Dmitriy Brutskiy became the first three-time Formula DRIFT PROSPEC Champion while Conor Shanahan won PRO Round 7 as the Series returned to Las Vegas Motor Speedway after 14 years.
Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Las Vegas, NV
Formula DRIFT PRO Round 7 / PROSPEC Final Round 4
September 25-26, 2026
Formula DRIFT finally returned to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, 14 years after it last used a temporary track configured in the parking lot. Utilized from 2008-2012, the facility helped the Series develop into maturity. For its triumphant return, Formula DRIFT sequestered The Bullring within the LVMS campus. And with a three-year commitment, FD invested in new paving to improve the surface for drifting, as well as the infrastructure to benefit teams and spectators as a reflection of its commitment to Las Vegas.
Framed by mountain views and baked under high desert temperatures, The Bullring would see the 2026 Formula DRIFT PROSPEC Champion crowned at the Final Round of the season. It would also see the penultimate Round of the FD PRO Championship raise the temperature ahead of the Final Round 8 in Long Beach, CA on October 23-24. Las Vegas fans were in for a treat and the drivers didn’t disappoint.
PROSPEC QUALIFYING
The two Formula DRIFT Championships use different qualifying formats to select the 32 drivers that will advance into the Competition heats. In PRO, every driver has two solo runs and their best score determines whether they qualify or not. Provided they complete at least one run and there are 32 drivers or less, they will advance. In the case of more than 32 drivers, the lowest scores are disqualified.
The Qualifying points are awarded for car Angle (40%) and drift Line (40%) by UDSM (Universal Drift Scoring Method) technology from Race Data Labs. The telemetry and data system has automated the objective aspects of scoring individual qualifying runs, while the remaining 20% for driving Style continues to be assessed and awarded by the traditional panel of three Formula DRIFT judges.
In PROSPEC, the drivers voted for a competitive tandem drift Seeding Bracket qualifying format. Under these regulations, the 24 highest ranked drivers automatically advance to Competition. The remainder must compete in a Top 16 Seeding Bracket to determine the eight drivers who will advance. Each competitive heat is assessed by the FD judging panel, who award points and determine each heat winner.
For the Final Round 4, 12 drivers competed in the Seeding Bracket, meaning four would be eliminated. On this occasion, the 2026 season came to a premature end for Hooman Rahimi (USA), Allen Boss (USA), Coty Demster (USA) and Adam Knapik (USA).
The Seeding Bracket was won by Brian Wills (USA) in the Nasty Habit Motorsports Nissan S14.9. He beat Rookie Matt Shulman (USA) in a close Final, which was decided when Shulman’s Enjuku Racing / BC Racing Nissan S13 collided with Wills in both Zones 3 and 5 before Shulman spun out.
Rookie Jacob Duncan (USA) had lost to Wills in the Top 4 heats but his Duncan Motorsports Nissan S13 placed third thanks to his higher Seeding rank.
Drivers receive three PROSPEC Championship points for each Seeding Bracket heat win. As the victor, Wills received 12 points, with Shulman on nine and Duncan on six.
All drivers in the Link ECU PROSPEC Championship are required to use Link Engine Management and GT Radial tires.
PROSPEC COMPETITION
With the top three drivers in the PROSPEC Championship title race separated by ten points, the tension was palpable. Two-time Champion Dmitriy Brutskiy was in the driving seat with a narrow seven point lead over Rookie Jason Webb (South Africa), who would need to advance further than Brutskiy to overcome the deficit. And waiting in the wings, ten points behind Brutskiy, was 15 year-old Camren Sorensen (USA) – one of three Vegas-based siblings competing this weekend – who was hoping to outwit them both to become the youngest ever FD Champion.
Three other drivers – Cory Talaska (USA), Jerry Johnson (USA) and Rookie Braden Lons (USA) – also had a mathematical chance of the title but had a steep hill to climb.
The first casualty was Sorensen in the Optima Battery / Sorensen Motorsports BMW. He was knocked out of the Top 16 by 16 year-old Braden Lons (USA) driving the Lons Motorsports Nissan S13 thanks to a better chase run in a well-matched battle.
As for Webb, after he previously detected a mechanical issue, the South African was devastated when his team was unable to repair front suspension damage to his NonStopTuning / Webb 45 Racing Ford Mustang. He withdrew from his Top 8 heat against Kasey Kohl (USA) and observed, “It sucks to go out this way, but that’s racing.” As the weight of the moment sunk in, Webb continued, “It’s been an incredible year and we came so close. I’m so proud of what we achieved and want to thank all our sponsors: they’re why we could come to the track each round.”
