Vaughn Gittin Jr. back on top at Formula Drift Rd. 4 Wall Speedway

Vaughn Gittin Jr. came out to Formula Drift Round 4 “The Gauntlet” at Wall Stadium in New Jersey with hopes of success in order to gain some crucial points in the chase for the FD Championship. Not only did Vaughn accomplish that goal, but he also drove the Monster Energy Falken Tire Ford Mustang RTR all the way to 1st place after many extremely tough battles against fierce competitors.

Wall Stadium is only a few miles from where Vaughn and the rest of Drift Alliance really began to hone their drifting skills back in 2002. Now ten years later, Vaughn has reached goals that were once only dreamed about with a Formula Drift Championship and multiple wins/podiums in the books.

Round 4 at Wall Speedway saw another sold-out crowd and the live Drift Stream saw over 200,000 total views in a 24-hour period. Even with Friday’s semi-wet track conditions, Vaughn was able to perform a near-perfect run that earned him a score of 96 and the second place qualifying spot.

For Saturday’s main event, Vaughn fought his way to the semi-finals after beating out Miro Ovcharik in his battle of the top 32, Robbie Nishida in the top 16, and then Matt Powers in the top eight. He met with his Drift Alliance brother and good friend, Chris Forsberg in the semi-finals; this would be a highly anticipated and very exciting battle, as these competitors are known for holding nothing back when lined up against each other.

Vaughn would lead first, sweeping the bank and scraping the wall, leaving his rear bumper in the Falken Tire smoke pluming from behind him. He continued to blast through the course with maximum angle and put his car exactly where it was supposed to be as defined by the Formula Drift judges.

When it was time to give chase, Vaughn followed Forsberg into the bank and remained glued to him throughout the entire run. With a better lead run and closer proximity on the chase run, Vaughn earned the win and would move on to the finals to face his arch nemesis and Falken Tire teammate, Daijiro Yoshihara.

Yoshihara was the only competitor that Vaughn Gittin Jr. had faced numerous times and had never defeated. So besides the desire for the top step atop the podium, Vaughn wanted very badly to attain this win against his rival.

Vaughn would lead first and put down an amazing run while Yoshihara pushed to stay close to the speedy Monster Energy Falken Tire Ford Mustang. Vaughn’s competitor surged a little too hard going into the last turn, causing him to straighten up and giving Vaughn the advantage.

Vaughn would next give chase, and did not let up once while applying the pressure and sticking to his competitor’s door. Once the Falken Tire smoke settled on the track, Vaughn was deemed the winner of the final battle and 1st place overall at Formula Drift Round 4 at Wall Speedway. Watch the VIDEO from Ford Racing recapping Vaughn’s win.

“It took me a little longer than expected to harness this brand new 2013 Monster Energy Falken Tire Ford Mustang,” said Vaughn. “My team and I worked extremely hard and overcame the challenges and got back on the podium and it feels amazing!”

With the points earned from his 1st place finish and 2nd place qualifying, Vaughn moves up to 4h place overall in the Formula Drift Championship. Next up for Vaughn on the FD circuit is Round 5 July 21 at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Washington. He plans to continue pushing hard in hopes of another podium finish and working his way up ladder in the FD points chase. For more information, please visit Vaughn’s Facebook Page or VaughnGittin.com

MUSTANG RTR DOMINATES HYPERFEST 2012

Mustang RTR was right at home over the weekend at HyperFest at Summit Point Raceway, as this annual event is all about having fun behind the wheel; something that anyone who gets a chance to drive the Mustang RTR can relate to. With the Performance Autosport Mustang RTR winning both its races, fans having the chance to experience the track from inside a Mustang RTR, RTR swag and cars on display, there is no question that it was a very successful weekend overall.

HyperFest attendees had the opportunity to ride in a Mustang RTR in two very different fashions; Formula Drift Champion Vaughn Gittin Jr. was giving drifting “slide-alongs” in the Monster Energy Falken Tire 2013 Ford Mustang RTR, and people also had the opportunity to ride in a 2013 Mustang RTR Spec 2 prototype on a very fast and technical road course. There were many wide smiles glued to the faces of the lucky riders, but none more important than the wounded soldiers of the “Freedom Behind the Wheel” program that Vaughn gave rides to, something he really was looking forward to doing all weekend.

