Vaughn Gittin Jr Steps Away From Formula Drift
Two-Time Formula Drift Champ Vaughn Gittin Jr needs some time to focus on other adventures. Family time, for example.
If you’re at all a Formula Drift fan, you’re undoubtedly familiar with The Fun Haver himself, Vaughn Gittin Jr. This rings especially true if you’re a fan of Mustangs. Gittin has been behind the wheel of a pony car from the get-go. He won the Formula Drift championship in his S197 Mustang GT in 2010. Then, he won again in 2020 in his S550 RTR Mustang Spec 5D. Additionally, he was the first American driver to win an event put on by the Japanese D1 Grand Prix. Any guesses on what he was driving? If you guessed a Mustang, you’d be right!
Gittin recently explained his decision to leave Formula Drift for the time being to the lovely folks over at Motor Trend. While we are certainly sad to see him go, we can definitely see his side of things. Furthermore, he pretty heavily implies that he will be making his return to Formula Drift eventually. So, let’s not get too upset here.
Bigger Fish To Fry for Vaughn Gittin Jr
Gittin explains that after years of attending dozens and dozens of drift events yearly, he needs to put it on the back burner to focus on other things at the moment.
“I’ve got a ton of opportunities that I’ve chased down while chasing this dream. Some of those opportunities are really begging for a little bit more focus. Now, it’s on those opportunities. This is not retiring; I’m still going to be doing plenty of driving. I’m just not going to be competing in Formula Drift,” Gittin told Motor Trend.
One of the biggest things he’ll be focusing on more, of course, is RTR itself. For those unaware, RTR was started and is still owned by Vaughn Gittin Jr. Since its creation in 2009, the company has grown exponentially and continues to manufacture performance parts for Mustangs and produce OEM+ versions of Mustangs.
Ready to Rock Dad and Offroad Racer
Another prominent focus of his is to spend more time with his family. Currently, Gittin and his wife Abby have one child and another on the way.
“I want to be a good parent while also fulfilling my dreams and my goals. I’ve achieved a lot in Formula Drift and enjoyed every bit of it. For me, right now, competitive drifting was the one thing I was like, ‘hey, I can pull back out of this for a couple of years and stay fresh.’ Once I’ve got some of these other things on track and achieve some of these other goals, I’ll come back in and get back and go for it,” said Gittin.
Gittin has no intention to stop driving, though. He also competes in offroad events and placed in the Top 10 at King of The Hammers last year in the Ultra4 4400 class. Furthermore, in 2018, he won the 4500 East Coast Championship, winning nearly every event he entered.
We’ll certainly miss seeing the Monster Energy RTR Mustang spewing clouds of smoke at FD events. Luckily, we still get to watch RTR teammate Chelsea DeNofa throw down in his purple and gold RTR Spec 5D. Furthermore, we feel an honorary mention to a fellow OG Formula Drift driver Daijiro Yoshihara and his retirement should also be mentioned!
We’ll be patiently awaiting his return!
Photos for The Mustang Source by Braden Carlson
