Formula D made it triumphant return to the world famous ‘House of Drift’ Irwindale Speedway to cap of it’s 2018 Season. Defending champion and current points leader James Dean entered round 8 with a slight lead over Fredric Aasbo. Dean was looking to be the second driver to win back to back championships since Tanner Foust back in 2008
As Formula DRIFT returned to Los Angeles for the season finale, drivers, teams, fans and the series organizers were delighted to be back at Irwindale Speedway – the House of Drift. With only the Auto Cup decided at the previous round when Toyota amassed enough points to claim the title, there’s was everything to play. By Saturday evening we would all know the names of the 2018 Formula DRIFT Black Magic Pro Champion as well as the 2018 Formula DRIFT Link ECU Pro 2 Champion, Rookie of the Year and the Tire Cup winner.
In what has been one of the closest season’s in Formula DRIFT history, it was as if Hollywood had scripted the most exciting event possible for the fans. There was drama in qualifying, unexpected lightning storms and title chasers watching from the sidelines as the action unfolded. This was, without doubt, the most exciting Formula DRIFT weekend ever witnessed in the series’ 15-year history.
Bringing world-class drifting to the Mid-West, the 2018 Formula DRIFT Black Magic Pro Championship and Link Pro 2 Championship headed to St Louis, MO for Round Six: Advance Auto Parts Crossroads presented by Rain-X. This would be the first time in its 15-year history the series had visited Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, IL and packed grandstands greeted the competitors.
“We’re delighted to bring Formula DRIFT Pro and Pro 2 Championships to St Louis,” beamed a delighted Jim Liaw, FD president. “We’ve been looking for a suitable venue to bring the series back to the Mid-West and Chris Blair proved to be the catalyst. He was formerly the VP of Racing Operations at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and knows what we need. So when he became EVP and GM at Gateway Motorsports Park it was the break we’d been waiting for. The track is adjacent to St Louis and accessible to most of the major cities in the Mid-West so its location is perfect. It also provides the facilities FD needs and we’re in discussions to expand certain areas for next year since we’re already looking at a capacity crowd and need the opportunity to grow. We think this will become one of the most popular events across the country once it’s fully established.”
So far this round of FD in Montreal Canada has been great. Chelsea and the team are taking it easy on the car to increase the chances of it seeing top 32 and beyond. We had some rain during the first of two practice session’s so Chelsea decided to wait and drive the second session which was full dry. The car is ripping and Chelsea knows this track. Fingers crossed for a dry qualifying session.
Chelsea and the team are coming into FD Atlanta ready to continue the victory and take home another win. The weather decided to change last minute and give us a few showers through out the day resulting in a full wet 2nd practice session. With a few changes and some more preparation Chelsea will be ready to take the first place qualifying spot. Stay tuned for part 2 with qualifying results!