By Mark Kleis
Wednesday, Apr 14th, 2010 @ 5:05 pm

Leftlane recently attended a special reveal event hosted by professional drifter Vaughn Gittin Jr., longtime sponsor Falken tires and his new sponsor Monster Energy, where Vaughn Gittin Jr. revealed his all-new 2011 Mustang 5.0 Monster/Falken competition car. Just days later Gittin competed in the season opener for Formula Drift in Long Beach, California, and brought home the gold in dramatic fashion.

Professional drift racing is an up and coming sport in the U.S., and the Formula Drift Championship is one of the main sources of drifting entertainment for followers of the sport. On Saturday, Formula Drift opened its season on the streets of Long Beach, utilizing a section of the Grand Prix track to show southern California what drifting is all about.

When the season opening event kicked off, Gittin found himself one among 53 competitors looking to qualify for the top 32 in order to begin the competition. After some intense qualifying runs, Gittin found himself qualified in a comfortable third place, alongside fellow Falken Tire teammates in 2nd and 4th.

True to Formula Drift form, the field was narrowed down first to 16, then eight competitors and eventually a talent-packed final four. The final four consisted of two previous world champions, including Tanner Foust in a NASCAR V8-powered Rockstar Scion tC and last year’s world champion, Rhys Millen in the Red Bull Hyundai Genesis Coupe, and of course Vaught Gittin Jr. in his 5.0-powered Monster Energy 2011 Mustang.

The battle of the energy drinks
With the table set for the battle of the energy drinks, competition set off with competition dark horse and crowd favorite Aasbo facing off with Foust to determine 3rd and 4th place – with Foust ultimately earning himself a podium position and knocking Aasbo off the podium after a strong day.

With 3rd and 4th places secured, it was down to Gittin and Millen to face off for first place. Millen led Gittin for the first pass, with Vaughn turning in a very competitive run, only slipping up on the final hairpin turn by sliding into the side of Millen. Leftlane spoke to Gittin after the race and Gittin said, “We [the team] knew that after that the only way we were going to win was to take an aggressive course and make him [Millen] hit the wall.”

And that he did. For the second pass Gittin was designated to lead, with Millen set to follow his paces, and after taking an aggressive opening slide, followed by an immediate transition along a wall, Millen found the tailend of his Genesis Coupe smashed to pieces as he attempted to follow Gittin’s aggressive path. Gittin managed to slide the tail end of his Mustang within inches of the wall for 15 to 20 feet – a feat that proved too much for Millen to replicate.

Gittin cruised in for the win, and brought home the victory for Monster Energy in his first competition since acquiring his new sponsor.

Video footage of Gittin’s march to the win

Vaughn Gittin Jr: Monster’s Street Fighting Man from Drift Alliance on Vimeo.

  

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