Formula Drift Diaries - Tyler McQuarrie

Tyler McQuarrie
Tyler is dangerous. Not because he's a crazy driver (well, no crazier than the rest), but because he's on a roll, along with Falken, the tire company that shod all three podium finishers at the last round. Will Tyler and his 350Z keep up the mad momentum?

The past month has been crazy. A few days after my Third Place finish in New Jersey, my stepdaughter, Hailey, had a kidney transplant. We lived at the hospital for the month and we were able to bring Hailey home about a week before Vegas. As you can imagine, we were spent. Vegas couldn't have come at a better time.

I got to Vegas on Thursday and it was hot . . . 110 degrees hot. Luckily, our first practice session was late that night, so the heat was bearable. It soon became apparent that a month spent in the hospital and away from racing had taken a toll on my driving. It took a long time for me to get into a rhythm on this track, which is why I qualified all the way down in the 17th spot. It finally started to click on the Saturday practice before the Top 32 tandems. I was feeling good and ready to battle.

My first match-up was with Ken Gushi-definitely not a guy you want to meet this early in the event. He led the first run and I stuck to him through the first half, but I went a little wide at the third clipping point, so Ken pulled a little gap. I knew I needed to nail the next run and I did. Ken made a mistake and I pulled out a big gap, so they called for a "one more time." This time, I stayed closer. When I led, I had a little gap in the first half. He charged into the second inner clipping point so hard that he hit me. I'm not sure if he couldn't see from the tire smoke or he just brought in too much speed, but either way, I know he didn't mean to. I was able to finish the run, and since Ken spun at that point, so the win went to me.

My first match-up in the 16 would be the top qualifier, Robbie Nishida. 'Awesome, no problem,' I thought-he just happened to be the fastest guy at the event. He led first and as we left the line he slowly edged away. I was able to close the gap to two car lengths and had a clean run. The only way past Robbie was to lay it all on the line, which I did and created a good gap going into the first turn. But his car is so damn fast, he was able to close up quick. But then I threw down my Falken smoke screen, and Robbie ended up spinning.

I was up against Michael Essa in the Great 8 for the second time this season. He's new to Formula D, but not to drifting. He led the first run and I was able to stick with him and even pull up on his door at the finish line. So I knew I just needed a clean run to get to the Final 4. I pulled out a little gap and I think he got lost in tire smoke because he turned early for the second inner clip and went off course. I advanced.

It's an awesome feeling to get to the Final 4 twice in a row, but I wanted to get on the podium for the second consecutive event. And Tanner Foust was in my way. I've run against Tanner many times, but never in his new Scion. I led the first run and came in with 91 mph and even tapped the entry wall. Tanner went a little shallow to catch up and I had a gap of one or two car lengths on him. He led next and when we left the start tree it was a drag race. That Scion is fast and he pulled out a huge gap before the first corner. I closed up, but it was still too big, so the judges called for a One More Time. We both had clean runs in the OMT, but the judges went with Tanner, so I would face Chris Forsberg in the consolation round for Third Place.

This would be the third time this year Chris and I have battled, which was fine with me. I know Chris will drive hard, but clean. No B.S. from him. He beat me in Atlanta and I beat him in Jersey. If I could beat him in Vegas, I'd get on the podium. Both runs were good, but he was able to stick to me a bit closer. He won the Third spot and I'm now 1-2 against Chris this season. The next one will be mine.

Given the circumstances over the past month for my family and how long it took me to get into a rhythm this event, I'm stoked to leave Vegas with a Fourth Place. I'm now half a point behind Fourth and only 42 points shy of the championship lead. To be a championship contender in the first year for the Falken Tire Nissan 350Z with three events to go is an amazing feeling.

Chris Forsberg
Vegas is the millionaires' playground, but Chris is sticking with his trusty 350Z. And it's served him well, hauling him into the upper reaches of the championship. It seems Chris likes a card game too, so Vegas could be the ideal place for him.

I had high hopes for Las Vegas. We made some minor changes to get some more speed, so I couldn't wait to get the Z on the track. We got a chance to test the car the weekend before and it felt great. When we got to the track, we noticed Formula D was running a new course. It seemed much more suited to tandems, so we had a good feeling about the weekend.

On Thursday, we didn't do anything special, except run the car and make sure everything was good. We took a few different lines through the course and tried a couple different entry styles to find the best way through the main corner. The car was running great and we all felt comfortable with the setup, keeping it unchanged for Friday's qualifying session. Thursday night was also the Formula D Blackjack Tournament. Many drivers and crew came to the casino to compete. I made it through all three rounds, finishing Second overall-a great start to the weekend!

