Formula DRIFT Utah was equal parts celebration, error and disappointment in a cocktail served warm under a blazing desert sun that gave teams and drivers nowhere to hide. This was certainly the case in the Final Round 4 of the Formula DRIFT Link ECU PROSPEC Championship, which took place at the newly named Burt Brothers Motorpark, Grantsville, UT – one of the fastest tracks on the calendar. With a revised track layout, the course ruthlessly punished transgressions. In fact, the title was effectively decided by drivers running into the dirt, taking themselves out of contention.
And while we expected to crown the PROSPEC Champion in Utah, in 22 years the series has never decided the PRO title before the Final Round 8. But James Deane (Ireland) was a man on a mission, determined to lock it up early and become the first ever five-time Formula DRIFT Champion, etching his name deeper into the history books.
PROSPEC SEEDING BRACKET QUALIFICATION
In both the Link ECU PROSPEC and PRO Championships, the first 20 competition places were locked in based on finishing positions from the previous Round. The remaining drivers would then compete in tandem Seeding Bracket qualification runs to secure one of 12 competition places.
In PROSPEC, there was a full contingent of 16 drivers battling for survival, which meant four would be thrown to the lions. And those unfortunate few included DJ Stubstad (USA), Feras Qartoumy (USA), Sam Maghmoumi (Lebanon) and Allen Boss (USA) based on their Top 16 loss and Seeding Bracket ranking.
Of the 12 survivors, Coty Demster (USA) fought his way to the top in the Fuelab / Team Infamous C6 Corvette. He got off to a difficult start, calling a 5min Competition Timeout after his first run in the Top 16 to rectify a technical issue. However, he overcame the adversity to defeat Adam Heishman (USA) in a panel-banging Final that saw the cars collide on their first run. And while mistakes were made on both sides, Demster emerged the worthy winner.
Third place Dustin Miles (USA) lost to Demster in the Final 4 heats but bagged some valuable points in his Championship chase since every qualifying heat win accumulates three points (ten points in competition). And with his win, Demster came off best with a 12-point haul after qualifying.
PROSPEC COMPETITION
With a three-way tie at the top of the FD Link ECU PROSPEC Championship table, there was an expectation that either Nate Chen (USA), Cole Richards (USA) or Dmitriy Brutskiy (USA) would claim the 2025 title. But nobody told Cody Buchanan!
Richards was the first challenger to falter when he was knocked out of the Top 32 heats by Camren Sorensen (USA) in a tight fight that saw Richards’ Koruworks / Richards Racing Toyota GR86 leave the track in Outside Zone 4 (OZ4). With zero points gained, Richards finished the night 17th and dropped to fifth overall. Adding insult to injury, only the top three PROSPEC drivers automatically receive a PRO license, if they choose to advance into the senior Championship. And so that opportunity also slipped through Richards’ fingers.
Misery loves company, so Richards invited Chen and Brutskiy to his pity party when both were knocked out of the Top 16 heats. Chen lost a One More Time (OMT) battle to Amanda Sorensen (USA) in the US Air Force / Sorensen Motorsports BMW. Chen would finish the event in ninth driving his NCR STEK / Moroso Performance / Fuelab / NCR Toyota 86 but his consolation prize was second in the 2025 PROSPEC Championship with the option to join the FD PRO ranks in 2026.
Brutskiy’s Never Settle BMW was dispatched by Collin Zielinski (USA) on his way to the Round 4 podium. As a result, the double PROSPEC Champion placed tenth on the night and third in the title race. And while Brutskiy already does double duty, competing in both PROSPEC and PRO, he has the option to continue double-dipping into 2026.
In the absence of the title leaders, Cody Buchanan (USA) stormed to the Round 4 win in his 272 Motorsports / Sandbeck Race Developments Nissan 350Z, simultaneously swiping the 2025 Championship from their grasp.
Buchanan arrived in Utah on 80 points (20 behind Chen) and finished the season with 130 (20 ahead of Chen). After joining the series in 2023, Utah represented Buchanan’s first FD Round win, first podium and first Championship title.
“We did the thing! We won the event and the Championship. I was hoping to do better than fourth this season and we did it!” Buchanan told us after the trophy ceremony.