The Performance Autosport Mustang RTR rolled out of the trailer early Friday in hopes of getting some test sessions in after making some suspension changes since the last race.  For their driver and NASA Mid-Atlantic Regional Director, Chris Cobetto,  HyperFest is the busiest event of the season and driving his racecar almost takes a back seat to making sure the entire event goes smoothly, so getting him in his racing suit and strapped in is harder than one would think.

Saturday's race was a close one. Cobetto and Beau Dunnivant (driver of the Mustang Fox body) changed position for 1st quite a few times, but at the end of the race, the PAS Mustang RTR prevailed to finish first.

Sunday was similar to Saturday, but this time the PAS team ending up in qualifying 1st place.  The race was practically a repeat of Saturday, except for it was twice as long.  Beau and Cobetto raced, non-stop, for position for 40 minutes.  Beau never gave Cobetto an inch and it was a great, clean race between two very different Mustangs.  Once again, at the end of the race the PAS Mustang RTR finished 1st giving them the sweep for the whole weekend two years in a row at HyperFest!

With these 2 more wins, this leaves the Performance Autosport team with 7 wins out of 8 races so far this 2012 season. The next race for the PAS Mustang RTR team will be at VIR on July 20-22, including running in the Grassroots Motorpsorts Ultimate Track Car Challenge with both the Mustang RTR American Iron racecar as well as the PAS 2013 Mustang RTR Shop car.

For more information about RTR, please visit MustangRTR.com. For more info about PAS, please visit PerformanceAutoSport.com.

Vaughn Gittin Jr. working his way up the points ladder at Formula Drift Rd. 3 Palm Beach

Vaughn Gittin Jr. and Formula Drift returned to Palm Beach International Raceway over the weekend for the second consecutive year in a row. With a new course design this year, Vaughn and the Monster Energy Falken Tire Ford Mustang RTR qualified in 1st place, and fought hard to take 5th place overall at Round Three.

The stands were packed for Saturday’s main event; with an increase in attendance compared to 2011 and 200,000 viewers tuning in live via the Driftstream. After beating out Matt Field in his top 32 battle, Vaughn took full advantage of the hour-long “Half Time” break to chat and snap pictures with fans over at the Falken Tire pits, have some fun racing the HPI RC replica of his Monster Energy Falken Tire RTR against other remote control enthusiasts, as well as toss out swag over at the Exedy Clutches booth.

Back on the track, Vaughn was matched with Michael Essa for his battle of the Sweet Sixteen. Vaughn led first, blasting through the course and making use of the entire track as the judges had specified during the drivers meeting. Essa would take a more shallow line in order to try to pull closer to the speedy Mustang.

Vaughn gave chase next, remembering that Essa had been killing it on the entries throughout the weekend, and to be prepared for anything. Prepared he was as Essa threw it in with crazy angle and VGJR did not let up and continued chasing hard. But Essa was unable to hold it and unfortunately resulted in a spin, as Vaughn eased past his competitor finishing out his run beautifully. Watch the VIDEO of the battle of Vaughn verses Michael Essa.

Vaughn moved on to face his Falken Tire/ Autosport Dynamics/ Ford Racing/ Mustang RTR teammate Justin (JTP) Pawlak in the Great Eight. This was no doubt a highly anticipated battle for both the two competitors as well as their fans. Being the higher qualifier, Vaughn would lead first. He had another amazing lead run, with JTP pushing to stay with him throughout the course. JTP however, was unable to keep it up and lost drift going into the last clipping point.

When it was Vaughn’s turn to give chase, he followed JTP in and remained glued to his fellow Mustang RTR competitor throughout the course. The judges could not come to a decision and decided that a One More Time was needed. Watch the VIDEO of VGJR and JTP’s first pair of runs.

For their OMT battle, neither “BroStang” driver was backing down, as Vaughn led first with an amazing run as JTP aggressively hunted him down through every turn. When it was Vaughn’s turn to give chase, he pushed hard at initiation with intense angle behind his competitor and made slight contact, unfortunately breaking a tie-rod and causing him to spin. Watch the VIDEO of their OMT battle.

