The 2012 AMA Supercross season kicked off recently at the Angeles Stadium in Anaheim and will make quite a run over the next few months until the finals in May which take place in Las Vegas. The series now has Falken Tire in place as the official truck tire of the series where they sponsor rider Ryan Villopoto. The new 30 second Supercross spot features Vaughn Gittin Jr. and Justin Pawlak ripping it up on the track along with the Falken Tire ALMS Porsche. Commercial is in the link below:

Ford’s social media campaign this month on Facebook faces two drivers off against each other for the month of December can be described as nothing short of a popularity contest. Two drivers face off and accumulate votes on a set day against another driver. On December 8th Justin Pawlak squared up against the Internet hype machine Ken Block himself and defeated him by a pretty decent margin in the end. So a huge congrats is in order to JTP and everyone in the drifting community to rallied to push him past Ken Block.

Today actually Vaughn Gittin Jr. is facing off against Brian Deegan which can be voted on following the link below. The winner of that round will take on the victor of two time Formula Drift champion Tanner Foust vs. Justin Pawlak which will take place on December 14th. The top four of this group is almost 100% full of Formula Drift drivers/alumni. If you want to find out more or vote for VGJ then follow the Facebook Fan page link below.

Vote for your favorite Formula Drift drivers Here: http://www.facebook.com/OfficialFordRacing?sk=app_190322544333196

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be a professional drifter, today is your lucky day. Many of us assume it’s an awesome job; to be able to drive awesome cars, attend notable events, and consume as many free energy drinks as your heart can handle. Last weekend I learned the realities of this profession as I had the opportunity to follow Vaughn Gittin JR around Irwindale for Round 7 of Formula drift. I mean, if I’m going to shadow a drifter, why not follow the 2010 Formula Drift Champion? Here is what our day consisted of:

11:30am – Formula Drift Insider Interview on Track: Vaughn started his day with a head to head with Ross Petty to settle some conspiracy accusations. If you’re a regular Wrecked reader, you’ll have seen our post with a link where Ross Petty suggests a “conflict of interest” between Tony Angelo and Drift Alliance members. We settled this by breaking down each judge’s call at Road Atlanta, disproving Ross’s assumption. It was hilarious to see Ross bringing out his crew of 15 or so, decked out in their 1990s camo pants and belly shirts. JR did the interview without any “backup.”

12:00pm – Falken Tent /Lunch: The schedule said lunch but at no point did I see JR eat. JR spent most of his time talking with his crew and the folks from Ford Racing.

12:30pm – Driver’s Meeting: All the drivers were herded into a small tent to get any new instructions for the day.

1:00pm – Massage: This wasn’t on the schedule but apparently some folks from Massage Envy set up shop right across from the Falken area and offered JR a deal he couldn’t refuse.

1:20pm – Phone Interview with Hot Rod Magazine Radio: When you’re a popular competitor in the motorsports world, everyone wants a piece of you. To accommodate a phone interview with this online radio show, JR had to hideout in a rental car.

1:37pm – Peed: Note* I did not follow him for this part of the day.

1:45pm – Time to get into the zone: JR had 15 minutes in the schedule to relax and get his head into the zone which in reality was about 2 minutes, which he used to enjoy a fresh juice and start walking to the grid.

2:00pm – Practice: Two whole hours were dedicated to practicing on the track. JR had a little fun with this and showed off his drifting skills on his way to the starting line. One of his practice opponents was none other than Ross Petty. Awkward… Click here to watch some of Vaughn Gittin’s practice laps.

4:00pm – Top 32 HRE Interview: With the start of the Top 32 being postponed by 15 minutes, I thought this was my time to sit down for a breather but NO! What? JR has a few spare minutes? Let’s do an interview! So we hightailed it over to HRE for some camera time and photos.

4:15pm – Top 32: And so the action begins! JR went up against Mike Essa and after an awesome run with a slight tap on the wall, the judges voted on an OMT. JR’s run, even with the tap, was definitely better than Essa’s but what do I know, I’m not a judge. After the OMT the judges went with Essa, saying JR had too many corrections.  It sucked to see JR out so early but he’s had a great year so far – he just got back from China where he won the opening round of the World Drift Series!

