BALTIMORE, Md. (September 13, 2010) – Over the weekend, Vaughn Gittin Jr. and the Monster Energy Falken Tire 2011 Ford Mustang entered Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California for Formula Drift Round 6: Point of Impact. Going into the event, Vaughn was in 1st place overall in the points chase for the Championship, and his goal was to maintain his lead with a podium finish. Not only did Vaughn accomplish that goal of keeping his lead, but he walked away from Sonoma with another win, his second win and fifth podium of the season thus far.
On Saturday, the fans piled into the paddock and filled the stands of Infineon Raceway excited to see all the insane drifting action and cheer on their favorite Formula Drift drivers. Vaughn was immediately ready and excited to partake in some top 32 tandem. After he put down two picture-perfect runs in his battle with Ken Gushi, Vaughn was deemed the winner and would advance into the Sweet Sixteen. Click HERE to watch Vaughn’s top 32 battle. (Skip to 1:02:55 to view.)
After the top 32, there was a “Half Time” break for fans to walk the paddock and talk to their favorite drivers and grab some swag. Vaughn was on-hand giving high-fives, signing autographs, and even throwing out some t-shirts. Click HERE to watch Vaughn’s interview with the “Voice of Formula Drift”, Jarod DeAnda, before the top 16 competition. (Skip to 0:36:22 to view.)
Meeting Vaughn in the top 16 would be Ireland’s Dean Kearney. Vaughn led first with an excellent entry and maintained a ton of speed and angle throughout the course. Kearney tried to keep up with the Monster Mustang, but ended up going wide, then straightening up, and just wasn’t able to close the gap.
When it was Vaughn’s turn to give chase, he followed Dean into the first clipping point and then as Dean slowed down a good amount going into the second clip, Vaughn was forced to tap him with nowhere else to go. Vaughn was awarded the advantage and would be moving on to the Great Eight. Watch his top 16 run by clicking HERE. (Skip to 0:55:50 to view.)
Vaughn was paired with Fredric Aasbo in the top eight; his third time battling this Norwegian drifter this season. Aasbo had taken the win over Vaughn at Round 4 in Seattle and Vaughn was determined not to let that happen again. He gave chase first, as Aasbo put down a solid run, but Vaughn was all over him piling on the pressure.