# 2023 Formula Drift season

The 2023 Formula Drift season (officially titled and stylized as the Formula DRIFT PRO Championship) was the twentieth season of the Formula D series. The season began on April 8 at Long Beach and concluded on October 14 at Irwindale Speedway after eight events.
To coincide with its twentieth anniversary celebrations, the series announced a number of additions to be made throughout the year. These include the inauguration of a Formula Drift Hall of Fame, the unveiling of a monument to the series in downtown Long Beach, increased prize money for event winners and the series champion, and the launch of an officially sanctioned podcast.
Chelsea DeNofa won the drivers' championship with three round wins; he was the only driver to score multiple victories during the season. Ahead of the Title Fight weekend at Irwindale Speedway, DeNofa make a shock announcement via his Instagram page that he intended to step back from Formula Drift for the foreseeable future. He mentioned that he had made the decision earlier in the season and wanted to make the announcement early in order to enjoy his final weekend regardless of the championship outcome. He plans to continue with other drifting projects. Longtime judge Ryan Lanteigne also announced his retirement ahead of the final weekend.

## Entries

| Team | No. | Car | Tires | Driver | Round(s) |
| Alec Robbins Racing | 35 | Nissan 350Z | Kenda | Alec Robbins | All |
| ASM | 8 | BMW M3 E46 | GT Radial | Robert Thorne R | All |
| BARBARIUS USA | 357 | Chevrolet Corvette C7 Z06 | GT Radial | João Barion | All |
| Beechum Racing | 999 | BMW M3 E46 | Nexen | Trenton Beechum | All |
| Cash Racing | 16 | BMW M3 E46 | Vitour | Jonathan Hurst | All |
| Diego Higa Racing Team | 169 | Toyota GT86 | GT Radial | Diego Higa R | All |
| Drift Cave Motorsports | 777 | Chevrolet Corvette C6 | GT Radial | Matt Field | All |
| The Drift Force | 33 | Toyota GR86 | Nexen | Joshua Correa Reynolds | All |
| Feal Suspension Race Team | 707 | Nissan Silvia "S14.9" | GT Radial | Simen Olsen | All |
| Feal Suspension Race Team | 723 | Nissan Silvia S15 | GT Radial | Aurimas Bakchis | All |
| FFF DRIFTING DEPARTMENT | 117 | Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano | Nexen | Federico Sceriffo | 2–8 |
| Forsberg Racing | 64 | Nissan Z | GT Radial | Chris Forsberg | All |
| Garagistic Racing | 171 | BMW M3 E36 | Vitour | Rome Charpentier | All |
| Get Nuts Lab | 808 | Nissan Silvia S15 | Kenda | Forrest Wang | All |
| The Heart of Racing | 26 | Aston Martin V12 Vantage | GT Radial | Darren Kelly | All |
| HGK Motorsports | 80 | BMW M3 E92 | GT Radial | Kristaps Blušs | 2–8 |
| Huragan Racing | 738 | Toyota GR Supra Toyota GT86 | GT Radial | Oleksii Holovnia R | All |
| J Castro Racing - JCR | 17 | Toyota GR86 | GT Radial | Jhonnattan Castro | All |
| Jeff Jones Racing | 818 | Nissan 370Z | GT Radial | Jeff Jones | All |
| Jerry Yang Racing | 123 | Toyota GT86 | GT Radial | Kazuya Taguchi | All |
| Kyle Mohan Racing | 99 | Mazda RX-8 | Vitour | Kyle Mohan | All |
| Mspek Performance | 527 | Nissan Silvia "S14.9" | Vitour | Daniel Stuke | All |
| Noback Racing with Jerry Yang Racing | 54 | BMW M3 E46 | GT Radial | Nick Noback | All |
| Outlaw Garage | 82 | Chevrolet Corvette C6 | Kenda | Taylor Hull | All |
| Papadakis Racing | 151 | Toyota GR Supra | Nitto | Fredric Aasbø | All |
| Papadakis Racing | 411 | Toyota GR Corolla | Nitto | Ryan Tuerck | All |
| Power Racing | 919 | Nissan Silvia S15 | GT Radial | Mike Power | All |
| RTR Motorsports | 5 | Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD | Nitto | Adam LZ | 1, 3–5 |
| RTR Motorsports | 25 | Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD | Nitto | Vaughn Gittin, Jr. | 2, 6–8 |
| RTR Motorsports | 88 | Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD | Nitto | Chelsea DeNofa | All |
| RTR Motorsports | 130 | Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD | Nitto | James Deane | All |
| Ryan Litteral Racing x Colab Garage | 909 | Nissan Silvia S15 | GT Radial | Ryan Litteral | 2–8 |
| Sorensen Motorsports | 513 | BMW M3 E92 | Nitto | Branden Sorensen | All |
| Team Japan Auto | 153 | Toyota Supra A80 | Kenda | Ola Jæger | All |
| Team Karnage | 43 | Dodge Viper ZB II | Nexen | Dean Kearney | All |
| Three's Racing | 21 | Toyota GR86 | Nexen | Ken Gushi | All |
| Travis Reeder Motorsports | 77 | BMW M3 E46 | GT Radial | Travis Reeder | All |
| _Whip._ | 129 | BMW M3 E46 | GT Radial | Dylan Hughes | All |