6:00pm – Half Time / Eat More Crew Talk: After his run, JR stayed on the track with his crew to support the other drivers. When half time came around and everyone started heading back to the tents, I figured the night was over and I won’t lie: I was a tiny bit relieved because holy shit my feet were tired! But alas, JR is JR and just because he was out did not mean it was downtime. He spent the next 30 minutes or so talking with his crew and mechanics.

6:30pm – Alpinestars Autograph Session: JR joined other drivers Chris Forsberg, Ryan Tuerck, Matt Powers, and Fredric Aasbo over at the Astars booth to do an autograph session. The line was to infinity and beyond and poor Abby had to tear JR away to get to back to Falken to chat with fans over there for another 15 mins or so before heading to Exedy.

6:45pm – Autographs/Pictures: You would never know JR was out of the competition with the droves of fans that were lined up to meet him. And they would not stop coming! Come on! I’m starving here…

7:00pm 7:10pm – Exedy Appearance/Swag Giveaway:  We needed to be at Exedy by 7pm but holy shit people are relentless! Can I get an autograph? Can I get a picture? Oh, it was blurry, let’s take another one! My 6-month-old daughter wants a picture with you too! It wasn’t even like we were standing around with nothing to do. JR was clearly walking like he was on a mission but the fans couldn’t care less. They just wanted 17 seconds with their favorite driver. So finally we made it to Exedy and people went bat-shit crazy over some free stickers.

7:30pm – Finally, some damn food: I was borderline hangry at this point so thank the lord it was time to finally eat.

8:00 pm– Top 16: Because JR is such a great sport and truly loves drifting, he stayed and watched the rest of the competitors. It turned out to be a great night with Tyler McQuarrie taking 1^st Place for the round and Dai Yoshihara taking the title of 2011 Formula Drift Champion.

So what did I learn? There is a lot of work that goes into being a successful drifter. You need to be willing to put in the hours, the sweat, and most importantly – you have to love it. Huge thanks to Vaughn Gittin JR for allowing me to be a fly on his wall, and huge thanks to his fiancée Abby for making it all happen (and keeping JR as close to schedule as possible).

After the 2011 season Formula Drift has 52 events in the books. The series now has 17 overall event winners meaning just about every 3 events (twice a season) a driver will receive his first win in the sport. Now after 2011 nine drivers are multiple events winners in the series. This year added two of those nine drivers with Justin Pawlak winning both his events this season and Tyler McQuarrie earning his second at Irwindale Speedway this season joining the club.

1. Sam Hubinette (9 Wins)
1. 2004 Road Atlanta
2. 2004 Houston
3. 2004 Infineon Raceway (Sonoma)
4. 2005 Road Atlanta
5. 2005 Chicago
6. 2006 Streets of Long Beach
7. 2006 Chicago
8. 2006 Wall Speedway
9. 2007 Summit Point

2. Tanner Foust (7 Wins)
1. 2006 Road Atlanta
2. 2007 Irwindale Speedway
3. 2008 Streets of Long Beach
4. 2008 Englishtown
5. 2008 Infineon Raceway (Sonoma)
6. 2009 Las Vegas
7. 2010 Evergreen Speedway
8. 2010 Irwindale Speedway

3. Chris Forsberg (6 Wins)
1. 2005 Irwnidale
2. 2007 Road Atlanta
3. 2007 Infineon Raceway (Sonoma)
4. 2008 Streets of Long Beach
5. 2009 Road Atlanta
6. 2009 Evergreen Speedway

3. Rhys Millen (6 Wins)
1. 2004 Irwindale Speedway
2. 2005 Wall Speedway
3. 2006 Infineon Raceway (Sonoma)
4. 2008 Road Atlanta
5. 2008 Evergreen Speedway
6. 2011 Las Vegas

3. Dai Yoshihara (6 Wins)
1. 2006 Irwindale Speedway
2. 2007 Evergreen Speedway
3. 2007 Wall Speedway
4. 2010 Road Atlanta
5. 2011 Road Atlanta
6. 2011 Evergreen Speedway

