Vaughn Gittin Jr. Wins Again at FD Miami

• May 31, 2014
• Story By
  Andrew Modena

Vaughn Gittin Jr. follows up his 1st place finish at Road Atlanta with another 1st place finish at Round 3 - Miami Heat! This was the first ever Formula Drift at Florida's Homestead-Miami Speedway. During qualifying on Friday, Gittin quickly adapted to the the new track layout and earned second. (See some of Gittin's qualifying in this video.) In Top 32, Gittin, in his Monster Energy/Nitto Tire Ford Mustang RTR, faced Danny George and his V8 Miata. In his leading run, Gittin overpowered George creating a big gap. Gittin's proximity and George's shallow angles during his leading run gave Gittin the win. Up against Jhonnattan Castro in Top 16, it looked as if Castro had the advantage during his leading run. During Gittin's leading run, Castro had a misstep - ending with the judges giving a clear victory to Gittin. During the Great 8 in Road Atlanta, Gittin faced Fredric Aasbo, with Gittin winning. They faced each other again in Miami with the same result. The Final Four, Gittin Jr. had a close match up with Kenny Moen. After a set of close runs, judges called a One More Time (OMT). In the OMT battle, Gittin out-drove Moen and moved on against Chris Forsberg for 1st place. Gittin vs Forsberg had the crowd on their feet. Seeing two veteran FD drivers go at it is always a show - especially when the two are best friends. These two last battled each other at 2013 Formula Drift Long Beach. During Forsberg's lead, Gittin stayed right on the bumper of the 370z. When Gittin led, he was much faster than Forsberg and initiated earlier. When the smoke cleared, Gittin was the declared the winner. “Back to back wins is just amazing and we are working hard and it just feels good that its paying off and I’m just pumped,” said Vaughn. Gittin dedicated this win to his grandmother, who is home in Maryland fighting cancer. This win puts Gittin 10 points away from current points leader, Chris Forsberg, in the Formula Drift championship. A big congratulations to all the podium winners and especially Vaughn Gittin Jr. for two consecutive 1st place wins! Check back at DrivingLine.com as we will have the play-by-play from Formula Drift Miami coming soon!