Community - Team Falken’s Matt Field Earns 3rd At Formula Drift St. Louis, Retains Championship Lead At Round 5 | Falken Tires

Team Falken’s Matt Field Earns 3rd At Formula Drift St. Louis, Retains Championship Lead At Round 5

MADISON, IL – Team Falken and driver Matt Field lead the Tire Cup and Driver Championship standings, respectively, after Formula Drift’s Round 5, held at World Wide Technology Raceway outside St. Louis, MO. Field and his Corvette secured third place at the end of the event despite the heat and slippery conditions all evening long.

With the course redesigned for this year’s drift round, drivers were challenged to find their groove. Nevertheless, Team Falken qualified well with Justin Pawlak in 2nd; Dylan Hughes, 3rd; Field in 4th, while veteran Aurimas “Odi” Bakchis struggled a bit and qualified 28th.

Hughes, Field and Bakchis all advanced to the Top 16, but it was Field who’d represent Falken in the Top 4. He and eventual round winner Kazuya Taguchi traded plenty of paint in what was called “an epic battle” that included both a five-minute CTO (Competition Time Out) to assess and repair damage as well as a judge-mandated One More Time (OMT) to determine a final winner for that run.

“I piled on the pressure in the chase position, but I collided again with Taguchi,” admitted Field. “It was enough to award him the run and so he advanced to his first final. Still, my Falken Azenis tires definitely provided the traction I needed when I pushed as hard as I did. The heat, humidity and a very slippery track made it a challenge for everyone, but to me, coming away with a third place for the round, and keeping my points lead in the championship, means we had a good night.”

Field is now 32 points in front of second place. Falken Tires continues to lead the Tire Cup.

“This is a fantastic racetrack,” added Gerald Alvarado, Falken’s Supervisor, Passenger Car Motorsports and Events. “The fans here in St. Louis are tremendous and I feel like our team put on a great show. As we did last round, we’re leaving the Midwest with Matt in the lead and we will do what it takes to keep him there.”

Current points standings for Team Falken drivers: Field, 1st; Hughes moves up to 5th; Bakchis moves up to 7th; and Pawlak sits in 15th.

Team Falken now travels to the Northwest for Round 6’s “Throwdown” at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, WA, August 5-6.