### Driver changes

* Dan Burkett was unable to raise sponsorship to fund a 2023 campaign, and elected to sit out the season while concentrating on finding a new sponsor for 2024.
* Three-time champion James Deane will return for the first time since 2019, signing with RTR Motorsports.
* 2013 champion Michael Essa will not return to the series, having taken a position building cars for Daily Driven Exotics.
* Joshua Love returned to the PROSPEC series for 2023.
* Adam LZ will drive a reduced schedule in 2023, participating in four rounds. Two-time champion Vaughn Gittin, Jr. will drive in the remaining four rounds, returning to the series after stepping back at the end of the 2021 season.
* Justin Pawlak will step back from the series, in order to focus on his son Jaxsen's drifting career.

### Other changes

* For 2023, the limit of 37 full-season entries was removed.
* Falken Tire ended its partnership with Formula Drift.
* GT Radial renewed its partnership with the series through 2025.
* Kenda Tire became a new official supplier on a two-year agreement.
* Vitour Tires became a new official supplier on a two-year agreement.

## Schedule

| Round | Title | Circuit | Location | Date | Winner | Car |
| 1 | Streets of Long Beach | Streets of Long Beach | Long Beach, California | April 8 | Matt Field | Chevrolet Corvette C6 |
| 2 | Road to the Championship | Road Atlanta | Braselton, Georgia | May 13 | Vaughn Gittin, Jr. | Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD |
| 3 | Scorched | Orlando Speed World | Orlando, Florida | May 27 | Chelsea DeNofa | Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD |
| 4 | The Gauntlet | Englishtown Raceway Park | Englishtown, New Jersey | June 24 | Adam LZ | Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD |
| 5 | Crossroads | World Wide Technology Raceway | St. Louis, Missouri | July 15 | Aurimas Bakchis | Nissan Silvia S15 |
| 6 | Throwdown | Evergreen Speedway | Monroe, Washington | August 12 | Chelsea DeNofa | Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD |
| 7 | Elevated | Utah Motorsports Campus | Grantsville, Utah | September 16 | Chelsea DeNofa | Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD |
| 8 | Title Fight | Irwindale Speedway | Irwindale, California | October 14 | Nick Noback | BMW E46 M3 |
| Sources: |||||||

## Championship standings
### Scoring system

During qualifying, drivers perform solo runs which are judged on parameters such as line, angle, style and "X-factor", all defined within the sporting regulations, and awarded a numerical score up to 100. These scores are ranked to determine the qualifying classification and populate the brackets for the competition phase. Only 32 spots in the main event are available. In addition, the top three qualifiers earn three, two and one championship points respectively.
The qualifiers proceed through a series of competition heats, with those eliminated in the first round (Top 32) receiving 16 points and classifying 17th through 32nd, the second round (Top 16) receiving 32 points and classifying 9th through 16th, the third round (Great 8) receiving 48 points and classifying 5th through 8th, and the fourth round (Final Four) classifying 3rd and 4th, receiving 76 and 64 points respectively. In the Final, the runner-up receives 88 points and the winner 100 points. Final classification within each round is then determined by highest qualifying position; for example, of the two drivers eliminated in the Final Four, the driver who qualified higher is awarded 3rd position and the final place on the podium.
The scoring system for the competition phase returned to that used in 2020, with a wider spread between the points awarded for each position compared to 2021 and 2022.
In the event of a tie on points, the driver who classified higher in the most recent round will be awarded the higher position.

