America can claim credit for many motorsports that are now international staples, whether it be drag racing, NASCAR, or the legendary Trans Am series. When it comes to drifting though, the Japanese have a stronger claim to the smokey motorsport we now know and love, though American drivers with American cars have found plenty of success in the Formula Drift world.

Chief among them is Vaughn Gittin Jr., who won the 2010 Formula Drift championship behind the wheel of a Ford Mustang. Next month Gittin is heading across the Pacific to Tokyo, Japan to compete in the D1 Grand Prix drifting event against some of the best drifters in the world. It’s a homecoming of sorts for a man whose name has become synonymous with the sport.

“Since winning the D1GP USA vs. Japan in 2005, I have wanted to take my Ford Mustang RTR and my team to compete in Japan where drifting started,” Gittin said in a statement. “I am pumped that ten years later, the dream has become reality and I will be joining the Monster Energy Japan crew in downtown Tokyo for the final round Oct. 24-25.

A decade ago Gittin become the first American to win a D1 Grand Prix event at Irwindale Speedway in California, and it was also the first time an American car (a Mustang of course) had beat a field of usually-dominant Japanese drifters. He also went to Japan in 2009 as part of the “Mustang Drift Japan” video series, though he’s mostly focused on his rising career as one of America’s best drifters. Alas, a nasty accident in Texas means he’s totally out of the running for this year’s Formula D, so why not take some time off and visit the place where drifting got its start?

It might be the well-earned break Gittin needs to get back on top of the drifting world.