Photos from Round 2 located here…
“Round Two, serious-face time. Winged Warrior VI, and we were brining the show. It was another cold/early morning as all the drivers unloaded their cars at O’ Reilly Raceway Park this past Saturday. The fast track setup was no joke, and there was no room for error. It started with a fast 3rd gear decreasing radius sweeper from the main oval into the infield for two 2nd gear transitions, ending with a smoky sweeper back onto the main track.
During practice, it took most drivers a little time to get comfortable with the first initiation. Staring down the barrel at some k-rails has got to be intimidating, but even the new guys were trying to rip it up on the bank (I’m looking at you tclange, nice work buddy). As we all know, there is no room for error when you are on the chase to drive at a professional level. There were some love taps and hits during the day but everyone left the event with a running car. That really speaks to the level of talent the Midwest has developed. The last drift event at this track was in ’05, with a less manly setup, with what were high level drivers at the time, and no one ripped it up like our guys did this past Saturday.
The top gun top 8 tandem battle was on with some serious heat. The leader of the season, Clinton Florczyk, didn’t have much luck qualifying, but his other Neukin teammates did; Austin Barron qualified in eighth and Mike Feiock in the second spot. The match ups were the following… first place qualifier Bill Highlife Cook in his blood red 240sx vs Travis LaCombe in his Foxbody Mustang. Mike Feiock vs Kris Hackenson in the shiny S14. Brian Nackers Vrchoticky in the THMotorsports 350z vs Adam Ouziel in his Zerolift Autolab S13 coupe. And finally Cody Tobe of Dayton vs Austin Barron with the DriftClutch S14. All top 8 drivers took their parade lap around the track and there was no turning back.
Bill Cook advanced to the top 4 after Lacombe in the Foxbody slipped up and spun out which gave Cook the advantage. Drift Indy’s T2 Mike Feiock advanced to the top four to face Cook in the top 4 battle for some Indy on Indy action. Brian Vrchoticky advanced after battling with Adam Ouziel who didn’t go out easily. Finally, Tobe, after crashing earlier in the day, had a hard time as Austin Barron advanced to the next round after a hard fight out of the infield of the course.
After a difficult tandem battle between Feiock and Cook, both did great, with Mike just keeping the run a bit more clean than Bill’s (Bill apparently drifts just as well with two or three wheels in the dirt. Where he’s going, he doesn’t need roads.). After a third one more time by the crowd, Austin Barron of Ft.Wayne made his way to the finals to battle Feiock and his monster FC RX7 and a place for leading points in the series. A one more time was called after a slight mix-up by Austin spinning out on the last corner. After the advantage was given to Feiock on the last run, Barron had already used his 5 minutes when he ran out of fuel. This gave the final win for Mike T2 Feiock and the lead in points in the NOS MIDWEST DRIFT UNION FORMULA-D PRO AM SERIES.
The next point’s event will take place July 3rd and 4th at the home of the World Famous Figure Eight, the Indianapolis Speedrome. Please keep checking back on our website for more news and be sure to stay connected in MDU Forums.
-Jon Gilliatt of Midwest Drift Union”
For more info visit MidwestDriftUnion.com
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