With only one American standing against four of the most fearless Japanese drifters in the world, JR Gittin had his work cut out for him. Toshiki Yoshioka pulled the ultimate David versus Goliath move against Nobushige Kumakubo as he took the Droo-p AE86 to a much deserved win, going wide open throttle against a 550hp WRX. Even though he was remarkably underpowered in comparison, it was amazing to watch the little Hachi keep up with a turbocharged Sube; the judges thought so, too.
Sakuma knocked out Suenaga as Kawabata did with Michihiro Takatori, but it was the heated match between JR and Imamura that got the crowd really hyped up. The pressure built for JR as Imamura had often proved to be tough to beat. Dead even for their first two passes, a "one more time" forced the two to go for broke, but it was Imamura who couldn't hang, spinning, and JR took the win by completing a clean pass. At this point Irwindale lost its mind as the last remaining American advanced even further.
The Final 4 was comprised of drivers who no one expected to have made it through to the finals. With Kazama and Imamura gone, it was up to Yoshioka (AE86), Sakuma (S15), Kawabata (S15), and JR (Mustang) to see who would win. Yoshioka had done very well for himself with the underpowered Hachi, but just could not outperform Sakuma's S15, no matter how close he came to matching his run. JR had to face the fastest driver of the day, Kawabata in the GReddy S15, who had an 80mph top speed out of the bank. Kawabata spun during the first judged run, giving JR the advantage, and during the second run, JR managed to keep up with Kawabata just enough to put him into the finals. This was the first time anybody would witness an American moving into the last round of a D1 competition.