Final Bout 7

Strait Design talks Final Bout 7

Sunday Singles Competition

September 1, 2024

We love the team driving, night drifting, and overall spectacle of the Saturday competitions, but due to scheduling conflicts we were only able to attend Sunday this year. Sunday features the Singles Competition for Final Bout drivers. This is basically the top 8 teams from Saturday send one person from their team to battle it out head-to-head. Much like Formula Drift, there's "One More Time", but with a more grassroots drifting vibe. Everyone is having fun and the prize is a trophy and bragging rights.

Honestly, with a 4+ hour drive, we tend to leave a bit early on Sunday, so it was a fun change to stay the whole day! (Watch Montana's video of the event on YouTube)

Waking before sunup, popping the sleepy kids in the car, and making minimal stops got us to USAir Motorsports Raceway right at gate open. The cost of entry this year was $25 each including our 10 year old (our 6 year old was free). The track was very organized and capable with the incoming crowd, and parking was especially organized and easy to access. The kiddos enjoyed the event, but they enjoyed running over dirt jumps more. It would have been nice to have a reduced rate for the '12 and under' kids, but we are happy to support a local track and know how much work goes into managing these events.

Saturday was a pretty hot Midwest day, but Sunday was brisk and windy in the morning (almost chilly) and the afternoon warmed up. Skies were blue with big puffy clouds and small planes frequented the skies from the nearby airport.

Pro-tip: Bring sunglasses...and make your kids wear them to keep dirt/dust and tire debris/smoke out of your eyes. The black tire flakes will coat your face and possibly even your teeth. If you forget sunglasses there is a Walmart 5 minutes away.

Looking cool in our sunglasses, we wandered to vendor booths and chatted with folks in the pits. Checking out all the teams and running into friends. We loved all the flames and sparkle paint and team graphics. Then we settled in on the far side of the track to watch practice runs and open drifting.

The competition started after lunch and had some entertaining announcing. There were impromptu breaks for tire swapping, bumper rescues, and the classic quick cigarette in your drift car before the run. Proceed won the Saturday Team Competition and their driver for the Sunday Singles Comp - Leigh Roto - was top notch, but not enough to match Charme driver Ren - winner for the Sunday Comp! The team Charme guys shipped their cars from Japan for the event. They were super-nice and let all the Strait boys sit in one of their cars. Smiles all around!