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K&N-Sponsored Formula Drift Driver Vaughn Gittin Jr. Finishes 4th at Orlando Speedworld
K&N-Sponsored Formula Drift Driver Vaughn Gittin Jr. Finishes 4th at Orlando Speedworld
9 May 2017
Vaughn Gittin Jr. poses with the Nitto Tire umbrella girls prior to the Top 16 opening ceremonies
The trio of K&N-sponsored Formula Drift drivers entered Formula Drift's second round of the 2017 season, with Matt Coffman, Chelsea Denofa, and Vaughn Gittin Jr. all looking to build on their performances from Round 1 in Long Beach, California. Orlando Speedworld marked the first banked oval of the season, and the abrasive 3/8-mile asphalt track caused some challenges for the teams who needed to find a balance between pushing 800+ horsepower to the ground and making a set of tires last at least two full laps, a requirement of the Formula Drift regulations.
K&N-sponsored drivers Chelsea Denofa and Vaughn Gittin Jr. tandem together in practice
Friday’s qualifying session had a mixed bag of results for the K&N drivers. Coming off of a Top 8 finish in Long Beach and a class win at the Oregon Trail Rally, Matt Coffman was the top qualifying K&N driver in the 9th qualifying position. Chelsea Denofa out-qualified his Ford Mustang RTR teammate Vaughn Gittin Jr. in 13th place, while Gittin Jr. had some trouble with his Mustang holding too much grip in the Nitto tires and would end up with a 22nd place qualifying position. All three drivers felt more comfortable going into Saturday’s tandem battles knowing that several other drivers struggled with the conditions on Friday, and any driver on the grid was capable of bringing home results in the tandem battles.
Chelsea Denofa had a great lead run, but lost to Jhonnattan Castro in the Top 32
Saturday brought a new day, and a refreshed outlook for the K&N drivers. In practice, all three drivers were feeling much more comfortable in their cars. Unfortunately, Matt Coffman had a run-in with the wall late in the morning tandem practice, and was unable to fix his car before his scheduled tandem battle with Piotr Wiecek. Although the weekend results were lower than the team had hoped for, Coffman currently sits in 11th place overall after two of eight events. Coffman is confident he can return strong results at the next round in Atlanta.
Vaughn Gittin Jr. preps for battle at Formula Drift Orlando
Chelsea Denofa was paired with Jhonnattan Castro in his tandem battle. Denofa had a good lead run, but would miscalculate the transition on his chase run and collide with Castro on the infield. Denofa’s exit in the Top 32 round was his second of the season, and he currently sits in 22nd place overall. Denofa is feeling more comfortable in the Ford Mustang RTR as he continues to get more seat time, and is still building familiarity with the rest of the Mustang RTR drift team. Denofa is confident that his results will turn around soon as he looks ahead to the next round at Road Atlanta, a favorite track for Denofa.
Vaughn Gittin Jr. would defeat Ryan Tuerck after a "One More Time" battle in Orlando
Vaughn Gittin Jr. would face fellow Ford Mustang driver Justin Pawlak in the Top 32 round and the two have developed a bit of a rivalry over the years. Similar to Denofa, Pawlak would misjudge his transition when chasing Gittin Jr. and collide with him. Pawlak was deemed to be at fault, and Gittin Jr. moved on to the Top 16 round. In the top 16, Gittin Jr. would face Kyle Mohan and his Mazda MX-5, but a spin from Mohan in the chase would give Gittin Jr. the round win and move Gittin Jr. into the Top 8.
Fredric Aasbo narrowly edged out Vaughn Gittin Jr in the Final 4
Up next, Gittin Jr. would face Ryan Tuerck in what would be one of the best battles of the day. After a first set of battles wasn’t enough to decide a winner, Tuerck would face a mechanical issue in his chase run and shut the car down early, which gave Gittin Jr. the pass into the Final 4. Facing Fredric Aasbo, Gittin Jr’s day would end as Aasbo’s car was much faster in drift, and Aasbo would go on to win the event. For Gittin Jr., the turnaround from 22nd qualifier to 4th place finisher was a welcome one, but Gittin Jr. still felt he had the car that could have won the event. Gittin Jr. currently sits in 5th place overall, just 55 points away from Aasbo in the overall championship chase. Gittin Jr. is the defending Atlanta winner, and has podiumed at the track a total of four previous times.
