Debuted as a concept at last year's SEMA, Chris was given a convertible 350Z with help from Steve Mitchell at Nissan North America-an idea that was proposed early on by Steve in the hopes of getting Chris a different platform from which to build a drift car. Chris looked no further than the VK56 engine out of Nissan Titan, which was a far cry from the two liters of boosted SR power we're used to seeing; the new naturally aspirated setup would be good enough to push him close to 400hp with little modification. "The throttle response is good, almost too good," Chris says. "The wheel speed picks up so fast that it almost wants to loop the car around. You have to be ready for the power and how to handle it." At two hundred pounds heavier than a chop-topped Z, Chris denies claims that the car got off to a troubled start because of the weight. The convertible has proven beneficial on the track, eliminating blind spots and allowing Chris to hear more of what's going on around him.
While continuing to work out the bugs on the V8 Z, it's only a matter of more seat time before he'll rise back to the top of his game. As of press time, Chris is positioned twelfth in points standing for Formula D. As for the future-yes, we realize we ask this of all drifters-Chris is enthusiastically optimistic. "I'd like to see drifting go the way of the X Games," he says. "This is an action sport, not a motor sport or racing. It's all about style and personality. That's where it belongs and hopefully it'll get there some day."