Drift Fans in the Midwest Are In for a Wild Ride This Week, FD Round 5 Lands in Illinois

The 2018 season of Formula Drift was a rather difficult one for the pro drifters in the USA. Worthouse Drift Team flew over from Europe and dominated race after race, with James Deane winning the championship and Piotr Wiecek securing third overall.

Meanwhile, it was Fredric Aasbo from Norway that took second place, while Chris Forsberg had to settle for fourth. This was the first year that Formula Drift went over to Madison, Illinois, for an official event. And it marked the return to the Midwest after a hiatus of over a decade. The last race FD event held there was in Chicago in 2006.

Drivers from both the Pro series and the Pro 2 (as it was called back then) drove over to the venue for an action-packed weekend. Fredric Aasbo was first in qualifying and also first at the end of the race, with Matt Field claiming second and Chelsea Denofa in third.

Travis Reeder put on the best performance in the Pro 2 class for this event, while Dylan Hughes was second best. If you've been following Formula Drift lately, you'll know that these two have come a long way since. For the 2019 season, the venue changed its name to World Wide Technology Raceway following a sponsorship deal with a local corporate giant from Saint Louis.

The three most successful FD drivers in 2018 would once again dominate the series, but this time Aurimas Backchis also went into the spotlight alongside them. The Illinois event was the sixth round on the calendar, and James Deane drove flawlessly to victory after qualifying first as well.

Aasbo had to settle for second place, while Piotr Wiecek took third. Alec Robbins braved the competition heats and won this round of the Pro 2 series after a battle with Rome Charpentier.

The following year was a pretty tough one on Formula Drift, but that didn't stop them from getting back on track. The initial calendar had to be adjusted due to the ongoing pandemics, and the season started at World Wide Technology Raceway in September.

Instead of having eight races at eight different venues, FD management opted for double rounds instead. Pro 2 drivers would only have one race that week, and Josh Love drove his BMW E36 to the top spot on the podium.

Meanwhile, Fredric Aasbo won the final battle against Ryan Tuerck during Round 1, thus scoring the first points of the season. On the very next day, judges had to oversee the tandem runs between Chelsea Denofa and Aurimas Backchis.

The Lithuanian driver made a serious mistake on one of his runs, and so the win went to Chelsea Denofa in the Ford Mustang RTR. It seems that the Norwegian Hammer has a special connection to the Midwestern venue, as he once again stole the spotlight in 2021. Two months later, he would go on to be crowned the 2021 Formula Drift Champion.

The event has become known as the "Crossroads," as it always seems to be at a point that can make or break your racing season. This year, it's the fifth round of the season, with three more left to go until the final in Irwindale. On the 14th of July, Prospec drivers have one warm-up session, and then it's straight to qualifying.

This session will be broadcast live from 7:30 PM CDT to 10:00 PM CDT on the official Formula Drift Youtube channel. On Friday, you'll be able to follow both the qualifying session for the Pro drivers and the Top32 battles for Prospec.

That means that the most exciting day is still Saturday, with about nine hours of tandem runs for both categories. In this story, you'll see photos from both the 2021 race and the 2020 ones, and some representative videos from this venue. We'll report back soon with more information on how everything will unfold.