Friday began with Pro-Am, so we arrived a little early to check it out before setting up for our day. When practice started, so did the mayhem. Takatori hit the tire barrier, JR smashed his front end, tearing off the front suspension, and Darren's Sky was done for the weekend because of a blown motor. When things like that occur in front of you, it's a reminder that it can happen to any of us. We all knew this, but it's the last thing you want in your head before going out on track.

The course was tricky, but similar to Long Beach. I ran up to Fourth gear, clutch-kicked into the first right, keeping the angle light and the throttle down, trying to gain as much speed as possible. Then I flipped back to the left, along the first outer clipping zone and floored it, drove all the way down with big angle toward the second outside clipping point, downshifted and brought it into the first inside clipping point, followed by a tight right into a tight left turn. After qualifying, we were sitting in the Top 10. Although I didn't want to think about it, I couldn't help being excited because Tuerck was now theoretically in First Place, moving us up to Second.

Saturday was another interesting day. Some drivers were not cautious during their practice laps and forgot that the track gets much looser in the hot sun. I think four or five cars hit the wall in the one-hour practice session. Thankfully, all but one was still able to compete in the Top 32. For our first match-up, we went against Bill Sherman, who was making yet another triumphant return to Formula D in that crazy-fast S13. I was a little nervous to run against him, since he seemed to be having some car troubles in practice and was limited on track time. On my lead lap, I did my run and never looked back. On the chase run, I wanted to stick close. We flipped into the big left-hander and he was going deep toward the wall. I thought he was going to crash, but I just followed him in there, knowing that if he pulled it off and I straightened, he would get the win. He jumped on the gas at the last second, so I did the same, but I guess he had a little too much momentum coming out of the clip because he straightened out. We moved into the Top 16.

Our next battle was against Takatori. He was doing quite well in his new car, so I didn't want to give him too much room on the chase lap. We kept it close; he made a small mistake, so I got the win. I was in the Top 8, happy to see that my opponent was Ryan Tuerck. He's an awesome driver and an even better friend. This was going to be great. I got to lead first, so I drove through the course with as much throttle and smoke as I could. On the chase lap, he had a slight mis-shift as we were running down the straight. I paused as he got the car back into gear and tore past. We were entering the course almost 10mph slower than normal. We both managed to pull off a great run together, despite the lack of entry speed. Then those dreaded three words: One More Time! We lined up again and this time I carried it in a little harder, pushing for the wall. On the chase lap, I stuck with him all the way through the course. Then another OMT was called. Come on! This was the last chance; I threw it into the main corner even deeper and put the rear bumper right up to the wall. Tuerck followed me so closely that he also tagged the wall. His team called for five minutes to look at the rear; they changed a part and got him back to the line in time. I think he must have bent or broken something else, because as I chased him into the course, he threw the car to the right, but did a full 180 and flipped back to the left. I barely avoided hitting him and was on my way to the semi-finals, happy to have two chances for the podium.

Our first round in the semi-finals was against Miki, who was doing a great job in his RX-7 that weekend. I led through the course with a smooth run, but he was right on top of me. While chasing on the second lap, I followed him into the left-hander pretty close, but hesitated before getting back on the throttle and he put another car-length gap between us. I was unable to make up the gap through the second half and lost the round. Mildly frustrated, I tried not to think about it as we lined up to run against Tyler. This was the third event in a row that I had to run Tyler head-to-head, and this time it was for Third Place.

I got to lead on the first lap again, which helped my spotter watch his moves and tell me what I should do. We got a nice pass through the course and he was within a car's length or two the whole time. We swapped spots at the start line and I told myself not to get lost in the smoke like I did in Jersey. I decided to go for it-I figured if he's still making smoke then he's probably still going. At full throttle, running toward the outside clipping zone, I tried to look for anything I could use as a reference to see where I was on the track. I could see him as he got off throttle to enter the first inside clip, so I jumped on the throttle and pulled up within one car-length. We flipped into the tight right turn and I lost him again. I stayed on the throttle for a second longer and there he was, inches away. I transferred through the last turn and stayed close. We pulled up to the Formula D official, who pointed to me as the winner. I congratulated Tyler and ran over to my crew. We just got our second podium finish of the year. And for the first time ever, I was leading the Formula D championship in points. What an awesome weekend!