Florida native Pat Goodin has returned to the Formula Drift circuit after taking a year off from competition. In the off-season he was approached by Matt Field, driver of the Falken Tire Corvette, who agreed to have Pat drive his previous competition car: a 1998 Nissan 240sx S14.
The 240sx is powered by the almighty 6.2L LS punched out to a 408ci. It breathes through a Vortech YSI supercharger and huffs some nitrous too, while a Tex Racing T101A transmission and Winter’s differential makes short work of power delivery. “240s came factory with a 2.4L four-cylinder truck engines,” said Pat. “We went from one truck engine to another truck engine but this one makes 1,000hp.”
Pat has been a pro FD driver since 2012 piloting a 240sx S13 coupe adorned with stickers of one his biggest driving inspirations, Dale Earnhardt. His down to Earth demeanor and rowdy driving style making him a force to be reckoned with in the series and a driver loved by everyone. When we spoke to him in Long Beach this year, he said that he hesitated in qualifying. “I haven’t driven here [Long Beach] since 2017, and the last run I did here I totaled my car. So, I was a little anxious. We put a nice easy set up on the car, not hard to drive at all.”
Pat took the 2018 season off. “It was crushing to not drive. I was super bummed.” Now, at the guise of fellow driver Matt Field, he’s back in a top shelf car, one that is no stranger to shredding tires. “Matt offered a ride back and I thought I have to do it,” said Pat. “It’s the perfect car. It’s everything I’ve wanted in a car.”
His new car isn’t totally unfamiliar territory. The whole S-chassis lineup maintains a lot of similarities throughout the years. By the time they are fully set up for FD competition their dimensions are nearly the same. “I’ve been driving an S-Chassis for so long that I know exactly where the back of the car is.”
At the Long Beach event this year, practice brought no hitches except a nitrous issue that kept them out of the last hour of qualifying. The team got everything sorted soon enough and Pat was ready to qualify. “First qualifying run, I started having flashbacks of my old car where I’d have to drive it at 100 percent. This car I don’t have to, so I hesitated a bit and got an 80/100.”
At Long Beach, Pat went up against Chelsea Denofa and his purple RTR Mustang. During the first pass in the chase position, Pat had his work cut out for him with Chelsea laying down what was described as a “murderous run.” With big shoes to fill it was obvious that Pat went for it on this lead run however, it still wouldn’t be enough to best Denofa, who moved on, putting an end to Pat’s race weekend.
The weekend of April 28th was FD Orlando, took Pat back to his home oval track where he faced off against Nissan 370z driver Jeff Jones. Pat took a shallow line on the bank but put down a solid lead run with Jones falling off the pace. Despite a good run, Pat needed to use his one competition time out. Coming back to next run, Pat had a hard time keeping close proximity to Jones, but he was still able to move on to the Top 16. His next battle was against Forest Wang, a strong driver who finished third in Long Beach. In his chase run, Pat tucked in behind Forest on the bank but made a big mistake in the infield. During the lead run he threw down hard and snapped into the upper bank pushing through a great lead run. Unfortunately, his chase run mistake left Pat at a deficit which eliminated him from competition.
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The Road Atlanta event is around the corner and things are looking food for Goodin. The year off didn’t seem to faze him, and though he’s in a new car, he has the backing and the vehicle to get him to a solid end to the season. Check back here for more updates on Pat’s progress through the 2019 season and more FD coverage!
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