The Irwindale Speedway & Event Center is a motorsports facility located in Irwindale, California, United States. It opened on March 27, 1999 under the official name Irwindale Speedway. Toyota purchased the naming rights to the facility in 2008, and from that time until 2011 it was also known as the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.
Formula D or Formula DRIFT Black Magic Pro Championship Presented by BlackVue Dash Cameras is the premier United States drifting series. Formula Drift, Inc. was co-founded by Jim Liaw and Ryan Sage in 2003 as a sister company to the now defunct Slipstream Global Marketing, the same partnership that introduced D1 Grand Prix to the United States. The new entity would solely own, operate and launch the first official drifting series in North America. 2018 was Formula Drift's fifteenth year of competition.
Christopher Forsberg, is an American self-taught drifting driver from Doylestown, Pennsylvania who currently competes in the Formula Drift series in his Nissan 370Z for NOS Energy Drink.
Rhys Millen, nephew of IMSA GTS driver Steve Millen, son of Rodney and older brother of Ryan, is one of the America's top competitors in drifting. Prior to that he was a top rally driver in the US, and became the first works backed driver from a car manufacturer with GM in 2004 after narrowly losing to Ken Nomura in the US D1 Grand Prix exhibition event in 2003. In 2011 Millen raced a 500 bhp AWD Hyundai Veloster in the US Rallycross championship. In the following years he competed in the Global Rallycross series.
In 2006 the D1 Grand Prix championship, a drifting motor racing competition, comprised eight rounds held in Japan and the United States. The overall winner was Nobushige Kumakubo. There was also a D1 Street Legal competition run over seven rounds in Japan, and national competitions in Malaysia and the United Kingdom.
The 2007 Autobacs D1 Grand Prix series was the seventh season for the D1 Grand Prix series and was the second season for its spinoff D1 Street Legal.
Vaughn Gittin Jr., commonly known as JR or Gittin, is an American, self-taught, professional drifter from Maryland who currently competes in Formula D behind the wheel of his 2018 Monster Energy Nitto Tire Ford Racing Mustang RTR. One of drifting's most iconic figures, Gittin has the second most wins in Formula Drift history (10) and 22 career podiums. Vaughn is the creator of Ford Mustang RTR 900 horsepower Mustang RTR / Ford RTR. He also makes the RTR Mustang, which is JR's vision of the Mustang, in addition to RTR Ford F-150s.
Daigo Saito is a Japanese professional drifting driver, currently competing in the D1 Grand Prix series for ATR Radial / Monster Energy / Sunoco and Formula DRIFT USA and World Championship series for Achilles Radial and RDS. He was the first driver to win the two drifting majors, D1GP in 2008 and Formula D in 2012.
Daijiro Yoshihara, more commonly known as Dai Yoshihara, is a Japanese drifter and often regarded as one of the world's best.
The 2010 Formula D season was the seventh season for the Formula D series. The series began on April 10 on the streets of Long Beach and concluded on October 9 at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale after seven events.
Carl Rydquist is a Swedish-American FIA Intl B/SCCA Pro/NASA Pro racing driver and a SAG-AFTRA licensed stunt and precision driver who has won many auto races and racing championships. Rydquist gained notoriety for his speed in 2001 when he beat more than 1100 enthusiasts and professional racedrivers in a gocart challenge created by Eurosport to promote their Super Racing Weekend FIA GT and ETCC sports coverage. The event propelled him to his first GT Endurance ride with Apex Racing's Porsche. Rydquist actively competes in racing and has competed in professional drifting. In Rydquist's auto racing career, he currently has a victory in more than one third of his races and podium finishes in three out of four Touring and GT car endurance and sprint races.
Justin Thomas Pawlak, also known as JTP, is an American professional drifter who currently competes in the Formula D series. He earned his Formula D Professional license in 2006 and later earned his D1 license. In 2010, he was picked up Team Falken Tire and has been with them ever since. For the 2012 FD Season, he drives the 2013 Falken Tire Ford Mustang RTR. Justin continues his support of local, grassroots drifting by judging the Just Drift Top Drift series alongside fellow Formula D drivers Taka Aono and Hiro Sumida.
Ryan Tuerck, is an American professional drifter from Derry, New Hampshire who currently competes in the U.S. Formula Drift series in his Toyota GT86 for Gumout.
The 2013 Formula D season was the tenth season of the Formula D series. The season began on April 12 at Long Beach and ended on October 12 at Irwindale Speedway. Michael Essa was crowned series champion, Lexus won the inaugural manufacturer’s championship and Hankook Tire won the tire championship.
The 2014 Formula D season, officially titled the Formula Drift Pro Championship, was the eleventh season of the Formula D series. The season began on April 4 at Long Beach and ended on October 11 at Irwindale Speedway.
The 2015 Formula D season, officially titled the Formula Drift Pro Championship, was the twelfth season of the Formula D series. The season began on April 10 at Long Beach and ended on October 10 at Irwindale Speedway.
Michael Whiddett also known as "Mad Mike", is a New Zealand drifting racer. He is sponsored by Red Bull. Whiddett has also raced motocross from the age of six and placed second at the New Zealand 1997 Pro junior 85cc Motocross Champs.
The 2016 Formula D season is the thirteenth season of the Formula D Pro Championship series and third season of the Pro2 series. The Pro Championship series began on April 8 at Long Beach and ended on October 8 at Irwindale Speedway with Chris Forsberg winning his third Pro Championship. The Pro2 series began on May 5 at Road Atlanta and ended on October 1 at Wild Horse Motorsports Park with Marc Landreville winning the series.
The 2017 Formula D season is the fourteenth season of the Formula D Pro Championship series and fourth season of the Pro2 series. The Pro Championship series began on March 31 at Long Beach and ended on October 14 at Irwindale Speedway with Irish driver James Deane winning his first Pro Championship.
