The Invasion took place at PBIR as Formula Drift came down to West Palm Beach to host their event. Chelsea Denofa, Patrick Goodin, Jeremy Lowe, and Zoltan Hadju were all in attendance looking for a podium finish and this would prove to be the longest trip of the year for all drivers as the track is located in the state they reside in.
Going straight into qualifying, Zoltan's string of bad luck continued to plague him as he failed to qualify for top 32 competition. Pat was in the running at first but at the last moment Rhys Millen took the opportunity away from him on the last run of the day. This only left Jeremy and Chelsea to do battle with the rest of the field.
Jeremy was off to a good start as he went up against Rhys Millen in the first round of tandem competition. Jeremy was setting up for the final turn, he slowed down abruptly causing too much weight to shift forward and spun the car around. Switching sides, Rhys looked to have played it safe going up to the first turn as he gave Jeremy a considerable lead but quickly managed to reel him in by the end. Because of the spin in the first run, Rhys Millen advanced, thus knocking out 2 Florida drivers in one event.
All eyes were on Chelsea who looked solid throughout practice and qualifying. His first bout would be against Tony Angelo in his Scion tC. Tony lead in the first run and Chelsea was locked onto him the entire time, making sure the judges would give him the advantage. Switching sides, Chelsea initiated in his usual aggressive self and somewhere somehow Tony made a mistake during the sweeper which caused him to lose ground against Chelsea. Forced to run a shallow line to close the gap, Chelsea got the advantage and for the first time this season, he made it to top 16.
Next battle pitted Chelsea against Odi Bakchis. In the first run with Chelsea following, he again stayed within close range of his opponent, causing the spectators and judges to go wild. The pressure was on for Odi to deliver a similar or better performance as Chelsea lead into the second run. But just like Tony Angelo, Odi made an error during the sweeper and slowed down too much in order to prevent himself from making contact with Chelsea. By the time he slowed down, Chelsea was getting back on the throttle and quickly created a gap between himself and Odi. Odi with no choice but to straighten out in order to regain lost ground, knocked out a clipping point in the process and ultimately gave the advantage to Chelsea for the win. So for the first time this season, Chelsea Denofa made it to the Great 8 round of eliminations.
Expectations were high and many were hopeful to see Chelsea on his way for a podium finish, but then everyone got word of who his next opponent was. Chelsea would be battling against another rookie in the series and that rookie was none other than Daigo Saito. Last time both drivers met at Road Atlanta, Daigo knocked out Chelsea in the first round of eliminations. Chelsea was ready to put it all on the line in order to claim a victory.
Chelsea was set to follow in the first run. Both drivers lined up, first gear was in, and the countdown was set. Green was lit and they were off! Daigo does a flick to initiate into the first turn while Chelsea initiates a little later so he doesn't lose too much ground. At first it looks like Chelsea didn't have enough angle so he gets on the brakes to take some weight off the rear and does a clutch kick. When Daigo switches back, he narrowly misses Chelsea in the process. Chelsea transitioned shortly after Daigo but the transition created enough momentum to increase his speed violently. Realizing this, he quickly got on the brakes to slow down as much as he could but it wasn't enough. Daigo was slowing down to set up for the next turn when suddenly Chelsea was knocking on his quarter-panel. The first hit shifted the front end of the BMW towards the Toyota causing more damage to both vehicles.
Daigo was shaken by the whole ordeal although he managed to drive the car off the track, a testament to Toyota build quality. Chelsea wasn't as lucky as he suffered wheel and suspension damage from the incident, requiring a tow truck to lift the car off the track. Chelsea and his team scrambled to get his BMW fixed in time but when he arrived at the grid, the track officials deemed his vehicle unsafe to compete. Thus giving the win to Daigo and ending Chelsea's weekend.
Regardless of what happened, we can be proud for Chelsea making it to the Great 8. His performance throughout the weekend has helped him stand out from the rest of his competitors and we can only hope great things come of it. Don't forget about Jeremy, Patrick, and Zoltan who are also looking to do the same and are fighting hard to show their abilities to the world. You'll be able to see all four drivers again next month at Wall Speedway for Round 4 of the Formula Drift series.
