Vaughn Gittin Jr. back on track at Formula Drift Rd. 2 Road Atlanta

Vaughn Gittin Jr. and the Monster Energy Falken Tire 2013 Ford Mustang RTR were on top of their game all weekend at Formula Drift Rd. 2 Road Atlanta. Friday night, Vaughn qualified 2nd out of over 50 competing drivers, and would go on to drive top-notch during Saturday’s sold-out main event.

This round at Road Atlanta, known for it’s die-hard fans and spectacular drifting under the illumining lights on the track, did not disappoint this year with attendance higher than ever, and Formula Drift Pro/Am and Global Time Attack running throughout the weekend as well. The drifting course was changed up a bit this year, allowing for closer tandem battles between drivers. Watch this VIDEO of Vaughn Gittin Jr. blasting the Monster Energy Falken Tire 2013 Ford Mustang RTR through the course during one of his practice runs.

After defeating his Falken Tire/Autosport Dynamics teammate, Darren McNamara, in the top 32 battle rounds, Vaughn would move on to be paired with former D1GP Champion, Daigo Saito. This would for sure, be a highly anticipated battle, not only by the two competitors, but by the fans as well.

Being the higher qualifier, Vaughn would lead first, putting down an amazing run underneath the lights on the Road Atlanta track. When it was his turn to give chase, Vaughn would follow Daigo amazingly close throughout the course, only to let off when his competitor went extremely off-line in the second-to-last turn, leaving Vaughn with no where to go. During the switchback, the drivers made contact, ultimately causing Vaughn to blow a tire and unfortunately spinout in the final turn. Watch the VIDEO of the top 16 battle between Vaughn and Daigo Saito.

“While the result isn’t exactly where we wanted to be, overall I am very happy with our performance this weekend,” says Vaughn Gittin Jr. “We were on our game and our Mustang performed flawlessly. There are just some things you can’t control, especially in drifting.”

Next up for Vaughn, he heads down south to West Palm Beach, Florida June 1-2 for Round 3 of Formula Drift, where he plans to flight hard to keep climbing up the ladder in the points chase for the 2012 Championship.