Vaughn Gittin Jr. takes 2nd place in New Jersey, lands his third podium in a row

Over the weekend, Vaughn Gittin Jr. rolled out to Formula Drift Round 3 at Wall Stadium in New Jersey with high hopes of maintaining his sizable points lead by landing on the podium. He accomplished that goal when he finished the event in 2nd place and took to the podium for the third time consecutively in his Monster Energy/ Falken Tire 2011 Ford Mustang.

Before the weekend’s intense competition, Vaughn participated in the annual “Throttle Thursday” hosted by Gary Gardella and X Games BMX Gold medalist Scotty Cranmer. Vaughn took Scotty for a ride-along in his Mustang at Wall Stadium on Thursday afternoon, allowing him to get a good feel for another type of action sport. Later that evening, Formula Drift drivers and teams were invited out to the Incline Club – a skate, bike, and scooter park owned by Cranmer – to have some fun and watch some professional BMX demos. The event was a great way to bring together different action sports communities and allow the Formula Drift drivers to have some fun before the busy weekend.

Vaughn qualified in 5th place on Friday and was set to match Robbie Nishida in the battle of the top 32 on Saturday’s main event. After a fan-filled autograph session and a final night practice, Vaughn was ready to do battle on game day.

On Saturday, Vaughn dominated his way through Robbie Nishida in the top 32, as well as Falken Tire teammate Tyler McQuarrie in the top sixteen. Vaughn was paired with Drift Alliance brother Justin Pawlak, driver of the 2010 Falken Tire Ford Racing Mustang, in the top eight. After two strong runs from both Mustang drivers, it was apparent that Vaughn had the advantage over Justin and would be moving on to the final four.

Vaughn was faced with two-time Formula Drift Champion Tanner Foust in the final four. Vaughn led first, with a high line on the bank. Tanner tried to mimic his high line, causing him to hit the wall and disrupt his drift. Vaughn maintained his line, angle, and speed throughout the course as Tanner struggled to keep up. Vaughn gave chase next, and kept close to Tanner throughout the course. The advantage was given to Vaughn, and he would move on to an automatic podium position.

It was déjà vu for Vaughn when he was matched up against Falken Tire teammate Daijiro Yoshihara in the finals – as the two had battled for 1st place at Round 2 in Atlanta a month earlier. During the final battle of the night, the Falken RT615-K tire smoke filled Wall Stadium during two amazing runs from both competitors. After the smoke cleared, Dai had once again been deemed the winner of the battle and the event. Vaughn would finish the night in 2nd place, rounding out his third consecutive podium of the 2010 Formula Drift season.

After three rounds of Formula Drift, Vaughn remains the Championship points leader; 21 points ahead of Dai in 2nd place, and 63 points ahead of Tanner in 3rd place. He moves into the northwest next for Round 4 July 9-10 at Evergreen Speedway, where he hopes to keep his podium streak alive while maintaining his Championship points lead.

For more information, please visit VaughnGittin.com

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