6. Vaughn Gittin Jr. (3 Wins)
1. 2008 Irwindale Speedway
2. 2010 Streets of Long Beach
3. 2010 Infineon Raceway (Sonoma)

7. Ryan Tuerck (2 Wins)
1. 2009 Streets of Long Beach
2. 2009 Irwindale Speedway

7. Tyler McQuarrie (2 Wins)
1. 2010 Las Vegas
2. 2011 Irwindale Speedway

7. Justin Pawlak (2 Wins)
1. 2011 Streets of Long Beach
2. 2011 Palm Beach International Raceway

10. Ken Gushi (1 Win)
1. 2005 Houston

10. Calvin Wan (1 Win)
1. 2005 Infineon Raceway (Sonoma

10. Yukinobu Okubo (1 Win)
1. 2006 Evergreen Speedway

10. Mitsuru Haraguchi (1 Win)
1. 2007 Streets of Long Beach

10. Toshiki Yoshioka (1 Win)
1. 2008 Las Vegas

10. Darren McNamara (1 Win)
1. 2009 Wall Speedway

10. Stephan Verdier (1 Win)
1. 2009 Infineon Raceway (Sonoma)

10. Conrad Grunewald (1 Win)
1. 2011 Wall Speedway

The most winning driver in Formula Drift Sam Hubinette took the top qualifying spot this weekend at Irwindale Speedway which is something we haven’t seen from him in sometime. A huge congrats to his performance after a rough start to the 2011 season! Here is how the Top 32 stacked up with Rookie of the Year leader Odi Bakchis missing out with a 33rd place finish.

1.Sam Hubinette – 92.7 points
2. Justin Pawlak – 90.4 points
3. Tyler McQuarrie – 88.4 points
4. Ryan Tuerck – 86.1 points
5. Rhys Millen – 85.9 points
6. Dai Yoshihara – 83.5 points
7. Walker Wilkerson – 83.3 points
8. Robbie Nishida – 83.2 points
9. Conrad Grunewald – 82.3 points
10. Matt Powers – 79.4 points
11. Ken Gushi – 79.0 points
12. Vaughn Gittin Jr. – 77.7 points
13. Fredric Aasbo – 77.3 points
14. Dean Kearney – 77.1 points
15. Luke Lonberger – 77 points
16. Chris Forsberg – 76.9 points
17. Matt Field – 76.5 points
18. Toshiki Yoshioka – 73.1 points
19. Ryan Kado – 72.8 points
20. Kyle Mohan – 72.8 points
21. Michael Essa – 71.2 points
22. Taka Aono – 70.8 points
23. Ross Petty – 68.9 points
24. E. Armandio “Dio” – 68.6 points
25. Dennis Mertzanis – 68.3 points
26. Darren McNamara – 67.9 points
27. Jeff Abbott – 67.8 points
28. Pat Cyr – 66.3 points
29. Kenneth Moen – 66.2 points
30. Cyrus Martinez – 63.3 points
31. Charles Ng – 62.5 points
32. Patrick Mordaunt – 61 points

Another driver not stepping back into Justin Pawlak’s his Nissan 350z at the end of the season will be Tyler. This shouldn’t come as a shock after he was already removed from his car in Las Vegas by the Falken Team Manager when he sat 6th in the championship. We are glad to see Tyler not putting up with that amount of disrespect and heading elsewhere in 2012. We have a feeling he can find another program that will respect his talents and give him a great shot at some vengeance for next season. We can only hope now that this car gets destroyed and set on fire this weekend at the hands of Tyler! This is a confirmed ACTION (no rumormill here) so teams looking for a driver please swoop him up.

Here are the drivers found on the poll for the 2011 Formula Drift Awards that are presented at the banquet after the season ends. Here are the nine questions which each have four options selected by Formula D. I heard they are going to make a new category this year called driver who missed driving their own race car the most but I don’t think we need multiple choice options for that one (this is a joke for you non sense of humored people).

