Chris Forsberg leads Formula Drift season with victory at Long Beach

Last year, Chris Forsberg had the Formula Drift title slip out of his fingers. This year, he kicked off the 2014 season with a victory.

Forsberg narrowly lost to Michael Essa in 2013's final round at Irwindale, who won -- on a technicality, despite blowing an engine.

But to kick things off in Round 1: Streets of Long Beach this past weekend, Forsberg drove his carbon-fiber, thousand-horsepower Hankook Tire Nissan 370Z -- now much darker, with sponsorship from Champion spark plugs -- consistently, beating Kenny Moen and his Nissan 240SX in the final race of the day. As far as birthdays go, Forsberg rang his in spectacularly.

Consistency is something Forsberg is known for. "It feels amazing to be on top of the podium, especially here at the first round of the eleventh season of Formula Drift," he said. "We will try to keep the momentum with our new changes and take the championship home."

Twenty thousand fans came down to Long Beach on Friday and Saturday to watch the racing in person. Another one million viewers live-streamed the drifting action over the course of the weekend.

Larry Chen - Maeng, crashing.

Other fan favorites: Ken Gushi didn't do well during qualifying and ultimately came in 21st. Daijiro Yoshihara placed five spots below him. And sadly, our man Danny George was knocked out during Friday's practice. But George didn't fare as badly as Joon Maeng, who had a spectacular crash while qualifying.

Forsberg leads 2014 Formula Drift in points. The Norwegian Moen is second.

And Essa? He qualified first on Friday -- but ultimately rounded out the podium in third.

Dmac vs. Chris Forsberg Great 8 Long Beach... by driftstream

By Blake Z. Rong