A couple of weeks ago, Justin Pawlak drifted his Falken Tire 2013 Ford Mustang to victory in the opening round of the 2012 Formula Drift season. It was a great way to kick off the season, and Pawlak no doubt owes his recent success to the skills he has built up over the past few years. But he also owes the fellows at Autosports Dynamics, better known as ASD, the minds and mechanics behind Pawlak’s winning Mustang.

It also gives us a better idea of what goes into building a high-level drift car. Whereas common sense dictates that you want to build a car designed to lose grip, in actuality you want the drift car to maintain as much grip as possible. This gives the driver a better sense of control over the car, one reason Pawlak was able to slide his way to victory in Long Beach.

The key to building a competitive drift car is to keep it simple, but build them to work extremely efficiently. A lot of work and engineering goes into designing a drift car, dismissing the notion that drifting is a simpletons sport. It’s a really cool video that gives us a look at a company that has really invested a lot into producing the world’s best drift cars…one of which happens to be a Mustang in the hands of Justin Pawlak.

Will Pawlak and his ASD-built Mustang drift to total victory this year? One this is for sure, they are off to a good start.