COFFMAN RACING FORMULA DRIFT SEATTLE 2018 RECAP

Formula Drift Round 5 wrapped up in Monroe, WA on July 21, and we are now a little over half way through the season. Matt Coffman competed in Pro Am at Evergreen speedway years ago, and the track holds nothing but good memories for Matt and the team.

Coffman was able to make the most of the allotted practice time, using all 12 of the permitted practice runs. He was confident in qualifying, and scored an 80 on both of his qualifying runs.  Coffman qualified 22nd putting him against Formula Drift champion Chris Forsberg for top 32.

Forsberg was in the lead on their first run, but straightened on the high speed bank.  Matt reacted quickly, and only the rear tires of the two cars made contact, sending Matt airborne momentarily.  Because Forsberg was at fault, our team was able to quickly look over the car to check for damage.  Miraculously there was no mechanical damage and Matt was able to defeat Forsberg on the 2nd half of the battle.  Matt had made it into the Top 16.

The Top 16 kicked off with driver’s introductions. Matt stood with the Achilles Radial Tire umbrella girl next to his war machine. The stadium was packed.  Matt was up against Odi Bakchis for Top 16, who has podiumed the past two year at Evergreen Speedway.  The two drivers lined up and gave it all they had.  Matt was awarded the win, and moved into the great 8 to battle Formula Drift Veteran Justin Pawlak.

As the sun set in the sky, shadows cast themselves across the race track surface. On Matt’s lead run, he was a little to too fast and stylish for the cooling track surface, and dropped tires off the course as Pawlak chased.  Matt gave a feverish chase on Pawlak’s lead, but Pawlak made no mistakes and was awarded the win.

Pawlak and Coffman shook hands and congratulated each other on the weekend’s success.  The team regrouped in our pit area and spent the rest of the evening packing up and celebrating. Big thanks to all our friends, fans, and sponsors who supported us this weekend.

Our next event is Round 6, in St. Louis on August 10-11.