Chelsea DeNofa Joins Vaughn Gittin, Jr.’s RTR Team For Formula D ‘17
Pro drifter trades in his E46 for a 1,000 HP Mustang in big announcement just days before start of the season
Up to now, we’ve heard only minimal murmurs about the upcoming 2017 Formula DRIFT season – news bits like reigning champ Chris Forsberg running a V6 in his Z for the first time (after years of V8 power), a Supra returning to the series thanks to Dan Burkett and RAD Industries, and the Worthouse Drift Team S15s on their way here from the other side of the Atlantic. But this, this here is huge – primarily because it could mean pro driver Chelsea DeNofa is finally getting the big break he so desperately needs.
0:00 / 0:00
DeNofa and 2010 series champion Vaughn Gittin, Jr., announced this morning they will be teaming up for the 2017 season in a two-car effort under the RTR Motorsports banner. Each will be driving a 1,000 hp Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-D shod in Nitto Tire rubber (aka the “Bro-Stangs”), with JR’s rocking an updated Monster Energy livery while DeNofa’s will be an adaptation of the BC Racing wrap he had on his BMW E46 3-Series last year.
Gittin has run a world-class program for years, but DeNofa has had to struggle on his own as a privateer since he entered Formula D seven seasons ago. He runs his team on a shoestring budget and has always shown talent, drive, and good sportsmanship (and sometimes overzealousness), but has had a professional career plagued by car issues. He referred to as much on the Round 1 podium last year in Long Beach, Calif., following his first-ever FD victory, mentioning the triumph was all the more remarkable considering he did not have to use his five-minute competition timeout (suggesting the car was pretty sound throughout the event).
Count us among the excited for DeNofa as he enters this next chapter in his pro drifting story. A full test video has been promised to drop next week, but in the meantime we send our best to both DeNofa and JR as the 2017 championship chase looms – go get ‘em, boys!
My dad was a do-it-yourselfer, which is where my interest in cars began. To save money, he used to service his own vehicles, and I often got sent to the garage to hold a flashlight or fetch a tool for him while he was on his back under a car. Those formative experiences activated and fostered a curiosity in Japanese automobiles because that’s all my Mexican immigrant folks owned then. For as far back as I can remember, my family always had Hondas and Toyotas. There was a Mazda and a Subaru in there, too, a Datsun as well. My dad loved their fuel efficiency and build quality, so that’s how he spent and still chooses to spend his vehicle budget. Then, like a lot of young men in Southern California, fast modified cars entered the picture in my late teens and early 20s. Back then my best bud and I occasionally got into inadvisable high-speed shenanigans in his Honda. Coincidentally, that same dear friend got me my first job in publishing, where I wrote and copy edited for action sports lifestyle magazines. It was my first “real job” post college, and it gave me the experience to move just a couple years later to Auto Sound & Security magazine, my first gig in the car enthusiast space. From there, I was extremely fortunate to land staff positions at some highly regarded tuner media brands: Honda Tuning, UrbanRacer.com, and Super Street. I see myself as a Honda guy, and that’s mostly what I’ve owned, though not that many—I’ve had one each Civic, Accord, and, currently, an Acura RSX Type S. I also had a fourth-gen Toyota pickup when I met my wife, with its bulletproof single-cam 22R inline-four, way before the brand started calling its trucks Tacoma and Tundra. I’m seriously in lust with the motorsport of drifting, partly because it reminds me of my boarding and BMX days, partly because it’s uncorked vehicle performance, and partly because it has Japanese roots. I’ve never been much of a car modifier, but my DC5 is lowered, has a few bolt-ons, and the ECU is re-flashed. I love being behind the wheel of most vehicles, whether that’s road tripping or circuit flogging, although a lifetime exposed to traffic in the greater L.A. area has dulled that passion some. And unlike my dear ol’ dad, I am not a DIYer, because frankly I break everything I touch.
Read More
