When Vaughn Gittin Jr. and Chelsea DeNofa get together, you know some tires are about to be shredded. The drifting duo recently released a video of a drift battle in their modified Ford Mustangs on North Carolina back roads.
The location, near Wilkesboro, North Carolina, had plenty of twists and turns, reminding Gittin Jr. of Japan’s Touge Mountains, site of many epic drift battles. However, the roads were barely wide enough for the Mustangs to get sideways, turning the video into an excellent demonstration of precision car control.
Vaughn Gittin Jr. and Chelsea DeNofa drift battle
Drifting only takes up the first few minutes of the roughly 15-minute video. The rest is behind-the-scenes footage that shows just how much work goes into one of these video shoots. From scouting the road, to coordinating with camera cars, to extinguishing a fire in DeNofa’s car, a lot goes into making a few minutes of YouTube-worthy drift action.
Even when the cars aren’t on fire, they still throw up a lot of smoke that limits the vision of the drivers behind. That’s not ideal on a racetrack, let alone a narrow country backroad lined with trees.
Gittin Jr. is no stranger to drifting challenges. He once drifted a Mustang around the Nürburgring, along with an F-150 Raptor. Aside from competing in the professional Formula Drift series, he’s also done off-road racing in the Ultra4 series, driving a modified Ford Bronco and a Bronco-badged race truck.
Gittin Jr. is also the founder of tuner RTR Vehicles, which teamed up with Ford to build the 7-motor, 1,400-hp Mustang Mach E 1400, which would have been quite a sight on these tight roads. You can also expect Gittin Jr. to switch to the redesigned 2024 Ford Mustang when it reaches showrooms later this year.
