Last year Vaughn Gittin Jr took a big step in his drifting career. The Monster Energy and Nitto Tire supported drifting superstar started his own team. Thanks to the support of his sponsors, and his reputation in the industry he was able to build a team from the ground up, including his crew, his on-site displays at events, and his Mustang that is recognized by drifting fans the world over.
While the 2013 season was a disappointing one for Gittin, it likely proved a learning curve for him on handling the duties of being both the man behind the wheel of the car, and the man steering the corporate ship. Either of those positions are difficult enough by themselves, and there are many racers-turned-owners who never found the success they had when they simply wore the helmet instead of both hats.
That’s what makes this past weekend’s Formula Drift win for Gittin so sweet. Gittin and his team were on their A game in Atlanta, for the Formula D stop at Road Atlanta. After using his second chance run to gain a better qualifying position Gittin sat comfortably in the event’s number three spot.
Heading into side-by-side action he took out Geoff Stoneback in the round of 32. In the round of 16, Gittin would face fellow Mustang racer, and former Formula D champ Justin Pawlak. It would take three runs for the judges to make a decision on who won the battle, proving that Pawlak was also bringing his A game to the track. The eventual decision would give the nod to Gittin.
Gittin then proceeded to take out Kenny Moen, followed by Robbie Nishida on his way to meet Chris Forsberg in the final.
In the end it was Gittin coming out on top, pulling out a much needed win, and possibly setting the stage for him to excel in 2014. With the win Gittin sits in second place in the Formula D championship points, just 27.5 points behind current leader Chris Forsberg. In a post race interview Gittin said, “I can’t thank my team enough. I can’t thank Ford enough for making an amazing Ford Mustang and Nitto Tire for the unbelievable tires that clearly separated us from the rest of the field.”