall Championship, just ahead of me, in 3rd was Darren McNamara. We kept a close eye on all his battles because if we were to have a shot at 3rd, we would need to advance further than Darren. So now, here we were, battling for the last podium spot and who did we have to run? Darren McNamara! It was a battle not only for 3rd at the event but for the overall Championship!!! The battle that ensued was definitely one of the more interesting I have ever seen, let alone been a part of. (Interesting being an understatement)

On our first run, I ran as hard as I could and pushed towards the bottom bank with as much speed as I could. I knew Darren would be right there so I tried to close in tight on the inner clip barriers. As we came off the lower bank wall, Darren collided into my rear quarter and spun out just before the inner clip. Darren is fast so on my follow run, I tried hard to catch him as we came off the bank and passed the middle clip. But instead of catching up, I overrated on the throttle and hit the lower wall! This is where it all gets crazy… Darren, who is ahead of me, had carried too much speed into the lower bank and he also hit the wall and tore the back end of his car off! His car shut down and he could not complete the course. Not knowing exactly how the judges would score it, we called 5 minutes to fix the car, just in case but since we both spun/hit and were not able to clear the course, they declared that run even. After reviewing video of our first run, they declared us the winner!!! We were all so excited, we were yelling and screaming! I just couldn’t believe that after such a long and crazy weekend, we ended up in the Top 3! This event really was unlike any other, it was the tightest points competition in Formula Drift history. It all came down to the very last rounds of competition. I later found out that even we had a chance to win the Championship, had I won the event. I have to admit, I’m glad I didn’t know that until after the event was over, I was already trying my hardest to win, so knowing would have just added too much more pressure!

Seriously, to compete in a brand new platform and finish Top 3 is an amazing accomplishment that can only be attributed to my amazing crew!! I also really want to thank NOS Energy Drink for partnering with us for 6 years now, Hankook Tire for believing in our team, Nissan for giving us our new chassis and continuing their support, Clarion for their awesome electronics, AEM for their amazing filtration giving us the horsepower we need, UTI for providing the extra help that we need at the track, SSR for providing us with the best wheels on the market, Seibon for giving us the lightweight parts that we need, Sam’s Auto Land for keeping our car looking great, Mishimoto for keeping our engine running cool, Driveshaft Shop for keeping our drivetrain strong, Recaro and Alpinestars for keeping me safe, Us Versus Them and Electric Visual for helping me look good outside of the car and last but not least, Contour for giving us the cameras to capture it all! To all of our sponsors, my crew, my friends and my family, thank you for your support, we could never have done it without you!

For those that did not have the chance to catch the action on Drift Stream, here are our tandem battles from Top 32 through the final rounds. Also, you can view pictures from the event in our PHOTO GALLERY.

Top 32 vs Matt Field
Top 16 vs Sam Hubinette
Top 16 vs Sam Hubinette – One More Time
Top 8 vs Robbie Nishida – Follow
Top 8 vs Robbie Nishida – Lead
Semi Finals vs Rhys Millen
Consulation Round vs Darren McNamara

Vaughn and I had the privilege of meeting up with the guys from V.O.R.E. and taking some of their off road trucks out in the Vegas desert! It was an incredible experience and gave me and even bigger desire to get into off road truck racing! These guys run an amazing program and I highly recommend that you give them a call if you ever have an afternoon off in Vegas…

www.vore.com

Here is a great video from Recaro showcasing our Nissan 370Z at Formula Drift Long Beach. Cannot wait to jump back in that seat and drive at Irwindale this weekend!

Do not forget to sign up for the “Like for a Bike” giveaway on my ! We will be drawing the winner next week at the final round of Formula Drift.

Chris Forsberg’s “Like” for a Bike Giveaway from Chris Forsberg on Vimeo.

I spent a lot of time at my brothers winery Buckingham Valley Vineyards while I was out in Pennsylvania last week. On the last day, we took the Rhino for a little run around the trails and through the woods. Nothing stops those things!

Check out this awesome video that Brian Casse put together from Freedom Moves. Its got a lot of shots of me and the guys ripping around the track. The last 45 seconds has me chasing down John Wagner in his S13. Nice work Brian!

Just got back from an amazing trip back east that kicked off with epic drift weekend! After that, we did a whole lot of hanging out with my family and ended the trip with a wedding / dance party / all around awesome good time, all in honor of our newly married friends, Steven and Vicky Angelo!

I really have no idea how I can begin to explain epic drift weekend but imagine this: Me, Ryan Tuerck and Tony Angelo all driving missile cars together, add into the equation Vaughn Gittin Jr and every awesome Club Loose driver you can think of. All of us on a mission to put down the most intense drifting America has ever seen. We must have put down nearly 60 laps of multi-car tandem, some of which were 12 cars long! All in all it was the best drifting event I had ever been a part of. I drove harder, drove longer, and had more fun than ever before.

Huge thanks to Matt and Tim for working so hard to make these events so rad. I also owe a huge thank you to Brad Hettinger from Groundwerks Garage for making my car work after all the bad luck I had out at ECB! Honestly, the whole Club Loose scene really is the best. Everyone is so down to help, in anyway they can which is just awesome! I can’t wait to get back.

Josh Herron and Pete Varley made it out to film all the madness, I brought my CONTOUR cameras and we got loads of on car footage. The guys will be editing together a video that will hopefully be out sooner than later!

Michelle and I seriously want to thank all the following dudes for either helping out with the car or with having the best time ever… Matt Petty, Tim Johnsrud, Mike Napp, Brad Hettinger, Geoff Stoneback, Shawn, Rich Whiteman, Brester, Nick D’Allesio, Pat Dulcey, Reese Marin, Tony Angelo, Ryan Tuerck, Vaughn Gittin Jr, Abby Baker, Brian Wilkerson, Steve Angerman, Michael Edwards, Josh Herron, Pete Varley, Taylor Durdan, Jacob Agajanian, Adam Barker, and anyone else that I missed! See you next time!

And last but not least, here is a sweet video made by Jeremy White for Ryan Tuerck. It really showcases the vibe from the weekend, tons of cars and tons of smiles. Best event ever.

Ryan Tuerck – Kickin back from Jeremy White on Vimeo.