#### Qualifying stage

| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
| Points | 3 | 2 | 1 |

#### Competition stage

| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th–8th | 9th–16th | 17th–32nd |
| Points | 100 | 88 | 76 | 64 | 48 | 32 | 16 |

### Pro Championship standings

| Pos | Driver | LBH | ATL | ORL | ENG | WWT | EVS | UTA | IRW | Pts |
| 1 | Chelsea DeNofa | 7$^3$ | 12 | 1$^2$ | 15 | 7 | 1 | 1$^3$ | 17 | 480 |
| 2 | Aurimas Bakchis | 18 | 3$^3$ | 9 | 8 | 1 | 5$^3$ | 13 | 2$^2$ | 445 |
| 3 | Matt Field | 1 | 6 | 14 | 3 | 14 | 9$^1$ | 2 | 22 | 427 |
| 4 | Simen Olsen | 12 | 25 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 6$^2$ | 3$^2$ | 11 | 419 |
| 5 | James Deane | 6$^2$ | 7 | 7 | 4 | 18 | 3 | 9$^1$ | 3 | 413 |
| 6 | Fredric Aasbø | 3 | 10 | 2 | 17$^1$ | 2 | 10 | 7 | 21 | 399 |
| 7 | Ryan Tuerck | 5$^1$ | 18 | 5$^1$ | 5$^2$ | 11 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 392 |
| 8 | Chris Forsberg | 17 | 2 | 13 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 360 |
| 9 | Dylan Hughes | 21 | 5 | 4 | 9$^3$ | 12 | 2 | 18 | 10 | 329 |
| 10 | Kazuya Taguchi | 24 | 19 | 3$^3$ | 11 | 8$^1$ | 8 | 5 | 13 | 304 |
| 11 | Rome Charpentier | 2 | 28 | 21 | 6 | 27 | 7 | 25 | 18 | 264 |
| 12 | Nick Noback | 29 | 30 | 30 | 28 | 9$^2$ | 16 | 31 | 1$^1$ | 249 |
| 13 | Jhonnattan Castro | 11 | 23 | 27 | 13 | 5 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 240 |
| 14 | Jonathan Hurst | 4 | 15 | 11 | 22 | 6 | 26 | 29 | DNQ | 224 |
| 15 | Dean Kearney | 14 | 27 | 32 | 27 | 10$^3$ | 15 | 11 | 16 | 209 |
| 16 | Forrest Wang | 8 | 9$^2$ | 12 | | | 30 | 22 | 5 | 194 |
| 17 | Branden Sorensen | 19 | 22 | 22 | 14 | 30 | 18 | 12 | 7 | 192 |
| 18 | Travis Reeder | 20 | 24 | 6 | 12 | 19 | 17 | 10 | 24 | 192 |
| 19 | Ken Gushi | 13 | 29 | 29 | 16 | 13 | DNQ | 28 | 9$^3$ | 177 |
| 20 | Robert Thorne RY | 28 | 32 | 25 | 30 | 16 | 28 | 14 | 12 | 176 |
| 21 | Daniel Stuke | 10 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 24 | 24 | 21 | 25 | 176 |
| 22 | Trenton Beechum | 15 | 26 | 26 | 31 | 22 | 19 | 6 | 26 | 176 |
| 23 | Vaughn Gittin, Jr. | | 1$^1$ | | | | 23 | 23 | 15 | 167 |
| 24 | Kristaps Blušs | | 4 | 16 | | | | 26 | 8 | 160 |
| 25 | Taylor Hull | 16 | 16 | 23 | 19 | 25 | 21 | 32 | 20 | 160 |
| 26 | Alec Robbins | 9 | 13 | 18 | 26 | 26 | 27 | 27 | 29 | 160 |
| 27 | Adam LZ | 30 | | 20 | 1 | 20 | | | | 148 |
| 28 | Diego Higa R | 22 | 17 | 28 | 20 | DNQ | 12 | 16 | 19 | 144 |
| 29 | Jeff Jones | 23 | 11 | 24 | 23 | 23 | DNQ | 20 | 23 | 128 |
| 30 | João Barion | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 7 | 17 | 20 | 19 | 28 | 112 |
| 31 | Ryan Litteral | | DNQ | 17 | 21 | 15 | 14 | 17 | DNQ | 112 |
| 32 | Mike Power | 27 | 20 | 19 | 25 | 28 | 29 | 30 | | 112 |
| 33 | Kyle Mohan | DNQ | 31 | DNQ | 32 | 21 | 22 | 24 | 27 | 96 |
| 34 | Ola Jæger | 26 | 21 | DNQ | 29 | 29 | 25 | DNQ | 30 | 96 |
| 35 | Darren Kelly | DNQ | 8 | 15 | | | | | | 80 |
| 36 | Oleksii Holovnia R | 25 | DNQ | 31 | 24 | | | | | 48 |
| 37 | Joshua Correa Reynolds | DNQ | | | | | | | | 0 |
In-line notation :
| $^{Superscriptnumber}$ | Qualifying position (Top 3 only) |
| Bold | Top qualifier |
| RY | Rookie of the Year |
| R | Rookie |

