After battling it out with Dennis Mertzanis in the Top 32, and Tony Brakohiapa in the Top 16, I made it to the Great 8 only to go up against my Drift Alliance bro and good friend Ryan Tuerck. I knew this was going to be a very tough-yet clean and fun-battle, as Tuerck and I are both very aggressive competitors. On my lead run, I was running at 110-percent and Tuerck was keeping up very well into the first zone, but I was able to create a decent gap through the long sweeper. When following, I knew it was still anyone's match. I applied as much pressure as I could and focused on the task at hand. Tuerck misjudged the first zone, going a bit too hard and straightening up. I stayed on the throttle and kept the pressure on. It was an awesome battle and I was awarded the win, but damn, he was good! We would have gone One More Time if he had not made that mistake.
I was matched against Fredric Aasbo and his Supra in the Final 4. He was hands down the biggest surprise of the weekend-killing it, and with such style, too! I knew I had to go super hard as the judges and crowd were impressed by his awesomeness all day. When leading, I threw the car as hard as I could into the first zone and stood on the throttle all the way through the sweeper. I was able to pull a decent gap and made sure to put the car up against the wall to get an advantage with the judges.
When it was my turn to follow, I knew we were both running similar lines with deep angle and good speed. The only way to win was to stay glued to him, which I made sure to do. We both ran a near-perfect run, but my toss into the first zone and the gap I created when leading was what sealed the deal and I moved on to the finals. Hats off to Aasbo-I look forward to running with him again in the future!
The final round put me up against Rhys Millen. We've had two match-ups in the past and he is the only top FD driver I have never beaten. I knew he was very fast, so I softened my rear shocks more than I had all weekend to give a bit more traction to keep up.
Entering the first turn, Rhys was 7 mph slower than he had been all weekend. This curveball put me in a really weird place for the first zone. The added grip and slow speed started to straighten me out. I kicked the clutch and caught it just in time (I found out afterwards from Rhys that the slower entry was due to him making a mistake and almost spinning, not foul play). I ran with it and kept the pressure on. Rhys was a bit slower going into the hairpin, too, and went wide. In order to avoid straightening again by slowing so much, I just put the hammer down and passed him, giving him a little kiss during the power move. I'm not saying it was the polite thing to do, but he left me no choice. He was obviously pissed off that I passed him, and brought out some of his stunt driving skills and gave me a nicely executed pit maneuver after the finish line, which I turned into a stylish 360.
Going into my lead run, my crew chief Ian called over the radio, "Run the deepest line you can! I don't care if you rip the back off the car!" And run it deep is what I did. Rhys clipped the wall, straightened up, and backed it into the tires. When I hit the hairpin and Rhys was nowhere to be seen, I knew we had just won Round One. I cannot even explain what was going through my head. When I came back onto the track I started going crazy, doing donuts, screaming, and fist pumping harder than the Jersey Shore crew. I was so excited I even climbed the fence in front of the main grandstands, which starting falling down on me, but I didn't care! I haven't felt the top step of a podium since 2008, and boy, did it feel awesome!
What an amazing week this all was. First with the announcement of my new partnership with Monster Energy, then the reveal of our new competition car at the Fantasy Factory, and to top it off, winning Round One of FD! Everything has fallen into place after months of hard work, and with the season starting on such a good note, I can't wait until Atlanta. Thank you all for the support; you are an integral part to my success and I sincerely appreciate it!
Falken Tire
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Monster Energy
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Ford Racing
www.fordracing.com