SONOMA, Ca. – This past weekend at Infineon Speedway Formula Drift Round 5 could not have been more perfect with the sun shining, fans smiling, and cars sliding. This particular course of the Formula D tour is known for its high-speed entries and on Saturday the huge crowd experienced drifting at its very finest. Vaughn Gittin Jr. was in good spirits still sizzling from his 2nd place win at Formula D Round 4 at Evergreen Speedway. The Falken Tire Mustang and its monster motor built by Hasselgren of Northern California were in superior condition and JR allowed his impressive practice runs to be the actions that spoke louder than words. JR performed two secure runs during qualifying Saturday afternoon and qualified in 9th place overall. JR was keyed-up to participate in some head-to-head action later in the day where he would contend against some of Formula D’s fiercest competitors. In the battle of the Top 16, JR was matched up with Ryuji Miki, in the speedy RX-7. After a tough battle, the judges felt that a “One More Time” was needed to determine a winner. The next time around, JR made sure that the judges would have no question who would move on with the win. Miki put up a fight, but JR stood his ground and viciously took the win. JR said, “Miki is definitely a great driver who I have watched for years in Japan. It was a fun challenge to me and a victory that I had to work hard for. I just stayed focused and kept my foot to the floor!” During the Top 8 brawl, JR went up against Tanner Foust. “Tanner is one of my competitors who I like to battle the most. He’s fast and consistent – we have gone back and forth beating each other for a couple years now,” said JR. The first two runs were extremely close battles; calling for the infamous “One More Time.” When it was Tanner’s turn to lead once more, JR and the Falken Tire Mustang’s fierce bite put pressure on the 350Z causing Tanner to drop a wheel off course. In the second run of the “One More Time,” JR went into the entry with astonishing speed and held amazing line and angle while the crowd went wild in the stands. Tanner followed close, but not close enough to overlook JR’s advantage from the prior run – JR was moving on to the Final Four. JR said, “This event was different because Tanner had great momentum and most of the cards were in his hand. He is the recent gold medalist of the X Games 13 special stage rally, current Formula D Professional series points leader, and the number one qualifier for this event. Aside from he was running on very soft tires that have just recently been approved for Formula D. I knew this was an all-or-none shot to gain some serious points that I need in my quest for a podium finish in the championship. I drove as hard as the Team Falken Mustang would let me. The result was four clean, fast, and consistent runs that enabled me to steal some wind from his sails and move on to the Final Four. There’s been a lot of controversy in the pits about his tires, but I’m proud to be the one to prove the Falken Azenis RT 615 has full ability to hang with a tire that normally would be considered in a different class.” JR was paired to go head-to head with Conrad Grunewald in his newly debuted Corvette. JR said, “Conrad has been absent most of the season and to see him come out swinging the way he was, impressed me to say the least. I hope to continue seeing him on the track.” Conrad was on fire all day, but JR quickly put out his flame and moved on to battle his good friend and Drift Alliance brother – Chris Forsberg. In a monumental first-time event, JR and Chris were paired to battle it out for first place. Not only were they excited to compete because they are friends, but they were excited to compete because they were unable finish their battle in Seattle when Chris put his car into the wall giving JR the win in the Final Four. “Chris and I were so excited to once again get the opportunity to battle in competition, put on a amazing show for fans, and also settle some unfinished business,” said JR. Up at the top of the hill, Chris and JR prepared to exchange blows in what they both knew would be an intense fight. Chris was set to lead first while JR followed. Chris made a quick initiation going into the first entry with JR following close behind putting on the pressure. It was an intense battle indeed, however, at the end of the run JR noticed his engine was not running properly. When he returned to line up for the next run, he called for a 5-minute break to allow his mechanics to diagnose and hopefully fix the issue. Unfortunately, JR quickly realized that it was Seattle all over again but with the tables turned – this time in Chris’s favor. JR was forced to hand the win over to Chris when coil-pack failure enabled him and the Team Falken Tire Mustang to make the last run against his DA buddy. Disappointed that he wasn’t able to truly contend against Chris for a fight that they both have been looking forward to, JR was at the same time ecstatic that he had won 2nd place! It had been such a long journey to get to where he stood at that moment – and although 1st place would have been sweet, 2nd place was surely anything but sour. All weekend JR stayed consistent in his runs – holding intense angle every time, so much that you’d swear he was about to spin. He kept the crowd on their feet and screaming in the stands. This victory at Sonoma marks the second podium finish since the Falken Tire Mustang received a new monster motor built by Hasselgren. JR said, “I can’t thank team Falken Tire, Hasselgren, and the guys at Streetwise for working tirelessly to get this car where we need it to stay competitive. Electrical failures are something that can happen at anytime and I know they will go back to the drawing board and do everything possible to make sure this never happens again. I have a great car, great support from my team, fans and sponsors, and I plan to keep my foot to the floor the rest of the season in my chase for a Top 3 finish in the championship.” Taking 2nd place at Sonoma brings JR to 5th place overall in the Formula D series. Join JR for some good old East Coast drifting at Wall speedway, New Jersey for Formula D Round 6 on September 8th, where he is determined to keep up his momentum and fight his way onto the podium one more time. Written by Abby Baker |