### Auto Cup standings

Auto Cup points are awarded each round to the two drivers with the highest classified finish for each manufacturer. To be eligible, both the chassis and engine must have been constructed by that manufacturer.
| Pos | Manufacturer | LBH | ATL | ORL | ENG | WWT | EVS | UTA | IRW | Pts |
| 1 | Ford | 6$^2$ | 1$^1$ | 1$^2$ | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1$^3$ | 3 | 1048 |
| 1 | Ford | 7$^3$ | 7 | 7 | 4 | 18 | 3 | 9$^1$ | 15 | 1048 |
| 2 | Toyota | 3 | 10 | 2 | 5$^2$ | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 837 |
| 2 | Toyota | 5$^1$ | 17 | 5$^1$ | 16 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 9$^3$ | 837 |
| 3 | Chevrolet | 1 | 6 | 14 | 3 | 14 | 9$^1$ | 2 | 20 | 619 |
| 3 | Chevrolet | 16 | 16 | 23 | 7 | 17 | 20 | 19 | 22 | 619 |
| 4 | Nissan | 17 | 2 | 13 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 472 |
| 4 | Nissan | | | 17 | 21 | 15 | 14 | 17 | DNQ | 472 |
| 5 | Dodge | 14 | 27 | 32 | 27 | 10$^3$ | 15 | 11 | 16 | 209 |
| 6 | Mazda | DNQ | 31 | DNQ | 32 | 21 | 22 | 24 | 27 | 96 |
| 7 | Aston Martin | DNQ | 8 | 15 | | | | | | 80 |

### Tire Cup standings

Tire Cup points are awarded each round to the two drivers with the highest classified finish for each tire manufacturer.
| Pos | Tire | LBH | ATL | ORL | ENG | WWT | EVS | UTA | IRW | Pts |
| 1 | GT Radial | 1 | 2 | 3$^3$ | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1$^1$ | 1275 |
| 1 | GT Radial | 11 | 3$^3$ | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5$^3$ | 3$^2$ | 2$^2$ | 1275 |
| 2 | Nitto | 3 | 1$^1$ | 1$^2$ | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1$^3$ | 3 | 1249 |
| 2 | Nitto | 5$^1$ | 7 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1249 |
| 3 | Vitour | 2 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 21 | 18 | 536 |
| 3 | Vitour | 4 | 15 | 11 | 18 | 24 | 22 | 24 | 25 | 536 |
| 4 | Nexen | 13 | 26 | 26 | 16 | 10$^3$ | 15 | 6 | 9$^3$ | 402 |
| 4 | Nexen | 14 | 27 | 29 | 27 | 13 | 19 | 11 | 26 | 402 |
| 5 | Kenda | 8 | 9$^2$ | 12 | 19 | 25 | 21 | 22 | 5 | 386 |
| 5 | Kenda | 9 | 13 | 18 | 26 | 26 | 25 | 27 | 20 | 386 |

## Footnotes

* ↑ HGK Motorsports were unable to import their equipment to the United States in time for the opening round.
* ↑ HGK Motorsports were unable to import their equipment to the United States in time for the opening round. Holovnia will instead pilot a Toyota GT86 at this round.
* ↑ Tuerck received a bye run during the Top 16 at St. Louis, but he suffered an engine failure and was unable to complete the run. It was deemed that he had not advanced past the bracket, and so he was awarded a Top 16 finish. His position within the bracket was determined by qualifying results, as usual.
* ↑ Taguchi was the highest qualifier of the drivers eliminated in the Top 16 at St. Louis, of which there were nine due to Tuerck's incomplete bye run.