Webb finished fifth on the night and as a consolation was crowned the 2026 FD Link ECU PROSPEC Rookie of the Year.
At that moment, with nobody able to amass enough points to beat him, Brutskiy was declared the 2026 Formula DRIFT PROSPEC Champion. Having previously won the title in 2020 and 2021, he became the first three-time PROSPEC winner in Series history.
After learning the news, the newly crowned Champion had to jump back into the Never Settle BMW for his Top 8 heat against Dustyn Farell (USA). It was a contest Brutskiy would lose and was visibly disappointed not to complete a perfect weekend by winning Round 4. He’d later admit to being distracted by the news he received. “It was weird to have the pressure for the Championship removed when you’re used to running under extreme pressure,” Brutskiy explained. “I got distracted by the news and lost the heat. I may also have blown my engine doing donuts afterwards!” he lamented at the end of a very successful season.
After collecting his Championship trophy, Brutskiy was more positive and had this to say, “I was well prepared for this season and started well with a podium at the Opening Round, then won my home Round at the new Connecticut track. Another podium in Round 3 meant I kept the lead but coming into Las Vegas my son had used the car for a Pro-Am event and as the track temperature rose this weekend, I cut short my practice because I felt the car was on the way out. I was hoping it would survive long enough to get me the Championship and we’re so happy to have made it. This gives us the boost to keep going and look forward to battling my son next year in PROSPEC!”
With the Championship decided and the leading contenders on the bylines, Braden Lons fought hard to win Round 4 after a tough battle against Kasey Kohl in the Final. Not only was it the Rookie’s first FD victory, but his 50-point haul meant Lons squeezed past Sorensen to capture third place in the Championship by two points. The teenager had arrived in Vegas holding sixth position and left with his first PROSPEC win and third overall.
As an additional bonus, the top three PROSPEC finishers are entitled to a Formula DRIFT PRO Championship license, allowing them to moving up next year, if they wish. Brutskiy had actually secured that endorsement previously and competed in PRO during the 2024 and 2025 seasons, choosing to focus on PROSPEC this year. Webb and Lons will undoubtedly look at their programs and decide whether to move to PRO or remain in PROSPEC.
“This was an incredible Round. Going against Camren in the Top 16 required a change of mindset. I thought I’d lost but was pumped when I learned I hadn’t,” Lons explained. “It was a hard battle to come out on top in Vegas but we’re going to review our program and work on car reliability for next season. I really want to thank my sponsors, team, spotter and my Dad – I hope to be the man he is one day. And I’m grateful to be here.”
After being eliminated from the Top 16 heats by Lons, Sorensen finished the night in ninth place, which meant he dropped to fourth overall and lost the automatic PRO license opportunity.
Kasey Kohl finished second at FD LV in his Mspek Race to Reef Nissan 240SX after a very close Final with Lons, which produced a split decision from the judges. The result was Kohl’s best ever PROSPEC finish, propelling him from 20th position to eighth overall.
Rookie Dustyn Farell, who defeated Brutskiy in the Top 8, was eliminated from the Final 4 by Kohl. At the wheel of the Dustyn Farrell Racing Nissan S14.9, he placed third, which was similarly his first PROSPEC podium. Farell finished the season seventh overall.
PRO QUALIFYING
With 106 points available (10 per heat win and three for the top Qualifier across two Rounds) from the remaining two Rounds of the 2026 Formula DRIFT PRO Championship, a total of 10 drivers retained a mathematical chance of claiming the title. However, there would be no room for mistakes, and a strong Qualifying run would not only score valuable points but also determine the strength of your competitor in the Competition heats. As an additional incentive, 31 drivers were competing for the Top 32 places, so the top qualifier would leapfrog directly into the Top 16 heats with a bye run.
It was the hometown hero, Branden Sorensen (USA), who dominated Qualifying in his Sorensen Motorsports / Quad Lock BMW. In fact, he set the best score on both his first and second runs. A top score of 91.4 points meant he gained three Championship points, which could be useful when the points are tallied at the season Finale. Sitting third in the title race, 24 points behind the leader, Sorensen continued to pressure his adversaries.
Second place went to Conor Shanahan (Ireland) in the Red Bull / GT Radial / JYR Toyota GT86. He scored 91.03 points on his second run and the reward of two Championship points nudged him even closer to the current points leader James Deane (Ireland), who qualified in a relatively low seventh place with 86.66 points driving the O’Reilly / Pennzoil Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD.
Three-time FD PRO Champion Chris Forsberg (USA) claimed third with 89.13 points after a very strong second run in the Destined Industries Nissan Z.
