For the first time ever, the Formula DRIFT Championship visited Utah Motorsports Campus. Hosting both Round 7 of the PRO Championship and the final round of PROSpec, Utah is a high speed but flowing track consisting of two inner clips and three outside zones.
PRO Knockout Qualifying
Defending champion Fredric Aasbo dominated in qualifying, scoring a 94 point run and first place. Dylan Hughes and Jhonnattan Castro joined him in second and third, respectively. The real twist was points leader Matt Field, though. Despite coming off a 2nd place finish in Seattle, Field was only able to qualify 20th, putting him up against Rome Charpentier in the Top 32 competition on Saturday.
Image Credit: Formula DRIFT
PRO Top 32
Fredric Aasbo kicked off the Top 32 with a battle against Alec Robbins. Robbins put up a fight but it wasn’t enough to defeat Aasbo. His Toyota teammate Ryan Tuerck, however, didn’t have it so easy. Ryan found himself up against Rookie Mike Power in the Top 32. The first battle was very close and the judges went for a One More Time. Tuerck got lost in the smoke on his chase run and went off track into a tire wall. Ryan was unhurt but his car took quite a beating and Mike Power was awarded the win.
Chelsea DeNofa faced 2013 champion Michael Essa. Michael struggled in qualifying and found himself in 28th against championship contender DeNofa. Essa had a handbrake issue and was forced to call a Competition Time Out. They got the handbrake fixed but the damage was already done. Chelsea DeNofa was awarded the win.
Three-time Formula DRIFT champion Chris Forsberg found himself in a similar situation. He faced Ryan Litteral in the Top 32, and like Essa, Litteral struggled in his qualifying run, barely making it into the Top 32. Ryan struggled through the battle while Chris put down two clean runs. Forsberg moved on to the Top 16.
Points leader Matt Field found himself in a very tough battle. After a rough qualifying, he faced Rome Charpentier, a formidable championship killer who has prior experience at the track. Both drivers fought very hard and the battle resulted in a OMT. In the One More Time, Matt narrowly beat Rome and advanced to the Top 16.
Image Credit: DrivingLine
PRO Top 16
Things got more difficult for Fredric Aasbo in the Top 16. He was paired up against St. Louis winner Kazuya Taguchi, who sat 12th in the championship standings. Taguchi fought an amazing battle but the win was eventually awarded to Aasbo.
Chelsea DeNofa had perhaps an even harder fought battle. DeNofa faced Taylor Hull in the Top 16. Both drivers had very sloppy leads and chases and there was no clear winner for either category. The battle went to a One More Time. Chelsea threw down an amazing lead run and kept up with Hull for the first half of the chase, until Taylor debeaded a tire, causing him to slow. Chelsea hit Hull, but he was deemed not at fault, and moved to the Great 8.
Points leader Matt Field had a rough end to his day after battling Kenshiro Gushi in the Top 16. The battle was tight once again, and it went to a OMT. Matt hit Gushi in the chase position and was deemed at fault. Gushi was awarded the win.
Image Credit: DrivingLine
PRO Great 8
Aasbo finally got a break after two tough battles in 32 and 16. He faced Rookie Mike Power in the Great 8. Power got lost in the smoke and went into a barrier, similar to Ryan Tuerck in his Top 32 battle. Power got his car repaired but it wasn’t enough to offset his mistake in the chase. Aasbo moved on to the Final Four.
DeNofa fought a difficult battle against three-time champ Forsberg. DeNofa put on a close chase and gapped Forsberg on the lead run. He was awarded the win and moved on to battle Fredric Aasbo in the Final Four.
Ken Gushi found himself up with Dylan Hughes in his battle. Dylan put on a beautiful lead run, but similar to Mike Power, he got lost in the smoke and hit a tire wall. He collided with Gushi in the process but Ken’s car was unhurt. Ken was awarded the win.
Image Credit: Formula DRIFT
PRO Final Four
In the Final Four, we found Fredric Aasbo, Chelsea DeNofa, Ken Gushi, and for the first time ever, Norwegian driver Simen Olsen!
DeNofa put up a wild fight against Aasbo. In his lead run, he had the fastest entry of the day at 109.8 MPH. However, DeNofa was off throttle in OZ2, causing Aasbo to make contact and debead a tire. DeNofa was deemed at fault and Fredric Aasbo moved to the finals.
Image Credit: Formula DRIFT
The PRO Finals We Didn’t Get
After the Final Four, the Finals were set. Fredric Aasbo vs Kenshiro Gushi. However, Aasbo sustained massive damage to his Rockstar Energy Drink Toyota GR Supra, and while his team fought to repair the car in time for his battle with Gushi, it wasn’t enough. Gushi got a BYE run and was awarded the win. This is Gushi’s first win since Irwindale, 2019.
Image Credit: Formula DRIFT
What’s Next
All that’s left now is Round 8 of the Formula DRIFT PRO Championship at Irwindale Speedway, where a 19th Champion will be decided. Current points standings following Round 7 are as follows:
1ST - #777 MATT FIELD
2ND - #151 FREDRIC AASBO
3RD - #88 CHELSEA DENOFA