Round Three of the 2010 Formula Drift season was "The Gauntlet", aka New Jersey's Wall Speedway. And whenever drivers run the gauntlet, they have to deal with a 16-degree banked oval. Many try, most fail. On the last East Coast event of this year's series, these two guys both got to spray some champagne around.
Tanner Foust
This man must be a drive-aholic. He races here, in Europe, does TV stuff . . . he's unstoppable. Except for when he breaks a driveshaft (resulting in a still-respectable Sixth Place across the pond), or if his engine mysteriously loses power. But Mr. Foust will explain all.
I love the fans in New Jersey. Seriously, they rock! But Wall Speedway is not my favorite place to compete. Don't get me wrong-it's a good facility and has a very cool staff, but it doesn't seem to make for the most interesting drift track from the driver's seat. From the stands, however, this year's event turned out to be pretty bitchin'. There was carnage, fire, drama, wheels flying off (OK, there wasn't really any fire). It was a V-8 circus, with Jarod DeAnda screaming away as the ringmaster.
My event started with a flight from England, where I was competing in the European Rallycross Championship, and going straight to the track for Thursday practice. Things were a bit of a blur from there until I was next to Martinez's V-8-powered purple S13. Taka Aono was giving him some last-minute advice, then we were off. The two runs felt fine and I got the win. This was turning out pretty good.
A blink and a packed pit walk later, Stephan (Frenchy) Verdier and I were up in front of the tree. Verdier and I go way back-we competed in rally racing for a few years. He was on his way out of the sport and I was just starting; he beat me every race he finished. Frenchy was so fast in those rally cars and he's proving to be just as competitive in drift cars, so this was no easy battle. However, a few turns later, he lost a wheel, drove over it mid-drift, and showed me the underside of his Subie. I bailed, locked up the brakes, and missed him by less than an inch. Alright-officially awake now.
Next up, Ryan Tuerk. I don't have the best record against Tuerk. And this track-more than any other-benefits smaller, lighter cars like his Solstice. I knew I'd have to attack from the very first initiation in order to have any chance. Being one of the more sportsmanlike competitors, I believe he waited for my heavier car off the line. Or not . . . I don't know. Either way, we initiated side by side into the bank, made slight contact, but we both pulled out of it inches apart. I shouldn't have hit him, but it was light enough that his drift was uninterrupted. I continued to attack, risking everything on every corner for the rest of the run and it paid off with the win. Nice.
A few minutes later, I was racing Vaughn Gittin. He has kept his nose clean this year and, if it wasn't for Daijiro Yoshihara, would almost have the championship wrapped up right now. Off the line, my car lost power-for the first time in four years-and stumbled its way down the straight. I flung it into the first corner, almost faking the drift, but it made things worse and I hit the wall. By this time, Gittin was halfway around the track, so I tried to clear the motor out for our second run. It worked. By the time we lined up again, the car was running as normal. What a bummer. For my lead run, I warned Gittin I had a motor issue, but there was nothing anyone could do differently. I was going to go as fast as I could and he was going to chase with full commitment. If the car died, we would crash. It didn't, and Gittin moved on to the Finals. I hope we get a rematch later in the season.
In the consolation round, I paired up with Darren McNamara. Following was tricky, but I was able to stay closer than I thought, so that was nice. he made a few errors on the bank during his lead run, but he caught me anyway. We made contact in the last corner and I spun. I felt lucky to move on to the podium spot because D-Mac owned this track all weekend.
That was it. Good times. I left at five the next morning for a Top Gear shoot that will be on air in December, then another flight to Los Angeles for a Speed TV Supercars Exposed shoot. It's been a crazy summer and it's getting crazier. Please stay tuned at tannerfoust.com or find me on Facebook. Next stop, Seattle!
Rockstar
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Scion Racing
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Hankook
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