The first official drifting series in North America, Formula DRIFT has taken competitive motorsports to the extreme, attracting fans and car enthusiasts from all walks of life.

This high-skilled, high-powered competition – in which drivers intentionally maneuver cars into controlled slides at high speeds through a marked course – has pro drivers and teams competing in seven events throughout the season. Judged on speed, execution and style, rather than fastest time, drifting is a crowd pleaser that is often compared to the freestyle nature of skateboarding and motocross.

For the first round of the championship series (April 4-5), Formula DRIFT slides its way on one of two street courses used for professional drifting – the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. The expanded two-day event is one week prior to the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and uses turns nine, 10 and 11 of the street course. With a high-speed entry and very tight spacing between the cars and walls, there is no room for mistakes, making this opening round of the Formula DRIFT season one of the most exciting drift events of the year.

In the pictures the Ford Mustang of  Vaughn Gittin Jr.,  one of the 2014 Formula DRIFT protagonist