I wasn't happy about the rain, but learning to drift in Maryland taught me slick-track skill some of the others lack. I initiated on the bank as if it was dry and hit the high line flawlessly across the bank. I dropped into the infield with caution. Everything felt fine at first, but then it was like I hit a patch of ice and completely lost it.
Not qualifying, especially with double goose eggs and no mechanical problems to blame is definitely not something I am used to, nor is acceptable to me. This terrible luck streak I've been fist fighting is going to get knocked out in Sonoma - that's all there is to it!
Falken Tire
www.falkentire.com
K&N Filters
www.knfilters.com
Ford Racing
www.fordracing.com
Ken Gushi
After a brilliant Top 16 run in Vegas that ended prematurely, due to intercooler piping issues, Ken seems to be getting a handle on his tC. With a handful of Top 16 finishes in a completely custom car, all the Gush needs is for the new car woes to disappear.
This season has been rough for our RS-R Scion team. At almost every event, we've had trouble with the tC. But Seattle seemed like it would be different. Everything went smoothly during Thursday's practice, and I felt confident going into the weekend's competition.
During Friday morning's practice, I had a rough time adjusting to the new layout since the track had been altered a bit from how it was the day before. But as soon as I found my line again, the confidence returned, and I saw a bright weekend ahead of us. Then came the unimaginable. I felt something weird as I shifted through the gears on the straight. The clutch pedal felt like a sponge. It would go down, but had a hard time coming back up, and it kept getting worse, run after run. At one point, I came back into the pit with the clutch pedal on the floor while the clutch was still engaged; even if I manually depressed the clutch, it was not disengaging. We had come to conclusion that the clutch master cylinder had gone. Thankfully, the Scion Racing truck had a tC on display, and the crew was generous enough to let us swap master cylinders. Practice for that day was over, by that point, so I had to wait until Saturday to test out the car.
It did not take me long to find out that car was not fixed during practice on Saturday. This time, it was worse. After the crew bled the clutch line, they informed me that I would only have one chance to depress the clutch to get the car was running, and that I'd have to drift the entire course with only throttle modulation. I was in trouble. Not only was this hard to do, but also dangerous. My team had considered retiring from the event if we came to conclusion that this was too much of a risk. But I don't like giving up. I somehow convinced them that the impossible could be done.
For qualifying, I had them push the car so I could slam it into gear to get started, without having to use my one and only clutch engagement (thank you, G-force dog rings!). As I approached the bank, I said a little prayer and then "BAM"; I kicked the clutch. I felt the car drift and I was full throttle once again, drifting high into the bank. I scored a 91.33 and qualified 16th. Dead-last, but I qualified without a clutch. Mission accomplished. Has that ever been done before? I ended up losing to Samuel Hubinette on my first tandem run, but at least I'm still seeded going into Round 6!
Scion Racing
www.scionracing.com
RS-R
www.rs-r.com
XM Radio
www.xmradio.com
Chris Forsberg
Recovering from a Top 16 crash in Vegas that resulted in a Fourth position overall, Chris and his 350Z are back and in full chase for a championship to cap off his second place finish from the last 2007 Formula D season.