Daijiro Yoshihara
Two for two. Yoshihara is on a spectacular roll, so we're crowning him this year's king of the East Coast. Is it too early to talk of winning the championship outright? We don't want to hex the poor guy, like he "hexed" poor Takatori. Don't believe it? Read Dai's confession here.
What a weekend! I'm so happy to write this for Import Tuner, because it means I did well again.
On Wednesday I blew a head gasket of my S13's LS engine after only two practice laps. But Scott (SPD), Mike (MotoIQ) and Chris (KW Suspension) worked very hard and fixed it pretty quick, so I was able to drive a few practice laps on Thursday. The car felt really good and I had a feeling we could do well.
In Qualifying, first run, I tried to go a little conservative to get a decent score. But I guess I was too excited-I went harder than I should have and spun out. Naturally, I got zero points. Man, that was a nightmare! I didn't talk to anyone, just waited my turn for the second run. My heart was gonna explode. I knew I would be done if I made any mistakes. But I really wanted to qualify high to get some points. So I decided to believe in myself and try hard. It worked out and I ended up qualifying in Third Place.
In the Top 32, I went up against Brian Wilkerson, who spun while I was leading. He hit the wall during practice, and it seemed his car wasn't working right after that. In the Top 16, I faced Forrest Wang. I've seen his driving during practice and he seems very consistent. We both had good runs, but I think my car was faster and I was able to get closer when I was following. That enabled me to move up to the Top Eight.
In this round, I was up against Michihiro Takatori. He spun when I was leading. The bad vibes I had been sending to the car following me seemed to work. And I had a solid run when I was following. On to the Final Four.
Now I had to run against Darren McNamara. I knew his car was fast, so we lowered the tire pressure by 5 psi to try and gain a little more traction. He was really fast. The battle was close, so the judges called One More Time. When I was following, he was super-close to the wall on the bank. Too close. He hit the wall pretty hard, couldn't fix the car on time, and I went through to the Finals.
In the final round, I went up against Vaughn Gittin, Jr. I had been watching him closely, since he was the points leader and I was Second. I was hoping someone would beat him sooner, but he was driving so well. I told myself, 'I'm the only guy who can stop him,' so I tried my best. It was an extremely tough battle. He drove really great, but I guess I did slightly better. I won!
I can't believe I won again. It was another victory with great teamwork. I really appreciate every team member's effort. I got so many encouraging comments through Twitter and Facebook during the event, which I'm really grateful for.
I'm happy, but I'm still in Second Place for the championship, because of how awesome JR is driving this year. I'm very excited about the prospect of battling him for the title. I will keep working hard and try to get more podium finishes. Please keep supporting me, everyone! Thanks!
Falken Tire
www.falkentire.com
Discount Tire
www.discounttire.com
KW Suspension
www.kw-suspension.com
Round 3 Results
Wall Podium
1. Daijiro Yoshihara
2. Vaughn Gittin, Jr.
3. Tanner Foust
Overall Standings
1. Gittin
2. Yoshihara
3. Foust
4. Tuerck
5. McNamara
6. Forsberg
7. Millen
8. Hubinette
9. Pawlak
10. Gushi/Takatori