Chris Cotrupi grabbed third place in the third round of the Pro-Am series U.S. Drift. Chris is running DriftTec tension rods to achieve the maximum amount of angle his knuckles can provide. I was also there as track-side support with car setup to get the car as fast as it needed to be, while still being consistent.
Chris qualified 8th place for the top 16. This put us against number 9 qualifier Bret Collins for the first battle. Bret has a fast car, but after the first run his engine developed rod knock and he bowed out. (Photo credit to Black Hand)
The next battle was against Austin Meeks. With what is rumored to be double the power that we have it was time to focus. We focused on running a clean lead and follow run to not give the judges any reason to deduct points from us. The plan worked, as Austin was further back in the chase position with some wavering. (Photo credit to Quick Shot Photos)
The battle that knocked us out of contention for the top spot was against Tyler Nelson. We knew Tyler was fast all day, and his driving has gotten way more consistent lately, so we couldn’t rest on our laurels. On Tyler’s lead run Chris made an error around inner clip 1 where the car bobbled. On the Chris’ lead run Tyler was smoother than Chris in the chase position and towards the middle of the course he made a move to get very close to Chris. (Video credit to Tyler Nelson)
The consolation round for third place was against Jon Nerren. Jon is a great driver with an awesome group of people providing him track-side support. Not to mention he is currently first in points with U.S. Drift Pro-Am series. Third place would not be easy. On Jon’s lead run he entered the course slowly and spun out by the first inner clipping point. On Chris’ lead run Chris ran a pretty clean qualifying line while Jon was very close to Chris, but the mistake made in the first run was just too great and Chris was awarded third place. (Photo credit to Quick Shot Photos)
The top finishers of the round were:
1st – Tyler Nelson
2nd – Dylan Hughes
3rd – Chris Cotrupi
Chris currently sits 5th in overall points going into the final round of U.S. Drift.