Odi Bakchis is off to by far the best start of his career and now stands undefeated after the first two rounds of the 2019 Formula DRIFT season. Hot off an emotional victory at the 2019 opener in Long Beach, Calif., he went the distance again Apr. 27th at Round 2 in Orlando, Fla., at the wheel of his Holley EFI-powered Falken Tires/Feal Suspension Nissan S14.5. "Our detailed preparation going into this round really paid off by giving me a reliable car throughout weekend," said Bakchis, whose winning setup also includes a Racepak CL2 data system, NOS nitrous, and Earl's plumbing. "A big contributing factor to the back-to-back wins is my confidence in the car because of our meticulous preparation. It's an amazing feeling, and I’ll be pushing to keep this momentum going as we head into the remainder of the season."

Bakchis, of Wrightwood, Calif., scored a near-perfect 97 on each of his two qualifying runs and plowed through five tough rounds of tournament-style tandem competition for the victory. Sick with a cold and battling extreme heat and humidity all weekend, Bakchis knocked out Austin Meeks in the round of 32, Ken Gushi the Sweet 16, Falken teammate Justin Pawlak in the round of 8, and former series champion Vaughn Gittin Jr. in an outrageously competitive final four. That one took three tries to determine a winner, following multiple "one more time" calls.

The final came down to Bakchis and the Formula DRIFT series' most decorated driver, three-time champion Chris Forsberg, who has more career event titles than anyone in history. Bakchis masterfully handled the banked, bumpy Orlando Speedway course in the lead run, and Forsberg de-beaded a tire pushing to keep up with him, handing Bakchis the win in a rout. He now holds a commanding lead in the early season championship points standings; second-place Forsberg, trailing by 56 points (206 to 150), is actually closer to eighth place than he is to the lead.

In addition to Holley EFI engine management, Odi's Nissan S14.5 utilizes Racepak data products to monitor various attributes of the car during testing and competition. NOS nitrous is called on and is progressively controlled for consistent and seamless integration of nitrous into the LS engine, while Earl's Performance Plumbing safely manages fluid transfer responsibilities.