NOS Energy Drink Drift Team Event Report

Event Date: 6/13/08 – 6/14/08

Event Name:
Formula D Championship- Round 3

Where:
Englishtown Raceway Park, Englishtown, NJ

Review:
Formula Drift traveled to Englishtown Raceway Park for the first time this last weekend. The NOS Energy Drink Drift Team had a huge following all weekend long as this is the home track of Chris Forsberg and the birthplace of the Drift Alliance. The NOS Energy Drink 350Z was on point as the top teams practiced on Thursday and Friday to get the feel of this new and very challenging track layout. The 85 plus heat and threat of thunderstorms did not keep the fans away as the grandstand seating sold out leading up to the event.

Chris had a great qualifying run that put him into 8th place for the tandem battles where he was pitted against DA team mate Vaughn Gittin Jr. While getting ready to grid for their top 16 battle, both Chris and Vaughn experienced car problems prompting the “5 minute rule” giving both teams time to make necessary repairs. Chris Forsberg Racing’s Crew Chief Kevin Wells quickly tracked down the problem to a single injector driver . He then was able to splice the damaged harness to another injector driver giving it the signal it needed to get the car running on all 8 cylinders again. “Kevin’s quick thinking and ingenuity kept us in the race,” said Chris. “He and the rest of my crew are a huge reason why we are in contention for the FD Championship.” Vaughn’s crew was unable to resolve their issue in the short time span given and the NOS Energy Drink Team was given a free pass to the top 8.

Next Chris was paired up with the top qualifier, Daijiro (Dai) Yoshihara. The first run had Dai leading and Chris was close behind. The judges ruled that Chris had made a slight correction after the main clipping point giving Dai a 9 to 6 advantage. The next run had Chris leading where he laid down a terrific line getting the crowd to its feet. Dai wasn’t too far behind, but it should have been enough to get a “One more time”. The Judges didn’t agree giving both drivers a tie score sending Dai to the next round.

“We were disappointed in the results, we felt strongly that we would go one more time with Dai.” said Chris. “We are pleased that the early retirement didn’t hurt us too bad in the Championship. We are 2 points out of 2nd and only 33 points from the leader. It’s definitely any ones game going into Vegas.”

The next stop for the team is Las Vegas Motor Speedway for round 4 of the Formula Drift Championship on July 12th. “Vegas will be an unknown for everyone.” said Chris. “This is a track no one has been to before so everyone will have to bring their best and hope the sweltering heat doesn’t blow the motors up… I know I’ll be counting on NOS Energy Drink to keep me going.”

Event Result:
Chris Forsberg 7th Place

Championship Standings:
Chris Forsberg 3rd Place