“The event started for me with a One More Time with Jack Davis, which just gave me more practice time. I was stressed because I felt we could have lost that battle, and everything other battle, but we kept pushing. Our mindset was one run at a time, don’t 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’t be more stoked,” he continued.
“It’s been a wild year and I definitely want to thank all my sponsors but I have no idea about next season. My goal has always been PRO but we need the funding to run the longer season, so we’ll take a look and try to make it happen.”
PROSPEC Rookie Zielinski finished second in the Fitment Industries Nissan S14.5 after a close Final against Buchanan. Again, this was the driver’s best FD result and first podium, elevating Zielinski from 11th to seventh overall.
Cory Talaska (USA) placed third in the Talaska Creative E36 BMW 2JZ and could have been the Champion himself if he’d defeated Buchanan in the quarter-final. But he finished third in Utah and stood on the Round 4 podium, clinching fourth overall thanks in part to his Opening Round victory in Atlanta.
The 2025 Rookie of the Year award went to Jerry Johnson (USA) driving the Cage Kits / LVRY Motorsport Toyota GT86. He again reached the Top 8 in Utah but was again defeated by Buchanan in a repeat of Round 3. Despite that, Jerry again placed fifth on the night, keeping him sixth overall and ahead of fellow Rookies Zielinski in seventh and Collete Davis (USA) in ninth. The youngest driver to ever compete in Formula DRIFT, Rookie Camren Sorensen, placed 16th in Utah, 14th overall and was fourth in the Rookie race.
PRO SEEDING BRACKET QUALIFICATION
The Type S PRO Seeding Bracket runs to the same format as PROSPEC, with the top 20 drivers locked in. For Round 7, there were 13 qualifiers, which meant only one would catch an early flight. And unfortunately, the axe fell on Rudy Hansen (USA) in the Team Hansen supercharged Nissan S13 after he was defeated in the Top 16 by Ken Gushi (Japan). However, he stuck around to help wife Chellee who competes in PROSPEC.
Just as at the previous Round in Seattle, spectators were greeted by the unusual sight of former Championship contenders needing to qualify. Among the bigger names were former teammates “Odi” Bakchis and Simen Olsen, who would meet in a tense Final, which Olsen won after Bakchis misjudged his entry into OZ4, with a de-beaded tire either the culprit or the conclusion.
Olsen’s win netted him 12 PRO Championship points, which would hopefully be added to further points amassed in Saturday’s Competition heats, while Bakchis claimed second and Brutskiy was third.
There were fierce battles throughout the Seeding Bracket, with the Top 8 heats between Ken Gushi (Japan) and Jonathan Hurst (USA) being repeated twice after the judges requested OMT on two occasions. The decision was eventually awarded to Hurst after Gushi also left the track at OZ4. However, Hurst simultaneously suffered engine failure and had to withdraw, allowing Bakchis to reach the Final unchallenged.
PRO COMPETITION
James Deane arrived in Utah for Round 7 of the 2025 FD PRO Championship with a healthy 40-point lead over second place Fredric Aasbo (Norway). And with 50 points available to the Round winner, the pressure was on Deane’s rivals to close the gap and remain in contention
Unfortunately, Aasbo’s run of misfortune continued when his Rockstar Energy Toyota GR Supra was again knocked out of the Top 32, this time after a frantic battle with Nick Noback (USA). In that moment, Aasbo scored no points and left the chat. His Championship challenge over and he dropped to equal-third in the standings.
The focus then shifted to Matt Field and LZ in equal third place on 150 points – 70 behind Deane. One of them would need to not only win Utah but also the Final Round 8 to claim the crown. And they almost made it!
LZ reached the Final 4, only to be knocked out by Deane in a slightly contentious heat that saw several mistakes from the Irishman. However, his speed and precision in the AutoZone Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD were awarded the win and in that moment Deane accumulated enough points to claim the 2025 title.
Deane’s victory set more Formula DRIFT records. He became the first-ever five-time Formula DRIFT PRO Champion. And the first driver to amass enough points to win the title before the Final Round in the series’ 22-year history. And to underline his dominance, Deane won Round 7, amassing 50 points and an unassailable lead. With three Round wins, Deane is the only driver with more than one victory this season and there’s still one Round remaining!
