2004: Formula Drift Round 1, Atlanta
Moment in drift history · US
The US sport launches at Road Atlanta. Vaughn Gittin Jr, Ken Gushi, Rhys Millen and Tanner Foust line up next to Japanese exhibition drivers. The series will go on to standardise the judging language used worldwide.
Formula Drift launched at Road Atlanta in April 2004, the first American national drift series. Founders Jim Liaw and Ryan Sage adapted the D1GP format for the US market: judged tandem battles, dedicated street-style courses, sponsor money, broadcast deals.
The Round 1 grid mixed American grassroots drivers (Vaughn Gittin Jr, Ken Gushi, Tanner Foust) with established Japanese pros invited as exhibition entries. The format worked. Within a season the American scene had its first generation of full-time pros and a manufacturer presence that included Nissan, Mazda, Ford and Pontiac.
Over the next decade FD became the world's most-broadcast drift series. The judging template inherited from D1, line, angle, style, was extended with proximity scoring for tandems. Every modern drift series that emerged after Formula Drift adopted some variation of its broadcast format.
Who was there
- Vaughn Gittin Jr., Round 1 American competitor
- Jim Liaw + Ryan Sage, Series co-founders
Cars
What happened next
- VGJ wins the 2010 FD Pro Championship, first Mustang title in series history.
- Drift Masters European Championship (2018) and other modern series adapt the FD broadcast format.
- James Deane crosses from European drift to FD in 2014; takes back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018.