EVENT DETAILS
Date: Thursday, July 17, 2025
Location: World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, IL
Event: Seeding Bracket Qualification for Formula DRIFT PRO Championship Round 5 and Link ECU PROSPEC Round 3
RESULTS FROM FD PROSPEC SEEDING BRACKET
1. Ryan Kaufman (USA) – Taxi Garage Mazda RX-7
2. Matthew Bystrak (USA) – Bystrak Racing S550 Mustang
3. Chellee Hansen (USA) – Team Hansen supercharged Nissan S13
RESULTS FROM FD PRO SEEDING BRACKET
- Nick Noback (USA) – Kenda Tires / Noback Racing E46 BMW
- Dan Burkett (USA) – RAD Industries Mk4 Toyota Supra
- Rudy Hansen (USA) – Team Hansen supercharged Nissan S13
PROSPEC NOTES
- The Link ECU PROSPEC Championship locked in the first 20 competition places based on finishing positions from Round 2. The remaining 16 drivers would have to compete in tandem Seeding Bracket qualification runs to secure one of 12 competition places
- Drivers receive three Championship points for every Seeding Bracket heat they win. The winning driver, for example, gains 12 points after winning the Seeding Bracket Final heat
- The Seeding Bracket winner was yet another Rookie; this time it was Ryan Kaufman driving the Taxi Garage Mazda RX-7 who stood on the top step. To date, Rookies have won all three 2025 Seeding Brackets
- Kaufman faced Matthew Bystrak in the Final but a collision in Outside Zone 1 caused the driver of the Bystrak Racing S550 Mustang to run into the dirt and debead a rear tire. Unable to replace the tire under Formula DRIFT regulations, Kaufman was awarded the win
- Rookie Chellee Hansen placed third after losing a One More Time semi-final battle to Kaufman in which she struggled to keep pace with the victorious RX-7
- Rookie Feras Qartoumy (USA), Rookie Justin Ruth (USA), Sam Maghmoumi (Lebanon) and Kasey Kohl (USA) failed to win their Top 16 qualifying heats and were eliminated because they had the lowest rankings of the eight losers
- Thirteen year-old Camren Sorensen (USA) – winner of the Round 2 Seeding Bracket – dropped a rear tire into the dirt and hit the tire barrier hard during his Top 8 pairing against Kaufman. He placed eighth overall
- All teams in the Link ECU PROSPEC Championship must use Link engine management and GT Radial tires
PRO NOTES
- Heavy rain preceded the Type S PRO Seeding Bracket, creating treacherous conditions and necessitating a sighting lap for each driver before their Top 16 Seeding Bracket heat. Formula DRIFT is an all-weather series and the action proceeded as scheduled
- With the first 20 PRO Championship competition places based on ranking achieved at the previous Round, the 12 remaining competition places were decided by the Seeding Bracket qualification.
- Since only 11 drivers were participating, all were guaranteed to qualify. They were able to still compete for ranking, which would determine their opposition in the Top 32 competition heats. And with points for every win, the drivers were keen to improve their Championship positions
- The Type S PRO Seeding Bracket was won by Nick Noback who managed to conquer the challenging track conditions in his Kenda Tires / Noback Racing E46 BMW. He beat Dan Burkett in the Final after the driver of the RAD Industries Mk4 Toyota Supra over-committed in the transition to Outside Zone 4, made contact with Noback and spun out
- With Rudy Hansen finishing third, it meant the husband and wife team both finished in the same position in their respective Seeding Brackets and would advance to the competition heats
PRO ROUND 5 SEEDING BRACKET RESULTS
| POSITION | NAME | POINTS |
| 1 | Nick Noback | 12 |
| 2 | Dan Burkett | 9 |
| 3 | Rudy Hansen | 6 |
| 4 | Jack Shanahan | 6 |
| 5 | Trenton Beechum | 3 |
| 6 | Dmitriy Brutskiy | 3 |
| 7 | Andy Hateley | 0 |
| 8 | Austin Matta | 0 |
| 9 | Jonathan Hurst | 0 |
| 10 | Federico Sceriffo | 0 |
| 11 | Ben Hobson | 0 |
BRACKET FOR PRO ROUND 5 COMPETITION HEATS
ROUND 3 PROSPEC SEEDING BRACKET RESULTS
| POSITION | NAME | POINTS |
| 1 | Ryan Kaufman | 12 |
| 2 | Matthew Bystrak | 9 |
| 3 | Chellee Hansen | 6 |
| 4 | Jack Davis | 6 |
| 5 | Adam Heishman | 3 |
| 6 | Carsen Ruger | 3 |
| 7 | Brian Wills | 3 |
| 8 | Camren Sorensen | 3 |
| 9 | Brian Hoplamazian | 0 |
| 10 | Jayce Habich | 0 |
| 11 | DJ Stubstad | 0 |
| 12 | Coty Demster | 0 |
| 13 | Feras Qartoumy | 0 |
| 14 | Justin Ruth | 0 |
| 15 | Sam Maghmoumi | 0 |
| 16 | Kasey Kohl | 0 |
BRACKET FOR PROSPEC ROUND 3 COMPETITION HEATS
