Staring out into the crowd at what is surely the most infamous venue on the Formula Drift circuit, it is hard to believe just last year Chris was a fan trying his luck at a local Pro-Am event. Competing professionally at Irwindale Speedway, or the “House of Drift” as its better known, seemed like a far off fantasy, but here we stood. We had made it to all 7 of the events in the series, (a challenging task for any privateer team) and were ready to leave it all on the track at Round 7.

After wrapping up the Las Vegas event we decided the car had seen enough carnage and was ready for a small cosmetic makeover. Luckily, the car was still mechanically sound so we replaced our thrashed body panels, threw some paint and vinyl on her and “Viola!” We had another great practice session on Thursday with no car issues, and no surprises, and were ready to go come qualifying on Friday. Chris liked the track and felt comfortable all during practice, but mentioned he wished the last turn would have been wider a few times after the drivers meeting. After his first “safe” run didn’t score high enough to qualify Top 32, we knew that this next run had to be perfect. Insane better describes his next run, as he threw the car in right along the wall on the first bank, transitioning hard, and riding his trunk along the second inner wall without ever losing drift. This was looking like it was going to be the one, but alas, he put his car on too wide of a line and hit three of the outside reference cones on the last turn. The judges saw this as off-course and gave Chris a “0” on his final run of the season.

Although we wish we could’ve ended the season with more of a bang, we are proud of what we were able to accomplish this year. As a team we have learned invaluable lessons about competing, sportsmanship, and what it takes to succeed. We have made amazing friends and have had great adventures along the way. We have no regrets and cannot wait to see what our next season will bring.

We would like to take this opportunity to say a huge THANKS to all our sponsors. We truly couldn’t have done it without your support. Being our Rookie year in the series, we were lucky enough to have a few people take a chance on Chris and the Team and for that we are very grateful.

Here’s to 2013!