Evergreen speedway never fails to put on a show when the 5th round of Pro 1 comes around. The weekend had some of the most competitive battles all year and also some of the biggest upsets. Mechanical failures, crashes, and one more times plagued the entire weekend. The biggest upset of all being that Odi Bachkis was knocked out early in Top 16 compared to his roaring start with two first place podiums to start the season. Odi is currently standing in 4th place after St. Louis with a 36 point deficit behind Frederic Aasbo. With two more rounds in the season it could still be Bakchis's first championship.
With the precision needed to slide at 90+ mph within a few feet of another car there is bound to be some mistakes that lead to serious damage, which there was quite a lot of over the weekend in Monroe. There were two major crashes during competition that really threw a wrench into the standings, first of them being between Chris Forsberg and Jeff Jones. On Forsberg's lead run just before the infield there was a collision on transition that ripped Jones' front end off and severly damaged Forsberg's suspension. The judges go on to deem Jones at fault as he didn't leave enough room for Forsberg to transition and that gives Jones and his team 5 minutes to get the car repaired to run again.
With the time counting down Jones and his team pulled from their extra set of suspension components to get the car drive-able. Fans crowded around to watch as the team hustled to get the car together, and as the clock counted down they were nearly ready however the car has to have wheels on the ground to count as ready. Just 3 seconds late the front wheels hit the ground, knocking Jones out of the battle and Forsberg was sent on his Bye-run into the top 16. These crews work all weekend to make sure their drivers are prepared and when it comes down to the wire you can truly see how crucial they are to running a professional program.
The other major incident of the weekend occurred during the top 16 battle between James Deane and Fredric Aasbo, two of the most aggressive and precise drivers in the Formula Drift series. Long after the finish line of the course the drivers return on the opposite bank towards the start line, Deane had come down the bank after coming off the finish high up and Aasbo had been close behind on his right which caused them to bump tires and jump Aasbo off the inside curbing. Both cars yielded substantial damage and everyone was questioning what call the judges would make as they were both outside the official judging area. Frederic was quick to jump out and take blame during his interview as he said he should have yielded as the follow driver, giving Deane more space.
After Aasbo and his team recovered from the mishap, and Aasbo ran a great lead run it still came down that James "The Machine" Deane would move on to the Great 8. With multiple crashes, there were also many bumps and close calls that truly shook things up. Most affected by the aggressive nature of Evergreen were the RTR boys. Fun-Haver Vaughn Gitten Jr, and the most exciting chase driver Chelsea Denofa. Chelsea's battle against Forsberg in the Top 16 made for some heated discussion on Chelsea's Instagram after claiming Forsberg had parked it on the final corner causing Chelsea to bump his door and spin. Chelsea did take a bit of a shallow line to try and reel him in but since it was a one more time he wasn't going to let him get away. Many reviewed the smoke line of Forsberg and agree with Denofa that he had waited to get back on throttle a bit longer than he should have causing the mishap however the judges called Denofa at fault in the end for surging on Forsberg.
For VGJ the story was even more controversial than the call made for Denofa, as the issue came down to Vaughn's perspective versus watch everyone else watched go down during his battle against Ken Gushi. On Vaughn's lead run of the OMT, Gushi had fallen far behind off the main bank and Gushi's car had shot off course gunning straight for Vaughn's driver side of the RTR mustang. However the judges saw what were two separate instances of driver error, one being Gushi straightening off the bank, and the other being that Vaughn was over-rotating and wasn't able to make his way around the corner completely. The call made by the judges would allow Gushi to advance on, knocking both of the RTR boys out in Top 16. Vaughn expressed his frustration on his Instagram claiming that in his 14 years of experience he's never contested a call but this one would be his first.
This weekend wasn't a complete wash however as some drivers shined from the flurry of OMT's and crashes. One in particular being Dylan Hughes, a rookie Pro 1 driver who won his battle against friend and teammate Ryan Tuerck in Top 16 establishing a spot in the Great 8 at his deemed home track being from North Bend, WA. This is a major break for Hughes as he only qualified for Top 32 in New Jersey the round before, making this his biggest accomplishment all season, and much deserved after the level of driving showcased the whole weekend. He went on to be knocked out in the Great 8 against Chris Forsberg whom he was a former mechanic for, putting on a show for the fans doing a few donuts after spinning on the last corner in chase and burning off the tires.
The final battle came down to the Worthouse Candy Machine at Evergreen. With the points leaders Aasbo and Bakchis being knocked out early this gave a big window to the Worthouse boys to advance in the series and they absolutely went for it.
With Piotr Wiecek losing in the Great 8 for everyone round in the season thus far it was great to see him advance into the final battle against his teammate James Deane. Last years round had them pitted against each other in the final four with Deane coming out on top, so it's only right that Piotr would go on to win this round after some of the best driving showcased all season in a series of OMT's and rowdy fans. With an all Falken Tire final, Pitor, James, and Ken all celebrated doing donuts on the infield followed by the team hoisting Piotr into the air.
Monroe never fails to put on a show, and with the standings being shaken up there are just two rounds left in the series (Dallas and Irwindale) to see who will take home the championship this season. Keep an eye out October 18-19 for the final round at Iriwindale and on @luckyclub.us as I'll be there for the first time to cover the event.
Josh Brown
@luckyclub.us
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