This is the Statt Mann Baby. It's time to Scatt a little bit!

The first Formula Drift event was in Atlanta in 2004. Season eight that started this weekend in Long Beach will be a season of transition, change or surprises depending on your ponit of view.

There were five champions in the previous seven seasons of Formula D. But in the Top 32 field at Long Beach there were as many ex-Irish champions as there were ex-Formula D champions. That's what I'm talking about when I say this will be a season of transition.

Vaughn gittin, last year's winner at Long Beach and the season champion, didn't even make the field this year. Neither did two-time champion Sam Hubinette. That's what I mean when I say transition.

Here's another example: In the final at Long Beach Saturday night there was a guy in a new car and a guy in a rebuilt old car.  And it was the guy in the new car who won. Justin Pawlak got his first victory ever in the series and the first for a graduate from Formula D's Pro-am program.

With only seven events in the championship, one a NEW stop in South Florida, this victory could make Pawlak a favorite for the championship.  Certainly he's the one they're chasing now in a year of Formula D change.

Peace.