PRO COMPETITION
It was at Round 7 in 2025 that Formula DRIFT handed James Deane his fifth PRO Championship trophy. Not only was he the first driver in Series history to win five titles, but he was the first in 22 years to take the crown before the Final Round. Arriving in Las Vegas with a narrow five-point margin, it seemed unlikely Deane could repeat that feat, but he’d undoubtedly be looking to increase his advantage before the Final Round 8 in Long Beach on October 23-24.
So, it was in disbelief that teams and spectators watched Deane’s O’Reilly / Pennzoil Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD towed back to the pits with an engine problem. Deane later explained it was his first engine issue since joining the team but it occurred at a critical time in the title race. As a consequence, Deane dropped to second and his narrow five-point lead dissolved into a 47-point deficit to the new Championship leader.
The Irishman wasn’t the only driver to fall at the first hurdle. Aurimas “Odi” Bakchis (Lithuania) was also forced into early retirement after an unusual incident at the start of his Top 32 heat with Shinji Minowa (Japan).
Leaving the start line, Minowa tapped a marker cone, which triggered a restart. However, Odi was unable to see the restart lights and slammed into the rear of Minowa’s Enjuku Racing / BC Racing / GT Radial / JYR Toyota GT86 when the Japanese driver unexpectedly applied the brakes.
Given the nature of the incident, Formula DRIFT allowed both teams to effect repairs. However, Odi’s engine catastrophically dropped its oil on the track when his Feal Suspension / GT Radial / Subimods Subaru BRZ returned to the starting line. As a result of the incident and being unable to compete, Odi remained fifth in the overall standings but dropped out of title contention.
Three-time FD PRO Champion Fredric Aasbo (Norway) also took early retirement after losing his Top 32 battle to “Drift Wizard” Andy Hateley (USA) in the Drift Wizard E46 BMW. Aasbo admitted to a poor performance at the wheel of his Rockstar Energy Toyota GR Supra. And while he remained sixth, Aasbo’s points tally also meant he lost the chance of a fourth Championship title.
The next contender to fall was local boy Branden Sorensen. After qualifying first in the Sorensen Motorsports / Quad Lock BMW and skipping the Top 32 heats with a bye run, he eventually lost to Matt Field (USA) in their Top 8 heat. It was an epic battle but Sorensen’s early exit meant he placed fifth on the night. He remained third in the title race with a 48-point gap to the leader.
The Final 4 heats saw the demise of Jack Shanahan (Ireland) at the hands of his younger brother, Conor. The titanic battle was decided when Jack’s Pulsar Turbos E82 BMW dropped two tires off the course in Zone 4. Despite the loss, he secured third on the night and remained fourth overall as the Irish drivers continue to dominate the season.
And that left Conor Shanahan. Driving the Red Bull / GT Radial / JYR Toyota GT86, he hacked a path to the Final where he faced veteran Matt Field. The pair had consistently achieved the highest ratings for proximity on the Universal Drift Scoring Method telemetry, which showed them maintain an average of 2-3ft from their opponents throughout the night. With that level of skill and determination, the Final was a perfect demonstration of drifting artistry. And when the smoke cleared, the judges unanimously awarded the win to Shanahan.
Arriving in Vegas five points behind Deane, Conor’s 50-point rampage through Round 7 catapulted him into first with a commanding 212 points. His closest rivals – Deane, Sorensen and brother Jack – will need to win the Final Round and Conor must score no points for one of them to claim the title. But if Conor wins one heat, he will be crowned the 2026 Formula DRIFT PRO Champion. However, anything can happen in the heat of battle…
“The plan was to come here and take the points win, but I didn’t expect to make it as big as I did,” a surprised Conor Shanahan admitted after the podium celebrations. “The bad luck sucks for James. I feel for him but it’s not over until it’s over. And all roads lead to Long Beach now. I’m looking forward to coming back to get the big one at the end of the year. I’m proud of everybody at Jerry Yang Racing and want to thanks all my sponsors.
“The plan at the start of the year was to fight for a Championship, so P1 in Vegas, back-to-back wins, and my fourth podium is great, but let’s keep pushing to Long Beach!”
For Matt Field, second at FD LV was another step forward after his fourth place finish at the previous round. The valuable points allowed the driver of the Borla Performance / GT Radial / Heat Wave Visual / Logitech / Liqui Moly Corvette to rise from eighth to seventh in the 2026 Championship standings.
In the 2026 Rookie of the Year title race, Cole Richards (USA) had another impressive night in the Richards Racing Toyota GT86. He placed tenth on the night and established a 41-point lead over his nearest rival, Cody Buchanan (USA). On this form, Richards would appear to be a good bet to win the ROTY award.
