Formula DRIFT made its stop in Utah for Round 7 of the PRO Championship and the Final Round of the Link ECU PROSPEC season, bringing plenty of high stakes to the desert. The Burt Brothers Motorpark in Grantsville featured a revised course that left little room for error. For PROSPEC, it meant the title would be decided here. For PRO, it meant James Deane had a chance to secure his fifth career championship before the season finale.
PROSPEC Championship
Coming into Utah, Nate Chen, Cole Richards, and Dmitriy Brutskiy were tied atop the standings, but the weekend didn鈥檛 go their way. Richards was eliminated in the Top 32 after running wide in Outside Zone 4, leaving him fifth overall and outside of automatic PRO license contention. Chen was knocked out in the Top 16 after an OMT battle with Amanda Sorensen, finishing ninth on the night but holding onto second in the Championship. Brutskiy fell to Collin Zielinski in his Top 16 match, finishing third overall for the year.
That opened the door for Cody Buchanan. Driving his 272 Motorsports / Sandbeck Race Developments Nissan 350Z, Buchanan worked his way through the bracket, defeating Cory Talaska in the quarter-final on his way to a Round 4 win. The result elevated him from fourth in the standings to the PROSPEC Championship title.
鈥淲e did the thing! We won the event and the Championship. I was hoping to do better than fourth this season and we did it!鈥� Buchanan said after the trophy ceremony. 鈥淥ur mindset was one run at a time, don鈥檛 worry about the Championship. And it worked! We had some bad luck at previous rounds but it all worked out in the end. I couldn鈥檛 be more stoked.鈥�
Buchanan鈥檚 win marked his first Formula DRIFT podium, first event victory, and first Championship in just his second season. Zielinski finished second on the night, claiming his first FD podium as well, while Talaska finished third in Utah and fourth in the Championship overall. Rookie of the Year went to Jerry Johnson, who placed fifth in the final standings after another Top 8 appearance.
PRO Championship
While PROSPEC closed its season, the PRO field had two more rounds remaining, but Utah would prove decisive enough to crown the champion early this year. James Deane entered with a 40-point lead over Fredric Aasbo, and while Aasbo exited in the Top 32, Deane advanced deep into competition.
Meeting Adam LZ in the Final 4, Deane earned the win despite some mistakes, earning just enough points to clinch the Championship early. That made him the first driver in series history to win five PRO titles, and the first to ever secure the crown before the season finale. Deane's run through the history books needs to be studied.
After claiming the title once again, Deane had some heartfelt words. 鈥淲e lost one of our best friends, Alan Long, before the start of the season. He was a family friend and this is for him鈥� because he supported me throughout my drifting career,鈥� Deane said after sealing the title. 鈥淩ound 7 went way better than I ever imagined. We managed to win the event, as well as a mind-blowing fifth Championship, which I wasn鈥檛 expecting. Somehow we managed to wrap up the Championship with one Round left!鈥�
Deane went on to defeat Matt Field in the Final, capping his weekend with both the event win and the title. The result moved Field into second overall, ahead of both LZ and Aasbo - a pretty good result considering Field's Corvette was wedged under Dylan Hughes' BMW in their Final 4 battle!
Formula DRIFT President Ryan Sage summed it up: 鈥淓ven after 22 years, Formula DRIFT continues to serve up surprises. We鈥檝e seen our first five-time Champion in James Deane, and PROSPEC saw the leading contenders take themselves out of contention, leaving the door open for Cody Buchanan, who鈥檚 never even won an event before. It鈥檚 a fitting end to the best PROSPEC season we鈥檝e ever witnessed.鈥�
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