1. Crew Member of the year (this person can be the crew chief, mechanic, suspension engineer, etc.)

A. Mike Kojima (Discount Tire S13/Dai Yoshihara)
B. Scott Dodgen (Discount Tire S13/Dai Yoshihara)
C. Kevin Wells (NOS Energy Drink 370z/Chris Forsberg)
D. Costa Gialamas (Team Need for Speed S14/Matt Powers)

2. Team Manager of the year (this person can be the manager, owner or the person instrumental in managing the team well)

A. Jonathan Bradford (Falken Tire)
B. Stephan Papadakis (Team Need for Speed Scion tC)
C. Chris Forsberg (NOS Energy Drink 370z)
D. Ron Bergenholtz (Full Tilt Poker Mazda Rx-8)

3. Hardest Charging Driver of the Year”
A. Matt Powers
B. Dai Yoshihara
C. Darren McNamara
D. Walker Wilkerson
E. Conrad Grunewald
F. Justin Pawlak

4. Best Drifting Style:
A. Matt Powers
B. Dai Yoshihara
C. Ryan Tuerck
D. Fredric Aasbo

5. Spirit of Drifting:
A. Joon Maneg
B. Ross Petty
C. Walker Wilkerson
D. Dai Yoshihara

6. Best Style (the person with the best overall style this season, not driving style)
A. Matt Powers
B. Matt Field
C. Ross Petty
D. Dai Yoshihara

7. Most Improved Driver:
A. Odi Bakchis
B. Cyrus Martinez
C. Justin Pawlak
D. Matt Powers

8. Best Comeback of the Year:
A. Rhys Millen
B. Fredric Aasbo
C. Odi Bakchis
D. Vaughn Gittin Jr.

9. Best Looking Car of the Year:
A. Dai Yoshihara
B. Matt Field
C. Fredric Aasbo
D. Chris Forsberg

One of our favorite eagle eye readers is Cobalt Griffin who found these photos on the GT Channel Facebook page. During Issue 21 of Wrecked Magazine J Brad told us what was happening to this S15. A big V8 and some serious prep work are going into it as we speak. James Deane needs to get back in this car for 2012 but we highly doubt that is going to happen anytime soon. The car is rumored to hit the Middle East for the 2012 demos with maybe Justin Pawlak or Tyler McQuarrie. This could be an interesting competitor to the market!

Last seasons Irwindale crowd sold out and had the largest crowd in drifting history for the House of Drift. They are adding more seating this year and awarding early ticket purchasers with some ticket promotions. Follow the link below to check out the details but if you attend one event this season you will want it to be this one. JTP, Dai Yoshihara, and even Chris Forsberg are going to be taking it to the bank in hopes for a championship. To spice things up Formula Drift has even rumored to some serious track alterations which you can check out in this old post here. Sit back, book your tickets and get ready for the close to one impressive season.

Source: http://www.formulad.com/blog/2011/press-releases/fd-round-7-title-fight-ticket-buyers-have-chance-to-win-prizes/

I was working on championship opportunities today of who can win and how it would all happen for a post later in the week and found some shocking information about the opportunity Tyler McQuarrie had wide open to him and was stripped away by his own team.

Let’s go over the assumptions I made to get to this conclusion: 
1. Justin Pawlak scores a 0 from his Ford Mustang not working. (You could assume he got a few points from driving the S15 but judging by how Tyler looked in it the car was far from competition ready.)
2. Tyler McQuarrie did amazing here last year and scored 104 points in the process. I used his performance data from last year and plugged that into his score for this event (subtracting the poor performance points in the S15.)
3. Everyone else for Round 6 I gave the performance they put on (everyone ahead of Tyler McQuarrie except Darren McNamara did pretty bad).

2011 Formula D Championship Standings*
1. Daijiro Yoshihara – 470 points
2. Darren McNamara – 435.50 points
3. Chris Forsberg – 429 points
4. Tyler McQuarrie – 420.50 points
5. Matt Powers – 418.50 points
6. Justin Pawlak – 399.75

Of course this is complete speculation and this is more of an ideal world for Tyler McQuarrie scenario I have painted out here on display but nobody has a way of disputing this claim anymore. Quite a few of the top tandem drivers he would of faced were eliminated early at the event making it even more of a feasible action I feel like. 50 points is a realistic hurdle to tackle for a championship win as well and shouldn’t be discredited. Tyler McQuarrie has performed very well at Irwindale Speedway before and anything can happen with the two drivers above him.