Driven 2 Drift: Final Fight! -Street Life Tour 2013

I would like to start this write-up off by showing you two angles of one of my best runs of my rookie season.

I ended up dropping two tires as you can see in the second video and receiving a zero, but outside of that mistake it was my best run all year.

........Lets go back in time to the moment before my qualifying run.

In my last practice session (the videos below ) before qualifying I had been battling failed shifter bushings. This made it extremely hard for me to get my car into third gear. Third gear was the only gear I could ride the bank on though, so getting into this gear was absolutely crucial for a good run.

The second thing that was running through my mind before my qualifying run, was the days reminders of how dangerous this track was. The tracks official name is Kil-Kare Raceway, but the drivers joke around and call it Kill-Car Raceway.

^ James Evans

^Caleb Nichols

Seeing another Red Rx7 crash was definitely not settling.

Once my mind was past possibly crashing I was then focused on my friends who arrived late and have never seen me drive before. I really wanted them to be able to watch me drive the rest of the night.

The final pieces of pressure were being the very first person to qualify in my run group. This was the first time I had ever done this, and at the biggest event of the year. This wasn't just some event where the die hard fans came, this was Street Life Tour one of the biggest drift events in the Midwest. The event I've wanted to qualify ever since I came and watched in 2011.

Now that I've built it up lets watch it one more time.

I entered the hardest I ever have on any track, its difficult to tell but I actually tapped the wall. Part of me was pretty sure that I would only be able to get into third gear one out of my two qualifying runs. Once I realized I successfully shifted I gave it my all. I remember driving back around after my runs and the event coordinator came up and said to me "I don't care what happened, you're my hero" and handed me my smashed rear taillight pieces. I went over and sat up on the wall and gave my spotter Karim Raahman a call. He said slightly puzzled "Man they gave you two zeroes" . I smiled and said "Yea I went off the course pretty bad, I was all up in the dirt over here" , he replied "Everyone over here thought you made it man." I sat back on that wall with the rest of the drivers not the least bit disappointed knowing I gave Kill-Car my all.

After looking back and analyzing these runs I realize there is a mental zone I am in while doing this. The part right before I dropped my two tires I fell out of my mental zone and lost concentration.

This would cost me the run and my chances of qualifying. As I had feared going into my second run I was not able to get the car into third and did not make my entry in time.

I'm not usually one to talk about myself but I am confident that my car has the ability to qualify into the top three positions. I believe that one day I too can mentally achieve this, but for my first year I am more than happy with how it ended.

DRIFTINDY has given me two titles for this year.

-Driver of the year

-Most Improved

Picture Time