No Guts No Glory

No one expected the 2007 Formula D points race would leave three competitors jockeying for position all year, eventually to be deadlocked with each other coming into the final battle. But that's exactly what happened as Chris Forsberg, Daijiro Yoshihara and Tanner Foust marched their way into the "House of Drift", Irwindale Speedway, for round 7 of 7 of Formula Drift, with a mere 30 points difference from one another.

If mounting pressure to win the last race in the series wasn't enough to send each drift competitor to the brink of insanity, Mother Nature threw in a wrench of her own as SoCal experienced an untimely downpour the night before the event was to commence. Uncertainty loomed Saturday morning, with dark clouds and sprinkling rains looking to put a damper on the weekend drift festivities. But as the California track's gates opened at 11 a.m. and top 32 qualifying began, the storm clouds didn't seem to affect the 8,000 fans standing in attendance; the anticipation of what would surely be some of the best drifting the world had to offer overwhelmed their senses. Spectator lining the grandstands and walking along "vendor alley" came to the event with as much uncertainty as the drivers themselves as to who would emerge victorious to take home the championship. As the top 32 finally took shape after two hours of grueling competition, it was Foust who qualified in First place with a judge's score of 96.83, with Forsberg a close Second, chalking up 95.83 out of 100 points possible. Rhys Millen scored a 95.50 to take Third in qualifying, while Yoshihara who had sat in Second place coming into competition landed in Sixth place with a score of 94.17. Never in Formula D history have the top three competitors in the points chase made it to the semifinals-a truly remarkable feat, but only one could claim victory in the end.

Formula D officially kicked off its opening ceremony at 5 p.m. as the top 16 competitors aligned their vehicles, starting with number one qualifying Foust, in the AEM/Memphis Car Audio Nissan 350Z, going head-to-head with Tony Brakohiapa driving the Team X Ford Mustang. Bowing to the pressure of competition, Brakohiapa spun out and received zero points from the judges while Foust took the easy win come the second round. Last year's champion, Samuel Hbinette in the BFGoodrich Mopar Dodge Charger, looked strong coming into the large sweeper as he pitched his car with plenty of smoke and speed. His competitor, Kenji Yamanaka in the Hankook JIC Nissan S15, kept his composure with a near flawless run as both competitors scored almost identical, with Hbinette squeaking out a marginal one-point lead in the first of two runs. With Hbinette chasing behind Yamanaka in the second, it was the Charger that fell victim to the wall as the S15 moved on to the next round. Vaughn Gittin, Jr., who has made a strong presence all year long, faced off with Mitsuru Haruguchi driving the Silk Road USA Falken Nissan Silvia backup car. Gittin scored the easy win when Haruguchi's car showed obvious problems on the track, refusing to drift with a blown clutch. As the night's excitement continued at a furious pace, we found ourselves clutching our chests in dismay when Robbie Nishida, piloting the Falken Nissan 240SX, a shoe-in to take the win over Bill Sherman's Enjuku Racing Nissan 240SX, came out of the last corner and uncharacteristically spun out, earning no points and sending his team packing up early.