Formula D Diaries - A Day In The Life Of A Drifter

Chris Forsberg
Tied with Samuel Hubinette for First, Chris is back home for Round Three of Formula D in his convertible 350Z. After losing to Takatori (August 2008 cover car) last round, he's looking to win it at his home track in front of his closest fans.

What can I say about Englishtown? It's the birthplace of drifting on the East Coast, where I met all of our Drift Alliance buddies, and the place where we refined our skills as drifters. With Tony Angelo and Matt Petty teaming up with Mike Napp, Drift Out Wednesdays at Raceway Park was the beginning of one of the first drifting organizations in the country. If it wasn't for those three, I definitely would not be where I am today.

Raceway Park had a road course, but it wasn't until this year they got the permits to run professional racing events on it. With the closing of Wall Speedway, Raceway Park was the first track to come to mind for a new Northeast venue. It had a lot more to offer than Wall Speedway: A 90mph full-throttle-entry around a triple apex left turn, up and back down a hill into a steady right hander. With all of our friends and family out for this special event, we couldn't wait to put on a show.

After the drivers' meeting on Saturday, we headed out to the track for the final practice session. My crew chief, Kevin Wells, made some drastic changes to the suspension to get the highest possible entry speed. Qualifying went well and we were in the top five of the Top 16. Alongside me were Vaughn Gittin, Ryan Tuerck, and Tony Angelo. This was the first time all four of us ever made it into the Top 16 together and we couldn't have asked for anything better. Afterwards, I learned that my first opponent was Vaughn Gittin. It was a little frustrating to know that I had to compete against a fellow Drift Alliance member in the first round, but it was also good to know that one of us was guaranteed a spot in the Great Eight. I started to warm up the tires and realized that something was wrong with our 350Z. It was not revving smooth, and there was a loss of power. Kevin rushed over and ripped the hood open, and told me that one of the injector drivers failed and we were running on seven cylinders. Kevin quickly started splicing wires and jumping signals in between cylinders. Knowing there was only a minute or two left he yelled, "Fire it up!" I started heating up the tire and the engine revved clean and sounded great.

The Formula D officials waved me up to the line, and Vaughn came around the corner and pulled up next to me, but there was a problem. FD officials saw something under the Mustang and asked JR to back up. As the car reversed, there was a puddle of fluid on the track. The officials called it and told him to pull off the course. JR got DQ'd and I had to make a pass to put a score down. It was not how I wanted to win the round, but with no other choice, I hit the track at full speed to see if our car was even going to work. It flew through the course with no misfires.

By Carter Jung

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