Drift Start to Stock Car: Vaughn Gittin Jr. Places 14th at Circuit de Trois-Rivieres
In cars that require you to have precise driving skills and be comfortable in a loose car, a NASCAR Canadian Tire Series stock car should be right at home for 2010 Formula Drift Champion, Vaughn Gittin, Jr. How did he fare in his first-ever stint inside a stock car? We’ll give you the rundown.
Coming hot off the plane from Anaheim, California after an awesome demo for Auto Enthusiast Day presented by Nitto Tire, Vaughn Gittin Jr. got set up to drive in the No.9 Monster Energy Drink Ford Fusion that belonged to Micks Motorsports. On August 5th, Micks Motorsports and Vaughn put laps in at Autodrome St-Eustache in Saint-Eustache, Quebec, Canada. It’s a multiple-discipline facility with a .40-mile paved oval, one-mile paved road course, and 1/8th-mile drag strip. While it was tempting to pitch the car sideways, he kept reminding himself that he wasn’t in his Nitto Tires/Monster Energy Ford Mustang RTR.
On August 9th, Vaughn took his first-ever qualifying lap around the street circuit of Trois-Rivieres for the JuliaWine.com Le 50 Tours. With the daunting task of getting used to a new type of car and a first-ever time around Trois-Rivieres, a challenging track no matter what you’re in, Vaughn was able to pull off a 32nd place qualifying out of 33 drivers. If you are unfamiliar with Circuit de Trois-Rivieres, it is a 1.53-mile Street Course set in part of Terrain de l’Exposition and you drive through Porte Duplessis in turn three.
The race was set for 76.5 miles or 50 laps; however, a caution late into the race forced the series to start under a green-white checker. Vaughn had steadily moved up throughout the race, but an accident between Marc Antoine Camirand and Xavier Coupal that forced a red flag after Coupal was sent into barrel rolls, stopped his progress. With time running out and a huge cleanup to still be done, the race was called and Vaughn, who had to drive around that final incident, finished his first-ever race in 14th and made up 18 spots from his qualifying position. That’s a rousing success in anyone’s book, even more so for someone who’s never set a tire on this track. Then again, Vaughn Gittin Jr. isn’t your average race car driver, either.