Vaughn Gittin Returns to Formula Drift in a 2024 Ford Mustang

Back when Ford first debuted the 2024 Mustang, the company showed off a slew of different racing versions — 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.

Ford Has Built 150,000 Mustang Mach-Es Already

In an event at Race Service, 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 three consecutive championship titles — after the Worthouse drift team pulled out of American drifting. 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 years behind the wheel of an E92 Eurofighter have prepared him to handle the larger, heavier American car.

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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 recently-retired FD champion 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: Roush-sponsored Justin Pawlak. Earlier this year, however, JTP announced he wouldn’t be returning for the 2023 season — meaning the RTR cars revealed last night will be the only Mustangs competing at the highest levels of drift.