Vaughn Gittin

Vaughn Donald Gittin, Jr. (born September 20, 1980), commonly known as JR, is an American self-taught drifting driver from Annapolis, Maryland who currently competes in the Formula D and D1 Grand Prix series in his 2005 Falken Tire Ford Racing Mustang. JR also participates currently in drifting demonstrations with Drift Alliance worldwide in his personal Mustang.

History

JR first fell in love with cars when he was 4 years old and received his first go-cart as a present from his father. After an hour of riding his go-cart, he began complaining that it was too slow. So his father took the governor off to make it faster. JR and his father would take the go-cart to industrial parks where JR could go as fast as he wanted and pull the side brake, causing him to slide. As a young child, JR would always carry a toy car around with him everywhere he went; even at his mother's wedding. When JR was 13, he began riding dirt bikes; this led to him competing in motorcross and arena cross events by the time he was 19. [ [http://www.driftalliance.com/dbiojr.htm Drift Alliance: Vaughn Gittin, JR ] ]

He became involved in drifting when he acquired a crash-damaged Nissan 240SX coupe from a friend for $1000. After carrying repairs to bring the car back to be used as his daily driver, he began practicing burnouts, powersliding and donuting as well as progressively carrying modifications to his car. [http://www.urbanracer.com/articles/anmviewer.asp?a=1537 Meguiar's Drift Garage: 10 Questions with J-Rod - Vaughn J.R. Gittin Jr.] ] JR would return to the same industrial parking lots that he practiced in when he was 4 to practice his drifting. After learning more about drifting and watching some internet videos about the sport, JR realized that this was what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. At the time, JR was involved in Information Technology and was an IT manager in Arlington, Virginia. Later on in 2003 he entered his first drifting contest in Englishtown, New Jersey where he met and became friends with fellow drifting drivers Chris Forsberg and Tony Angelo. Eventually, JR made a name for himself on the East Coast. In 2003, he was invited out to Southern California to participate in a drift demo with Team Orange. JR committed to doing the demo, even thought he had to pay his own way. He felt that this would be his big break. JR invested everything he had into this trip; he maxed out his credit cards, he had his car shipped across the country, and his prepared himself with proposals for sponsors. At the demo, JR attracted the attention of Nick Fousekis, a representative of Falken Tire Corporation and was offered a full sponsorship for the inaugural Formula D season in 2004.

JR was one of two drivers to take delivery of a Ford Mustang GT to compete in drifting events for the 2005 season. The car was extensively modified to suit his full-throttle drifting style, including an installation of a supercharger to give out 750 bhp altogether. [ [http://www.driftingmag.com/content/view/101/64/ Vaughn Gittin Falken Tires Ford Mustang GT Drift Car - Drifting Magazine] ]

This paid off when he finished fourth at the end of the 2005 season in Formula D. Later in the year, at the D1GP US vs Japan competition in 2005, he defied expectations by defeating a host of top-seeded Japanese D1 drivers including Youichi Imamura and the newly crowned championship holder, Yasuyuki Kazama. [ [http://www.mustangworld.com/ourpics/News/select3643.htm Mustangworld Select Stangs:USA vs Japan D1 Grand Prix] ] He also achieved a feat for his car, as it took its first win for a non-Japanese car in the D1 series. [ [http://www.autometer.com/media_newsarticle.aspx?aid=38&mo=0&yr=2005 Auto Meter: Vaughn Gittin Jr. Smokes the Competition at the Irwindale D1GP! ] ] He also finished 4th in the 2006 Formula D season. [ [http://vaughngittin.com/bio.html Official bio] ]

Achievements

2007

* Placed 1st at D1 Grand Prix USA All-Star World Championship, Irwindale Speedway
* Placed 2nd at Formula D Round 5, Sonoma Speedway
* Placed 2nd at Formula D Round 4, Evergreen Speedway

2006

* Finished 4th place overall in the Formula D series

2005

* Placed 1st in the D1 Grand Prix America vs. Japan Competition
* Finished 4th place overall in the Formula D series

2004

* Finished 10th place overall in the Formula D series

Complete Drifting Results

()

D1 Grand Prix

Formula D

References

External links

* [http://vaughngittin.com/index.html Official page]
* [http://www.falkentire.com/main.htm Falken tire info]
* [http://formulad.com/drivers.php?id=cp294v9 Formula D profile]