“My mind is blown after our first preseason test today. This Mustang RTR that ASD built me is the fastest most fun machine I have EVER driven. Nitto Tire NT05′s get this thing in 3 wheel motion when the ole right foot is down. I am so thankful for the awesome people that make up my team and support me.”

BALTIMORE, Md. (January 8, 2013) – Formula Drift Champion Vaughn Gittin Jr. is excited to announce that he has joined forces with Nitto Tire. Fueled by passion and innovation, Nitto Tire is a perfect match for Vaughn and his always forward-thinking team. Vaughn, who is undeniably one of drifting’s most iconic drivers, will represent Nitto Tire and showcase their max-performance tire’s superior performance and capability through competing in the Formula Drift Championship and China’s WDS Series. He will also be performing exhibitions and experiential events all over the world, where many will have the opportunity to ride shotgun in his Monster Energy Nitto Tire Ford Mustang RTR.

From Vaughn: “I am pumped to be working with Nitto Tire! As I enter this new chapter of my career, it feels great to be aligned with a brand that is committed to winning and progression, just as I am.  I have always been focused on working just as hard off the track as I do on it, and Nitto’s innovative marketing efforts and awesome tires will compliment that well.  It is very clear that our overall passion and future goals align perfectly, and I could not be happier with what the future has to offer surrounding this partnership.”

Read the full press release here!

Log into your Facebook and vote for our driver Vaughn Gittin Jr as drifter of the year! Click the link below to vote!

http://www.facebook.com/drift.ro/app_208195102528120

ASD in the Final Fight at Irwindale Speedway from ASD Motorsports on Vimeo.

After weeks of careful thought and numerous discussions both internally and with current and past ASD Mob members, as well as other people in the Formula D community, we have decided to not admit any new members to the ASD Mob program for 2013. There are a number of reasons for this decision, and we feel it only right to share some of those with you.

As most of you know we have been running cars in Formula Drift for Falken Tire since 2008. With ASD choosing to leave that program during 2012, there have been a lot of changes internally at ASD in preparation for the 2013 competition season ahead. This has limited the time we will have available for other initiatives like the ASD Mob outside of our Formula D Pro program and other programs we are working toward for 2013. One of the motto’s at ASD is “If we can’t give something 100%, we won’t do it”. This is one major part of our decision for not expanding next year’s Mob program out to 31 drivers.

We currently have 21 ASD Mob members throughout the USA from the past two years. Instead of growing that number, for 2013 we are going to focus more on ASD Mob current members, as a number of them are headed into the Formula D Pro circuit. It’s critical that new drivers in the FD Pro ranks have as many advantages as they can to run competitively. Formula D Pro is not easy to be successful at due to the high caliber of teams and drivers, and a rookie season can be especially challenging. Our goal is to help increase our support for those ASD Mob drivers who are moving into the Pro ranks to provide them an advantage, while continuing to support the remaining Mob members who are either trying to obtain their FD Pro license or simply enjoying drifting at its core and grassroots level. We believe in order to help support our sport and culture to the best of our ability, we should identify where we see the biggest needs and do our best to help with those challenges within our sport. For now, we believe those biggest needs have shifted from adding help at the Pro-Am level to assisting rookie Formula D drivers as they enter the Pro series.

Once we feel we have been successful assisting selected drivers make the Formula D pro series transition in their rookie seasons, the ASD Mob program may well transition once again back into focusing on the amateur and Pro-Am level competitors to ensure our sport and culture has a strong foundation with talented new drivers entering our sport. Ultimately, our goal at ASD will likely continually shift back and forth to the area we believe requires the most assistance – and only restricted by our available resources. Our commitment at ASD to our sport and drift culture is as strong as ever.

However, there may still be situations where we accept new ASD Mob members on a case by case basis. We have been discussing with current ASD Mob members about select candidates that have shown the motivation and passion for drifting that is required to be an ASD Mob member. If we as a group decide that someone really deserves an entry level shot into the ASD Mob, they will be contacted and the decision determined at that point between ASD and that individual driver. There are a number of very good Pro-Am drivers who submitted applications for the 2013 Mob program. That is the group we will be targeting for this process, as well as other drivers current Mob members see at the track, and ASD staff see while at drift events in 2013.

We are also working on yet another and completely separate all new program for the 2013 Formula D Pro field of rookie drivers that should be really exciting, and we hope to announce our plans for that shortly as details are finalized.

For those of you who submitted applications we thank you for spending the time to do so, and if your application was one we are interested in following up with, we will reach out to you when the time is right.

As always we wish everyone the best for the upcoming 2013 drift season, and hope to see you all at the track or at a fun drift day somewhere around the country. This year, ASD staff might even bring their personal toys out to ECB and a few other events and join in the fun.

Be sure to come and say hi at the track wherever you see us! No doubt we’ll be having just as much fun as you are.

Ian Stewart
ASD Motorsports