ORIGINALLY AIRED: 8/7/2005

Round 4 - Sonoma, CA

Episode #5011

With the series more than half over, the competition at Sonoma's Infineon Raceway was fiercer than ever as the points race got closer to the finish line. Fans who came to watch the show in person were in for a day full of surprises as some new faces pulled ahead and some old favorites called it a day earlier than expected.

We'll also take a look around the show to see what else is going on besides great competitive drifting--don't miss Kevin Pereira's drifting faux pas, our look at the best of Formula D's hairstyles and the shoes to get for drifting, Speedwell Footwear. Plus, make sure you find out what's going on with the Need For Speed Most Wanted Blacklist Tournament to find out what's the score to beat.

The first round of tandem matches saw some upsets as crowd favorites Daijiro Yoshihara and Mike Peters were defeated early. Also, the harrowing track design at Sonoma meant that many rounds had to be done over to see who could edge out the other.

Tony Angelo vs. Vaughn Gittin Jr.
Taka Aono vs. Ken Gushi
Yukinobu Okubo vs. Tanner Foust
Chris Forsberg vs. Mike Peters
Kenji Yamanaka vs. Alex Pfeiffer
Tyler McQuarie vs. Samuel Hubinette
Daijiro Yoshihara vs. Calvin Wan
Rhys Millen vs. Ross Petty

*winners in bold.

In the second round of tandem battles, top contenders Sam Hubinette, Ken Gushi and Rhys Millen met their matches early as they were beat by the likes of Vaughn Gittin Jr., Tanner Foust and Alex Pfeiffer, respectively. However, both Gushi and Millen were disqualified for straying outside the course in mid-drift, which was not taken well by Millen.

Vaughn Gittin Jr. vs. Samuel Hubinette
Rhys Millen vs. Alex Pfeiffer
Tanner Foust vs. Ken Gushi
Calvin Wan vs. Chris Forsberg

In the semi-final round, Vaughn Gittin Jr. dueled against Calvin Wan to see which Team Falken car would make it into the fight for first place, with Calvin Wan finally edging out JR. In the other battle, underdog Tanner Foust overcame Alex Pfeiffer for a spot in the final heat. In the battle for Third Place, Vaughn Gittin Jr. beat out Alex Pfeiffer for the final spot on the podium. Finally, Calvin Wan's Team Falken G35 beat out Tanner Foust and his McKinney Motorsports S13 for the top spot on the podium. Oddly, this marks the first time a Japanese import car has won a championship event, but the popular Nissan Silvia still has yet to take the top spot.

Vaughn Gittin Jr. vs. Calvin Wan
Tanner Foust vs. Alex Pfeiffer

Battle for Third Place:

Vaughn Gittin Jr. vs. Alex Pfeiffer

Final Battle:

Tanner Foust vs. Calvin Wan

Winner: Calvin Wan
Second Place: Tanner Foust
Third Place: Vaughn Gittin Jr.

For the full point totals and season totals, please visit this page.