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Vaughn Gittin Jr.

Super aggressive driving style and the personality to match. Part of the Drift Alliance

Vaughn Gittin Jr., known as "JR" by many, has become one of the sport's most iconic figures and his machine, the 650 hp Team Falken Ford Mustang, one of the sport's most identifiable cars. Vaughn is known best by his aggressive, foot to the floor, big smoke driving style. Being such a fierce competitor, Vaughn is known as only American to win a D1GP event, not once - but twice. In 2005 Vaughn stunned the world when he won the D1GP USA vs. Japan. In 2007, he brought America home the gold once more by winning the D1GP World Championship.

Since he was born, Vaughn has done nothing but live and breathe cars. When he was a baby, his father would drive him around the neighborhood in his loud big block 55' Chevy to make him stop crying and go to sleep. As a toddler, at his mother's wedding, Vaughn held a Matchbox car during the entire ceremony, gripping it like it was gold. His father, Vaughn Gittin Sr., had numerous impressive cars when he was younger. Loving that smell of burning rubber and the feeling of going sideways, Vaughn Jr. recalls asking his dad do "fishtails" and "burnouts". Vaughn Sr. gave his young son a go-cart for his fourth birthday. For his go-kart driving debut, the younger Gittin and his dad went to an open industrial park parking lot. Within the first hour, the four-year-old complained that it was too slow, so his dad removed the governor - making the kart much faster. Vaughn remembers pulling the paddle-brake in order to make the kart slide. Vaughn received his first dirt bike when he was 13 years old. At age 16 he began competing in motocross events which continued for six years. His competitive nature and skill served him well as he was a consistent top-five finisher.

When he was 18, he bought a wrecked Nissan 240SX coupe from a friend. He repaired the car in his parents' driveway and it wasn't long before he was playing in his car much in much the same way he had his go-kart as a child.

He earned his Microsoft certification when he was 19 and, at age 21, began working as an IT manager at Nathan Associates Inc. in Arlington, VA. He took on the challenge of handling a very demanding full-time job - while maintaining his passion for cars. Down the road in 2007, Vaughn would give up his 9 to 5 to pursue drifting full-time and live out his dream as a driver. Most of his practice and training was done in parking lots such as Englishtown Raceway. It was there Vaughn met Chris Forsberg, Tony Angelo and Ryan Tuerck. The new fast friends were on parallel courses, all captured by this amazing sport, all ready to dedicate their lives in pursuit of a life on the edge. Meeting regularly in that parking lot were the seeds of professional drifting in the U.S., and eventually one of drifting's most identifiable entities, Drift Alliance.

In 2003, Vaughn entered his first drift competition at Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia. He drove his heart out and finished 2nd in the event. Later in the year, he entered a DG Trials competition at Englishtown, New Jersey where he won 1st place.

Before long, Vaughn had earned a reputation and was considered to be one of the top drift drivers on the east coast. In October 2003, he was invited to southern California to participate in a drifting exhibition featuring Team Orange. Seeing this as a once in a lifetime opportunity, Vaughn maxed out his credit cards, had his car shipped across the country, and armed himself with proposals to hand out to potential sponsors.

At the demo, Vaughn attracted the attention of Nick Fousekis, a representative of Falken Tire Corporation, who offered him the chance to join the Falken team. He brought momentum into his career as a professional drifter in the Formula Drift series where he has since established himself as one of the most popular and competitive drivers on the pro circuit. Vaughn's began his career as a professional driver in 2004 when he drove his personal Nissan S13 painted the Falken colors. In 2005, Falken decided to build Vaughn a new Ford Mustang which had brought him many victories. He's come a long way from those early days of driving his go-cart, but Vaughn Gittin Jr. still feels the same rush of adrenaline as he did then - the same sense of adventure and challenge every time he enters a turn and throws his Team Falken Tire Ford Mustang sideways.