On October 16th if you were anywhere near Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, California you likely heard, smelled, and saw the results of the Formula Drift Professional Drifting Championship taking place. I for one knew I was close as soon as I got onto the 605 freeway and saw the unmistakable plumes of tire smoke could be seen for miles.
As a Ford Fiesta Agent I often enjoy some special perks, and this time that included being given an invite to attend the final race of the reason for the Formula Drift championship. To be perfectly honest, my knowledge and interest in drifting was previously limited to a few YouTube videos and the latest Fast and the Furious title. Needless to say, I wasn’t terribly interested.
Once I was inside I began to take in the culture, the never-ending gear-head oriented booths, and the occasional, well, “female representative” dressed to impress (or at least draw plenty of attention from the guys), I started to warm up a bit to the concept. After walking around and checking out the wide array of drifting cars, ranging from the expected heavily modified “street tuner” imports, to very high-end Nissan GTRs, Dodge Vipers, and Ford Mustang s, I headed into the VIP area reserved for Ford Racing and Falken tires’ special guests.
Just as we sat down to eat we were interrupted by the roaring engines of the returning race cars representing team Falken. The six returning cars came in and parked on all sides of us, which quickly drew a large crowd of fans as they fought for a chance to grab an autograph from one of their favorite drivers.
Amongst the returning drivers was drifting star driver Vaughn Gittin Jr., who is known for piloting the 2010 Mustang in Ford’s recent “Mustang Unleashed” advertising campaign, as well as for setting the world record for the longest continual drift- also in a stock 2010 Mustang GT. As my luck would have it, Vaughn came right up to our table, and sat right next to me.
It turns out that a race car driver with near rock star status in the drifting scene can still be an incredibly down to Earth guy. After lunch Vaughn posed for a few pictures with fellow Fiesta Agent Hilary McHone and myself, and then headed off to sign some autographs for eager fans.
Vaughn Gittin Jr. also has a new special edition Mustang coming out which wears his custom “RTR” badge. Vaughn told me he designed the RTR for the drifting niche that he doesn’t feel was currently well served in the aftermarket. Now if only I can convince Vaughn to take me out for a spin and practice some drifting in that new Mustang RTR…
Photos by Hilary McHone