“We lost one of our best friends, Alan Long, before the start of the season. He was a family friend and this is for him… because he supported me throughout my drifting career… I want to give a huge thanks to the team, sponsors and my family watching at home as well as everyone that supports me,” said an emotional Deane after winning the 2025 FD PRO Championship.
“Round 7 went way better than I ever imagined,” he would later say. “We managed to win the event, as well as a mind-blowing fifth Championship, which I wasn’t expecting. So, all my family and friends are watching at home because I was going to fly them out for the Final Round. But everything just worked out after we pushed hard. I drove with my heart all day long and for Adam Long. And somehow we managed to wrap up the Championship with one Round left!
“I have to give a huge thanks to the RTR Motorsports drift team that keep the car running 110%. It drove unbelievably well. I can’t believe it keeps taking the abuse after we’ve won a lot of battles this year. But I’m so grateful and honored, and want to thank the fans who give me the energy to keep coming back to chase my dreams.”
With the Championship wrapped up, there was still the question of the Round 7 victory, and Matt Field (USA) was all that stood in Deane’s way. But Field was fortunate to be competing after his Borla Performance / GT Radial / Heat Wave Visual / Leen Customs / Drift Cave Motorsports Corvette was mounted by Dylan Hughes in their Final 4 battle. The driver of the Royal Purple Synthetic Oil / GT Radial / 2JZ-powered BMW was pushing hard in the chase position to maintain proximity with Field when the BMW’s front tire climbed up Field’s tire and onto the Vette’s hood. Fortunately, both drivers saw the humor and were able to return to the pits under their own power for repairs once they’d been uncoupled.
“I was looking at the sky and hoping I wasn’t on top of Matt,” Hughes said after surveying the damage. He finished fourth and climbed from ninth to eighth overall.
While Deane won the Final to cap the perfect weekend, Field was able to leapfrog Aasbo and claim second in the Championship standings with 190 points, ten ahead of LZ and Aasbo in equal-third.
LZ finished third in the Drift HQ E36 BMW and rose from fourth to keep him very much in the conversation for second overall.
Teenage sensation Hiroya Minowa (Japan) celebrated his 16th birthday with a fifth-place finish in the Enjuku Racing / BC Racing / Jerry Yang Racing Toyota GT86. He was defeated in the Top 8 heats by LZ and remains fifth in the Championship table on 150 points but will be hoping to climb higher in the Final Round.
The leading Rookie was again Jack Shanahan (Ireland) who finished 14th in the Kumho Tires BMW 1 Series. The result dropped him to 12th overall but he maintains a healthy 34-point lead over nearest rival, Connor O’Sullivan (USA) in the 2025 Rookie of the Year title race.
In the 2025 Formula DRIFT Auto Cup, BMW has taken the lead despite no factory support but thanks in part to LZ, Hughes and Rome Charpentier. In the Tire Cup, GT Radial further extended its lead.
“Even after 22 years, Formula DRIFT continues to serve up surprises,” said Ryan Sage, President of Formula DRIFT. “Just look at what happened in both the PRO and PROSPEC Championships, for example. We’ve seen our first five-time Champion in James Deane, who’s won it in the shortest time ever during our eight-round format. And we saw some big surprises among the other drivers challenging for the title, with Fredric Aasbo hoping to meet him in the Top 16 but not getting past the Top 32. We also witnessed carnage between Matt Field and Dylan Hughes but somehow they were both able to get the cars running and complete the heat. And while there won’t be a Championship title up for grabs at Round 8 in Long Beach, we’ll still witness a very close battle for drivers vying for second and third in PRO on a brand new track, which will level the playing field considerably.
“PROSPEC saw the gnarliest end to a season in series history, with the leading contenders taking themselves out of contention and leaving the door open for Cody Buchanan, who’s never even won an event before! He got there by taking out Cory Talaska in the Final 4 who, if he’d beaten Buchanan would have been the Champion himself.
