Streetwise Wraps up Formula Drift Season in Irwindale

Last weekend the Streetwise crew headed out to Toyota Speedway at Irwindale to support the DVM Mustang for the final round of the Formula Drift 2009 season. Most of practice was spent getting the 2004 Mustang and the driver Doug Van Den Brink tuned up for the speeds required to run at this track, as he was only one of four drivers with no experience at The House of Drift. By qualifying, the car speed was up to third fastest through the trap and Doug's lines were improving. Doug was able to put together a run that qualified him in 26th position. This qualifying spot set us up against the 2009 points leader Chris Forsberg. With all eyes on us as a championship spoiler we entered the top 32 round. The last time we ran Chris (earlier this year in New Jersey) he made it look pretty easy running against us. This time was to be different. If Chris were to beat us he would clinch the driver's championship for 2009, if we beat him it would open the door for Ryan Tuerck to take the championship if he were to win the event. We only had one option on how to play our hand. Doug drove as hard and as clean as he could. The judges were hard pressed to call a winner, and in fact called for a One More Time after the first tandem run. After the second tandem we all waited axiously as the judges made their decision. In the end Chris moved on and was crowned 2009 Formula Drift Champion. Although we were not able to make it into the top 16 this round we left the event with a positive feeling. Doug was able to gain valuable experience at Irwindale Speedway and our fellow competitors were quick to share their thoughts on our top 32 performance and how they thought the judging should have been called.