zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
Vaughn Gittin Jr. is Back in Formula Drift With a 2024 Ford Mustang
Vaughn Gittin Jr. is Back in Formula Drift With a 2024 Ford Mustang-December 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:10:46

Image for article titled Vaughn Gittin Jr. is Back in Formula Drift With a 2024 Ford Mustang

Back when Ford , the company showed off — cars built for everything from NHRA drags to Le Mans. But one form of privateer-focused motorsport was missing from that race-ready lineup: Drifting. Now, we finally get to see what a Formula Drift-spec 2024 Mustang looks like. This week, the RTR drift team revealed three new, highly-modified 2024 Mustangs, each sporting a brand-new livery for Formula Drift. Starting with next week’s round in Long Beach, these cars will be the face of drift Mustangs going forward.

In an event at , the RTR team revealed the 2023 liveries for two of its three cars. Longtime team member Chelsea DeNofa keeps the look he’s had since ditching his purple car a few years ago — black, Pennzoil yellow, and BC Racing gold. The turbofan-style wheels, too, are an incredible touch.

Even more interesting was the livery reveal for new RTR teammate James Deane. The Machine left the series after the 2019 season — and — after the Worthouse drift team . Now, Deane is back, and he’s behind the wheel of a Mustang. It’s an interesting choice, as Mustangs have historically been a very different drift vehicle compared to Deane’s old Worthouse S15, but perhaps those have prepared him to handle the larger, heavier American car.

The biggest reveal of the night, however, didn’t come from Race Service. Instead, it came in a video filmed at Virginia International Raceway. RTR’s third driver, Adam LZ, had already announced his intent to drive a reduced schedule in this year’s championship. Rather than campaign only two cars for half of the year’s FD events, RTR added a fourth driver to the lineup to split time with LZ — four events each. That driver is none other than and RTR founder Vaughn Gittin Jr.

As of now, it’s not entirely clear how LZ’s car will appear in his FD rounds. During the video in which he announced his reduced 2023 schedule, he and Gittin discussed a three-car team — it seems the two will share a single chassis for the 2023 season. But without a livery reveal for LZ, it’s unclear whether he’ll be driving in Gittin’s livery, or whether the car will be redone in LZ’s red and yellow colors for his turns behind the wheel.

In recent years, only one non-RTR driver has campaigned a Mustang in Formula Drift: . Earlier this year, however, JTP announced he — meaning the RTR cars revealed last night will be the only Mustangs competing at the highest levels of drift.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
This Is The Mercedes You’ll Probably Get Sick Of Again In Formula One
This Is The Mercedes You’ll Probably Get Sick Of Again In Formula One
The current hybrid V6 era in Formula One has been defined by one thing above all: getting real damn tired of seeing the Mercedes car up front, week after week. Last season was better, but Mercedes their 2018 W09 EQ Power+ F1 car and I’m already bored of it. As...
Dec 22, 2025
How Billy Monger, Who Lost His Legs In A Crash, Drives A 150-MPH Race Car Without Them
How Billy Monger, Who Lost His Legs In A Crash, Drives A 150-MPH Race Car Without Them
Teenage race-car driver Billy Monger in a last April, but it to get back to professional driving. Now Monger is back to driving a single-seater race car like the one he crashed in, and adjusting to using mostly hand controls at 150 mph. reports that Monger said he’s “not too...
Dec 22, 2025
Alfa Romeo's Glorious Return To Formula One Is Here
Alfa Romeo's Glorious Return To Formula One Is Here
For the first time in decades, Alfa Romeo’s famous Quadrifoglio lucky cloverleaf badge will grace the side of an Alfa Romeo-badged Formula One car. This time, it’s aboard the new Sauber C37, which was unveiled today with a big ol’ Alfa Romeo graphic on the side. Alfa’s finally back in...
Dec 22, 2025
Self-Styled Diversity Guru Drops $500 Million Racial Discrimination Lawsuit Against NASCAR
Self-Styled Diversity Guru Drops $500 Million Racial Discrimination Lawsuit Against NASCAR
A 2016 lawsuit alleging that NASCAR racially discriminated against the efforts of Terrance Cox III to start a race team and other diversity-oriented efforts has been dropped, reports . Cox himself as a diversity guru who wanted to increase black participation in NASCAR, but his relationship with the series soured...
Dec 22, 2025
Rally Sweden Driver Showed Up Late On Purpose To Avoid Going First On Garbage Roads
Rally Sweden Driver Showed Up Late On Purpose To Avoid Going First On Garbage Roads
Rally Sweden was a winter wonderland this year, but not for the drivers who went first. The first cars on a snowy stage inevitably act as snowplows for everyone behind them—and those later competitors then go faster on the clearer roads. One driver at Sweden had enough, so he arrived...
Dec 22, 2025
Holy Crap This High-Speed Two-Wheel Landing Actually Worked
Holy Crap This High-Speed Two-Wheel Landing Actually Worked
Colin’s Crest is one of the most delightful parts of Rally Sweden. Every year, the organizers have a mini competition on the Vargåsen stage as to who jumps the farthest over one particular crazy fast jump. Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville didn’t win the Colin’s Crest Award, but his jump was...
Dec 22, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved