FORMULA DRIFT RETURNS TO ST. LOUIS FOR ROUND 1 & 2. TEAM DRIVER MATT FIELD SECURES TOP 5 PLACEMENT HEADING INTO ROUND 3 & 4
After a few months of uncertainty, the shortened Formula Drift 2020 season kicked off last weekend in St. Louis, Mo at Worldwide Technology Raceway. This was the first time in Formula Drift history that more than one round of competition has happened on the same weekend and the first time competition has been held on a Sunday.
Round one of the Pro competition started Saturday with 3 drivers taking a BYE in the top 32 including Pedal Commander Team Driver Matt Field. The top 32 saw some highly anticipated battles such as Chris Forsberg and Adam LZ, where Forsberg took the win.
The Top 16 is where team driver Matt Field saw his first battle of the day against Dylan Hughes. Field launched off the line and had a good lead run. However, after he crossed the finish line his car lost power, and Hughes slid into his driver side door. Unable to solve the issue in time, Field headed out for his chase run with Hughes. Field held close to Hughes but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough and his day ended in the Top 16.
Round one ended with Fredric Aasbo and Ryan Tuerck battling it out for the first and second place. Aasbo took the win and first place overall for the day. The top 3 drivers in round one were 1st Fredric Aasbo, 2nd Ryan Tuerck, 3rd Odi Bakchis.
Over Saturday night Field and his team looked over every inch of the C6 to find and solve the problem causing the car to lose power and shut down. It turned out two of the fuel systems wires had melted and shorted with each other causing the problem. With that and the damage from the wreck in the top 16 battle fixed, Matt and the C6 were ready for round two.
Round two began Sunday and the Top 32 brought a hometown battle for Field, matching up against Faruk Kugay another Northern California Driver. Field took the win and advanced on to the top 16. Field next faced Saturday’s winner Fredric Aasbo and took the win there too after Aasbo was faulted for an on-track accident.
In the Top 8, Field matched up against veteran driver Ken Gushi. He pulled out another hard-fought win and solidified that all the problems with the car had been sorted out. Field next faced Chelsea Denofa, in his 2020 Ford Mustang RTR, in the Semi-Finals.
Field and Denofa have been driving together for years and know each other’s styles well. The battle started with Field leading and Denofa giving chase. Both drivers put down impressive runs, Field held a good distance throughout the course. In the second run, Field chased down Denofa a little too hard and ended up pushing him around turn 2 and turn 4. Ultimately because of the contact Denofa was given then won and advanced on to the Finals.
Matt next faced Ryan Tuerck in a battle for 3rd and 4th place for the day. The first run saw Field chasing Tuerck first. The run was close and the following chase run was just as close. The judges decided that One More Time was needed and sent the drivers back to the hot pits to change out tires and prepare. In Field’s final battle of the day, he put down a great show and stayed right in with Tuerck.
Ultimately the judges voted in favor of Tuerck placing Field 4th overall for the day. At the end of the weekend, Matt has taken a place in the top 5 with all eyes looking toward Seattle Wa. for Round 3 and 4 on September 25th-27th.
Check out the Round 3 & 4 Livestream Sept 25th - 27th here: