Vaughn Gittin Jr. took his first podium result of the 2014 season as he won round two of the Formula Drift championship.
While Gittin has won multiple trophies in his career, the win at Road Atlanta means a touch more as it was his first victory since forming his own team in 2013, building everything from the ground up.
“Winning tonight feels amazing and what feels even more incredible is the way that we won. We drove our hearts out. We fought as hard as we possibly could,” said Gittin. “I can’t thank my team enough. I can’t thank Ford enough for making an amazing Ford Mustang and Nitto Tire for the unbelievable tires that clearly separated us from the rest of the field.”
Gittin’s weekend got off to a storming start, qualifying in third place with his second chance run. He then dispatched Geoff Stoneback in the round of 32 before taking on Justin Pawlak in the round of 16. Pawlak, who was also running a Ford, qualified just behind Gittin, taking on Patrick Goodin in the opening round, setting up one of the closest races between Pawlak and Gittin to date, with the judges unable to decide a clear winner. Two more rounds were needed before Gittin was handed the victory.
He then went on to score victories over Kenny Moen in the quarterfinals, Robbie Nishida in the semifinals before beating Frederic Aasbo in the final.
As a result of his victory, Gittin now sits in second place in the standings, trailing Chris Forsberg by 27.50 points with five rounds still to run.
