Event Coverage: Formula Drift ProAm Rd. 7

JDMC Hits up Formula D!

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Photos: Brad Sillars and Jeremy Cliff of www.thephotomotive.com
Words: Brad Sillars

Thursday morning Jeremy Cliff and myself began the 12 hour door to door journey of meeting up with a bunch of our local drivers out in Irwindale California who were competing in the Formula Drift ProAm competition at Round 7: Title fight in the Formula Drift Professional Racing series.

We met up with Brian Vrchoticky aka Nackers (nackersdrift.com) and his newlywed wife the night we arrived. Any woman that allows for a “Honeymoon/Drift Event” is definitely a keeper. Congrats again to the both of you.

Among Brian, fellow MDU (MDUDrift.com) drivers Kris Hackenson and Mike Skudlarek were also out competing in the ProAm. Unfortunately neither Brian or Kris were able to qualify, with Kris being 7 points from top 16. Mike made a top 8 finish and received a Professional License. I think I speak for everyone when I say that we’re proud to have all three of these guys out there representing the Midwest, and JDMC will be out to cover Brian and Kris for their next ProAm event.

“I was very disappointed in my performance during qualifying. Not because I worked hard all season to come up short, but because all the people who helped me by buying stickers, donating money, helping build the car, giving me pointers, promoting me and my car, and just cheering me on. I felt like I let everyone down by going out there and not even putting down a qualifying run. For that, I am sorry. But I’m not letting this defeat keep me down. I’m going to come back harder and even more hungry next season. Little talks about maybe a chassis change and the possibility of more sponsor support are kinda floating around. I will be updating my website as things happen.” Says Brian.

“I would like to thank JDMChicago/ChicagoZ, my parents, my wife, my best friends Danny, Johnny, and Rich, Project X Customs for always having my back. THMotorsports for their help. Zankoku Performance, Shook Motorsports (Ryan is the man!), Autowerks for the flashy paint on a retarded schedule. Autobarn, ChanFish, Risky Devil, Midwest Drift Union, Drift Indy for keeping me in peoples minds, and everyone else who I can’t think of at the moment. I’m where I am today because of all you. Thank You!”

The professional series was a spectacular performance as usual. The Toyota Speedway at Irwindale was host to a sold out crowd for the final round in the 2010 Formula Drift series. Tanner Foust took the event victory and also the Tires.com Triple Crown in his Rockstar Energy Scion TC. Vaughn Gittin Jr took the 2010 Championship win in his Monster Energy/Falken tire.

“It was another successful event to cap off an amazing season,” said Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “To end the season at the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale to a sold out crowd in one of the largest event markets in North America showcases the strength of drifting fans.”

Darren McNamera in his Falken Tire Saturn Sky pushed too hard in the battle for third place and put his car into the wall right before the judges stand, and gave the 3rd place victory to Michihiro Takatori in the BF Goodrich Nissan S15.

The finale battle was between 2-time FD Champion Tanner Foust and Vaughn Gittin Jr. Foust secured his win over JR in an intensely close One More Time battle giving him an Event Victory and his first Tires.com Triple Crown bonus prize.

“This was one of the most epic Formula DRIFT events of all time,” said Tanner Foust, winner of Round 7: Title Fight. “This is the best track to drift and in front one of the biggest crowds. The drivers stepped it up from the Top 32 and on and gave everyone attending a great show. No one seemed to care about protecting their car and threw it all out there. I can finally close the door on my chase for the Triple Crown as I’ve been chasing it for years being so close multiple times and want to give it up to Tires.com for the opportunity.”

With his advancement into the Top 16, Vaughn Gittin, Jr. secured the 2010 Formula DRIFT championship. Gittin found the podium 6 out of the 7 events through the season on his way to his first championship.

“This is just simply unbelievable,” exclaimed Vaughn Gittin, Jr., 2010 Formula DRIFT Champion. “This has been a dream of mine for the past 7 years. It is a true accomplishment for my team and a testament to their commitment to the sport.”

Gallery:

(Jeremy’s Pics)-