EVENT DETAILS
Date: Thursday, June 18, 2026
Location: Stafford Motor Speedway, Stafford Springs, CT
Event: Formula DRIFT PRO Championship Round 5 Qualifying & PROSPEC Round 2 Seeding Bracket results
RESULTS FROM FD PRO QUALIFYING
- Dylan Hughes (USA) – Royal Purple Synthetic Oil / GT Radial / 2JZ-powered BMW
- Branden Sorensen (USA) – Sorensen Motorsports / Quad Lock BMW
- Conor Shanahan (Ireland) – Red Bull / GT Radial / JYR Toyota GT86
RESULTS FROM FD PROSPEC SEEDING BRACKET
- Ayden Copham (USA) – Copham Racing Nissan Z
- Levi Wait (USA) – Drift Doctor BMW
- Sean Booth (USA) – Feal Suspension Nissan S14.9
PRO NOTES
- With Stafford Motor Speedway appearing on the Formula DRIFT schedule for the first time, all teams faced the uphill task of setting up the cars as the drivers learned the new track. Adding to the pressure, a heavy rain shower before Qualifying soaked the track, with large puddles remaining throughout the session. Fortunately, with 30 drivers competing for a Top 32 Competition place, they only had to complete one of their two allotted qualifying runs to advance
- Formula DRIFT PRO Qualifying utilizes 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 with up to 80% of each PRO driver’s Qualifying score for drift Line and car Angle quantified and scored entirely by UDSM. Driving Style – the remaining 20% – continues to be assessed and awarded by the panel of three Formula DRIFT judges
- An advantage of UDSM is that it can place the cars precisely on the track, allowing the judges to examine car placement even when water plumes might otherwise obscure their view
- Widely recognized as a rain master, Dylan Hughes topped the standings with a score of 84.13 points thanks to his precision in the challenging conditions. He was awarded four Championship points for his qualifying efforts
- Branden Sorensen was close behind with 83.6 points as he continues to present a major threat in the 2026 title race. He gained three Championship points
- Irishman Conor Shanahan claimed third place with 82.33 points thanks in part to his familiarity with wet conditions. Fellow countryman and five-time FD PRO Champion James Deane fared less well after he spun out on his second run and placed 12th, while Conor’s brother Jack qualified seventh
- Championship leader Aurimas Bakchis (Lithuania) qualified sixth in his Feal Suspension / GT Radial / Subimods Subaru BRZ and will be hoping to build on his momentum in Saturday’s Competition heats
- While drivers only had to complete one run to qualify, two drivers failed to do so and were eliminated. These included Trenton Beechum (USA) who hit the wall hard on his first run and didn’t re-appear. Rookie Cole Richards (USA) hit the wall hard in practice and struggled with the car in Qualifying. His failure ended an incredible run that saw him podium at Round 1 and lead the Rookie of the Year chase
- With only 28 drivers qualifying for the Top 32, the four leading drivers will recieve bye runs through the first Competition heats
- The top qualifier receives four Championship points, while second place receives three, third gets two points and all other drivers receive one point
PROSPEC NOTES
- The Formula DRIFT Link ECU PROSPEC Championship retained its competitive tandem Seeding Bracket Qualifying format, providing lower ranked drivers with additional competitive track time to increase their experience level
- With 24 of the places in Top 32 Competition determined by the Championship standings from Round 1, the remaining eight places would be filled from among the 13 drivers competing in the Seeding Bracket
- The top three finishers were all Rookies, with Ayden Copham claiming first place after a hard fought Final against Levi Wait. The 20 year-old from Brainerd, MN took the victory despite suffering a hand injury in a traffic collision on his way to the track. His reward was a place in Top 32 Competition and 12 Championship points (three for each heat win) to help his 2026 aspirations
- Third place went to Sean Booth who lost to Wait in the Final 4
- With only eight Competition places available, five drivers were eliminated including Christian Cotrone, Kelsey Rowlings, Luis Lanz, Dustin Miles and Kabott Cardoso. They will get another chance to qualify through the Seeding Bracket at Round 3 at Indianapolis Raceway Park on July 30-August 1
FD PRO ROUND 4 TOP 16 QUALIFYING RESULTS*
| POSITION | NAME | POINTS |
| 1 | Dylan Hughes | 4 |
| 2 | Branden Sorensen | 3 |
| 3 | Conor Shanahan | 2 |
| 4 | Ryan Tuerck | 1 |
| 5 | Chris Forsberg | 1 |
| 6 | Aurimas Bakchis | 1 |
| 7 | Jack Shanahan | 1 |
| 8 | Ben Hobson | 1 |
| 9 | Fredric Aasbo | 1 |
| 10 | Adam LZ | 1 |
| 11 | Connor O`Sullivan | 1 |
| 12 | James Deane | 1 |
| 13 | Matt Field | 1 |
| 14 | Tommy Lemaire | 1 |
| 15 | Dan Stuke | 1 |
| 16 | Ken Gushi | 1 |
FD PROSPEC ROUND 2 SEEDING BRACKET RESULTS*
| POSITION | NAME | POINTS |
| 1 | Ayden Copham | 12 |
| 2 | Levi Wait | 9 |
| 3 | Sean Booth | 6 |
| 4 | Brian Hoplamazian | 6 |
| 5 | Matt Rusiecki | 3 |
| 6 | Carsen Ruger | 3 |
| 7 | Allen Boss | 3 |
| 8 | Matt Shulman | 3 |
| 9 | Christian Cotrone | 0 |
| 10 | Kelsey Rowlings | 0 |
| 11 | Luis Lanz | 0 |
| 12 | Dustin Miles | 0 |
| 13 | Kabott Cardoso | 0 |
* Preliminary standings. Final results pending official confirmation