The second round of the Need For Speed Underground Formula D series rocketed off from the Reliant Center in Houston, Tx. as the points chase for the first ever North American drifting championship heated up. According to event organizers, almost 7,000 spectators packed the temporary drift circuit and the indoor manufacturers midway and car show. The centers of attention though were still the drift machines and rising drift stars of the Formula D circuit. Names like Gushi, Pfeiffer, Forsberg, Hubinette, Aono, Millen, and Yoshihara are becoming as familiar as their drift weapons – Silvia, AE86, and now even Viper and GTO.

In the process of battle, dozens of tires from companies like Yokohama, Toyo, and Falken were sacrificed as tracks of rubber blackened the grey concrete. Between the screeches of tortured rubber, angry blow off valves delivered air from the turbochargers and a combustive fate. After hundreds of rubber burning runs though, it was a $100 axle that decided champion over runner-up. And even though Ken Gushi is a 17-year old that regularly defies the physics of car control, the physics of metallurgy couldn’t be escaped. Gushi’s snapped axle on his Gushi Auto/Team Rotora S13 during a final round battle (after several snapped axles throughout the day) with Samuel Hubinette automatically gave the sideways Swede and Mopar their second straight Formula D victory.

It was a rematch of the $10,000 drifting challenge that Gushi won at Mazda Laguna Raceway. This time though, Hubinette’s mighty V10-powered Mopar Viper Competition Coupethe was in the winner’s circle and not Gushi’s turbocharged S13. Hubinette’s drift to the top started as the number one qualifier in the field of 16. The same smooth, controlled drifts that took Hubinette from unknown driving instructor to an American D1 favorite, made Hubinette the standout once again at Houston. Taka Aono scored the next highest on the judges qualifying list and the pack of Hachi Roku competitors in his Club 4AG AE86 Corolla. Rhys Millen, who amazingly didn’t make the cut at Formula Drift Atlanta, made his case for why Atlanta was a mistake by drifting with a vengeance in his Pontiac-sponsored GTO and taking the third qualifying spot.

Inside the Reliant Center, the exhibition hall was transformed into a huge manufacturers midway, indoor car show, and a great place to get out of the sun in between rounds. From drift ready NSX’s to turbo Maxima’s, the car show brought out some of the finest cars under the expansive Texas sun. Import models like Falken’s Coutney Day and Yokohama’s Sunisa Kim were as popular as the drift machines and show cars – drawing an equal amount of camera lenses and dropped jaws. Celebrity Formula D judges, pro Japanese drifters Tarzan, Ucchi, Yamamoto, and Koguchi signed autographs and posed for photos as American drifting prodigies did as well throughout the day. When not judging, or signing autographs, the judges were on the track in their own machines and showing the crowd what that they walk the walk like they talk the talk.

Tyler Mcquarrie then continued Jasper Performance’s tradition of using top drift drivers (Sam Hubinette and Rhys Millen both had stints as Jasper Supra drivers) and locked down a 4th place seeding. Pacific Rim’s Dai Yoshihara drifted their right hand drive S13 Silvia to 5th place on the ladder and was followed uncharacteristically by Ken Gushi in the Gushi Auto/Team Rotora S13 Silvia. Local Derrick Rodgers was a crowd and judge favorite as he defied conventional drift notions by putting his El Camino iron on the seventh spot on the grid. Battle Version’s Alex Pfeiffer maintained his shirtless attitude in the pits and his drifting aptitude on the tarmac to round out the top eight qualifiers.

In the first round of eliminations, Hubinette’s Viper and skill were hard to match for HIN/Hot Wheels-sponsored Hubert Young while Rhys Millen continued his comeback with a win over Team Rotora star Ernie Fixmer and the Rotora S13. Dai Yoshihara advanced pass his first round pairing with Falken driver Vaughn Gittin and Chris Forsberg needed two battles to prove he was better than Derrick Rodgers. The battle of the round though was between Andy Yen and Alex Pfeiffer. Yen’s Autolink S13 was instep with Pfeiffer’s flat black Corolla in every run. The judges, at the urging of the crowd, repeated the battle three times before a spin in the third run by Pfeiffer proved to be the difference that moved Yen to the round of eight. Ken Gushi, Tyler Mcquarrie, and Club 4AG’s Taka Aono also advanced.

The second round – the quarterfinals – saw the battle of the titans as V8 power from the Pontiac GTO of Rhys Millen battled against the V10 Viper of Hubinette. Millen drove a great round but Hubinette edged out the drifting and road-racing veteran with a trademark touch. Chris Forsberg used his SR20-powered 350Z to dissect Dai Yoshihara while Gushi and Mcquarrie became the other semifinalists. The Forsberg/Hubinette semifinal was a rematch of the Formula Drift Atlanta final; only this time - the pairing was on even ground, literally. At Road Atlanta, many drivers said that the uphill swing of the course gave higher torque cars like the Viper an advantage. This time, there was no advantage since the question mark-shaped course was laid out on the flat parking lot of the Reliant Center. The result though was the same as Hubinette just edged Forsberg out in the judges tally – this despite Forsberg’s best efforts which had the 350Z in lock-step with the Viper throughout the runs.

Gushi advanced past the Supra of Mcquarrie to set up the rematch of Mazda Laguna Seca as the sun dropped and the drift circuit went from sun-splashed hot to night-covered cool. Before the final was run, Chris Forsberg outdrifted Tyler Macquarrie to earn third place honors and keep Forsberg second on the season points total. The super showdown that would have been then ended after Gushi snapped his fourth or fifth axle of the day. A five-minute repair allowance wasn’t an option given the amount of work that was involved, not to mention the team was out of axles. For everybody, including Gushi and Hubinette, it was a disappointing end to an otherwise exciting second round of Formula D action.

Nevertheless, in a tribute to the camaraderie of the competitors, you can never tell who the winner is at a Formula D winners circle celebration – except maybe the one with the most pink champagne stains on his racing suit at the next round.

The third round of the inaugural Need For Speed Underground Formula D series drops at Infineon Raceway, July 11, 2004. For more information, please visit www.formulad.com.