“With Buchanan’s win, we have Chen and Brutskiy in second and third thanks to a tie-breaker in favor of Chen despite their equal points. It’s a fitting end to the best PROSPEC season we’ve ever witnessed, which has clearly demonstrated that more tandem driving for the competitors has accelerated their skill level and gave us a totally unforgettable season.”
ROUND 7 FD PRO TOP 16 DRIVER POINTS*
| POSITION | DRIVER | POINTS |
| 1 | James Deane | 50 |
| 2 | Matt Field | 40 |
| 3 | Adam LZ | 30 |
| 4 | Dylan Hughes | 30 |
| 5 | Hiroya Minowa | 20 |
| 6 | Rome Charpentier | 20 |
| 7 | Chris Forsberg | 20 |
| 8 | Trenton Beechum | 20 |
| 9 | Jhonnattan Castro | 10 |
| 10 | Ryan Tuerck | 10 |
| 11 | Wataru Masuyama | 10 |
| 12 | Conor Shanahan | 10 |
| 13 | Nick Noback | 10 |
| 14 | Jack Shanahan | 10 |
| 15 | Jeff Jones | 10 |
| 16 | Aurimas Bakchis | 10 + 9 |
2025 FD PRO TOP 16 CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS*
| POSITION | DRIVER | POINTS |
| 1 | James Deane | 270 |
| 2 | Matt Field | 190 |
| 3 | Adam LZ | 180 |
| 4 | Fredric Aasbo | 180 |
| 5 | Hiroya Minowa | 150 |
| 6 | Jhonnattan Castro | 130 |
| 7 | Aurimas Bakchis | 128 |
| 8 | Dylan Hughes | 120 |
| 9 | Chris Forsberg | 100 |
| 10 | Branden Sorensen | 92 |
| 11 | Rome Charpentier | 90 |
| 12 | Jack Shanahan | 86 |
| 13 | Ryan Tuerck | 80 |
| 14 | Conor Shanahan | 70 |
| 15 | Dan Stuke | 62 |
| 16 | Trenton Beechum | 53 |
2025 AUTO CUP TOP 5 STANDINGS*
| Toyota | 362 |
| Ford | 289 |
| Chevrolet | 235 |
| BMW | 182 |
| Nissan | 103 |
2025 TIRE CUP STANDINGS*
| GT Radial | 463 |
| Kenda | 376 |
| Nitto | 362 |
| Kumho | 247 |
FD PROSPEC ROUND 4 TOP 16 DRIVER POINTS*
| POSITION | DRIVER | POINTS |
| 1 | Cody Buchanan | 50 |
| 2 | Collin Zielinski | 40 |
| 3 | Cory Talaska | 30 |
| 4 | Trevor Root | 30 |
| 5 | Jerry Johnson | 20 |
| 6 | Amanda Sorensen | 20 |
| 7 | Josh Stuart | 20 |
| 8 | Kaseykohl | 20 + 3 |
| 9 | Nate Chen | 10 |
| 10 | Dmitriy Brutskiy | 10 |
| 11 | Collete Davis | 10 |
| 12 | Brian Wills | 10 |
| 13 | Adam Knapik | 10 |
| 14 | Nik Jimenez | 10 |
| 15 | Adam Heishman | 10 + 9 |
| 16 | Camren Sorensen | 10 |
FD PROSPEC TOP 16 DRIVER FINAL CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS*
| POSITION | DRIVER | POINTS |
| 1 | Cody Buchanan | 130 |
| 2 | Nate Chen | 110 |
| 3 | Dmitriy Brutskiy | 110 |
| 4 | Cory Talaska | 100 |
| 5 | Cole Richards | 100 |
| 6 | Jerry Johnson | 85 |
| 7 | Collin Zielinski | 73 |
| 8 | Trevor Root | 70 |
| 9 | Collete Davis | 62 |
| 10 | Josh Stuart | 60 |
| 11 | Amanda Sorensen | 40 |
| 12 | Adam Knapik | 40 |
| 13 | Alex Jagger | 40 |
| 14 | Camren Sorensen | 35 |
| 15 | Brian Wills | 33 |
| 16 | Nik Jimenez | 30 |
* Preliminary standings. Final results pending official confirmation