“I am really pumped on the weekend overall,” says Vaughn Gittin Jr. “We worked hard to get our Mustang dialed and brought home first place qualifying position and fifth place overall along with some much needed points. This Championship isn't over and we plan to continue clawing our way back up to the top where we belong!”

With his respectable 5th place event finish, Vaughn moves up to 9th place overall in the Formula Drift Championship. Next up for Vaughn on the FD circuit is Round 4 at Wall Speedway in New Jersey. He plans to continue pushing hard in hopes of a podium finish and working his way up ladder in the FD points chase.

Vaughn Gittin Jr. wins Round 1 of World Drift Series in Tianjin and dedicates the win to automotive legend Carroll Shelby

Vaughn Gittin Jr. competed in Round 1 of World Drift Series (WDS) over the weekend, China’s premiere drifting series. With help of Autosport Dynamic’s Ian Stewart and Dean Steele, as well as Adam Browne of Revolution Automotive, the Monster Energy Falken Tire 2013 Ford Mustang RTR was ready for battle against drivers from around the world. It wasn’t an easy feat, but Vaughn and the Mustang came out on top, starting of the season as the WDS points leader and dedicating this earned win to the recently passed but never-forgotten legend, Carroll Shelby.

Over fifty thousand fans filled north China's Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium for this heavily anticipated drifting event. One noted spectator in attendance and a new fan of drifting was former president of Mexico, Vicente Fox and his wife Martha Fox. The three-hour action-packed event did not disappoint, with acts such as fire breathing clowns, an amazing light show, professional dancers, and more to fill downtime between the drifting excitement.

“The local talent in China has gotten really good and there was some insanely close and challenging battles on the track,” says Vaughn Gittin Jr. “This event was truly amazing; the production and time WDS put into everything around it was so impressive. It was like we were at the Super Bowl of drifting. There is nothing like a crowd of over 50,000 on their feet in an Olympic stadium cheering for you. It is epic to see how huge drifting is growing globally!”

After defeating his competitors in the top 32 and top 16 battles, Vaughn moved into the great eight. He was matched with fellow Formula Drift driver, Fredric Aasbo, for one of the most exciting battles of the night that resulted in a one-more-time. After the OMT, Vaughn was deemed the winner and would move into the semi-finals.

Vaughn was matched with Chinese driver Zhang Sheng Jun in the semi-finals, and after an evenly-matched battle, a OMT was determined by the judges. Vaughn really dug in for the OMT to let there be no confusion in the eyes of the judges this time around. He took the win and would be moving on to the finals.

In the finals, Vaughn met Taiwanese driver and D1 Grand Prix veteran, Feng Ren Zhi. The competitors had a first battle that was too close to call, and went to a OMT. Vaughn was able to take advantage and the win after his opponent had a mechanical failure.

After being formally announced the winner, the Chinese, Hong Kong, and international media swarmed Vaughn. He also took part in a jam-packed press conference, giving a very heartwarming speech: "I would like to dedicate this to win to a very special man that we lost recently, someone I had the opportunity to meet just a few times, and someone that was a true inspiration to me personally and to the automotive world as a whole. That man is Carroll Shelby. He is someone that always did what he wanted to do no matter what anyone thought and I know he would be proud to know we are drifting Mustangs in Olympic stadiums here in China and bringing home a huge first place trophy back to the USA!"

Along with an individual points Championship there was a Team Drift competition before the start of the event. Vaughn was part of Team USA, alongside fellow American Formula Drift drivers, Chris Forsberg and Matt Powers. Matt, Chris, and Vaughn came out on top, with New Zealand in second, and the Chinese drivers in third.

“Despite some serious jet lag, lack of sleep, and other unexpected hurdles we were faced with, I am really pumped on the team effort that resulted in a huge win for us,” says Vaughn. “I am very thankful to have such incredible and unconditional support from the ASD crew and nothing but pure passion and commitment could overcome what we as a team endured over the weekend.”

2013 MUSTANG RTR DESIGN SKETCHES

Vaughn Gitten Jr. has revealed these sketches of the RTR Mustang dealer-installed packages for 2013. 

Coming or going the RTR Mustang look is unmistakable and I look forward to the official images and details that will be coming soon.