“Our return to Las Vegas has been an incredible success,” said Ryan Sage, Formula DRIFT President. “Seeing more than 10,000 people attend a new venue after being away for 14 years was truly an amazing sight to behold. And what a great way to crown our first ever three-time PROSPEC Champion, Dmitriy Brutskiy.
“One year ago, James Deane secured his fifth PRO Championship title before the Final Round,” Ryan continued. “But who could have predicted that going into Shoreline Showdown; the Final Round, we’d have four competitors within striking distance of the 2026 PRO Championship, with much of the focus on Round 7 winner Conor Shanahan. We’re all looking forward to a smashing success and look forward to seeing the fans back on The Streets of Long Beach in four weeks!”
ROUND 7 FD PRO TOP 16 DRIVER POINTS*
| POSITION | DRIVER | POINTS |
| 1 | Conor Shanahan | 50 +3 |
| 2 | Matt Field | 40 +1 |
| 3 | Jack Shanahan | 30 +1 |
| 4 | Dan Stuke | 30 +1 |
| 5 | Branden Sorensen | 20 +4 |
| 6 | Chris Forsberg | 20 +2 |
| 7 | Trenton Beechum | 20 +1 |
| 8 | Shinji Minowa | 20 +1 |
| 9 | Tommy Lemaire | 10 +1 |
| 10 | Cole Richards | 10 +1 |
| 11 | LZ | 10 +1 |
| 12 | Ken Gushi | 10 +1 |
| 13 | Dan Burkett | 10 +1 |
| 14 | Ryan Tuerck | 10 +1 |
| 15 | Rudy Hansen | 10 +1 |
| 16 | Andy Hateley | 10 +1 |
2026 FD PRO TOP 16 DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS*
| POSITION | DRIVER | POINTS |
| 1 | Conor Shanahan | 212 |
| 2 | James Deane | 165 |
| 3 | Branden Sorensen | 164 |
| 4 | Jack Shanahan | 162 |
| 5 | Aurimas Bakchis | 131 |
| 6 | Fredric Aasbo | 128 |
| 7 | Matt Field | 119 |
| 8 | Dylan Hughes | 90 |
| 9 | Ryan Tuerck | 87 |
| 10 | Chris Forsberg | 82 |
| 11 | Cole Richards | 78 |
| 12 | Ben Hobson | 66 |
| 13 | Dan Stuke | 57 |
| 14 | LZ | 57 |
| 15 | Trenton Beechum | 56 |
| 16 | Vaughn Gittin Jr | 51 |
2026 AUTO CUP TOP 5 STANDINGS*
| Ford | 282 |
| Toyota | 245 |
| BMW | 179 |
| Chevrolet | 120 |
| Nissan | 99 |
2026 TIRE CUP STANDINGS*
| GT Radial | 470 |
| Kenda | 290 |
| Nitto | 282 |
| Kumho | 219 |
ROUND 4 FD PROSPEC TOP 16 DRIVER POINTS*
| POSITION | DRIVER | POINTS |
| 1 | Braden Lons | 50 |
| 2 | Kasey Kohl | 40 |
| 3 | Dustyn Farrell | 30 |
| 4 | Adam Heishman | 30 |
| 5 | Jason Webb | 20 |
| 6 | Dmitriy Brutskiy | 20 |
| 7 | Sean Booth | 20 |
| 8 | Luis Lanz | 20 + 3 |
| 9 | Camren Sorensen | 10 |
| 10 | Cory Talaska | 10 |
| 11 | Matt Rusiecki | 10 |
| 12 | Ayden Copham | 10 |
| 13 | Nik Jimenez | 10 |
| 14 | Brian Wills | 10 + 12 |
| 15 | Matt Shulman | 10 + 9 |
| 16 | Jacob Duncan | 10 + 6 |
2026 FD PROSPEC TOP 16 DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS*
| POSITION | DRIVER | POINTS |
| 1 | Dmitriy Brutskiy | 130 |
| 2 | Jason Webb | 123 |
| 3 | Braden Lons | 112 |
| 4 | Camren Sorensen | 110 |
| 5 | Cory Talaska | 90 |
| 6 | Jerry Johnson | 70 |
| 7 | Dustyn Farrell | 66 |
| 8 | Kasey Kohl | 60 |
| 9 | Sean Booth | 56 |
| 10 | Tyler Mayer | 56 |
| 11 | Adam Heishman | 50 |
| 12 | Ayden Copham | 42 |
| 13 | Sam Maghmoumi | 39 |
| 14 | Nik Jimenez | 30 |
| 15 | Matthew Bystrak | 30 |
| 16 | Matt Rusiecki | 29 |
* Preliminary standings. Final results pending official confirmation