# 2020 Formula D season

The 2020 Formula D season (officially titled Formula Drift Pro Championship) was the seventeenth season of the Formula D series. The season began on September 5 at World Wide Technology Raceway and concluded on November 22 at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale after eight events.

## Entries

2012 Formula D season champion Daigo Saito planned to return to the series after a four-year absence, but this never materialised.
| Team | No. | Car | Tires | Driver | Round(s) |
| Alec Robbins Racing | 35 | Nissan 350Z | Achilles Tires | Alec Robbins R | 1–4, 7–8 |
| Arclight Racing | 43 | Dodge Viper ZB II | Achilles Tires | Dean Kearney | All |
| Arclight Racing | 357 | Chevrolet Corvette C7 Z06 | Achilles Tires | João Barion | 1–4 |
| Asphalt Anarchy | 82 | Cadillac ATS-V | Achilles Tires | Taylor Hull | All |
| Bakchis Motorsports | 723 | Nissan Silvia S15 | Falken | Aurimas Bakchis | All |
| BUY NOW JAPAN | 530 | Nissan Silvia S15 | Nexen | Wataru Masuyama R | All |
| Drift Cave Motorsports | 777 | Chevrolet Corvette C6 | Falken | Matt Field | All |
| Drift Force | 91 | BMW F22 | Achilles Tires | Yves Meyer R | 1–4 |
| Essa Autosport | 101 | BMW M3 E46 | Achilles Tires | Michael Essa | All |
| Garagistic drift team | 171 | BMW M3 E36 | Achilles Tires | Rome Charpentier R | All |
| Huddy Racing | 129 | BMW M3 E46 | Achilles Tires | Dylan Hughes | All |
| Jeff Jones Racing | 818 | Nissan 370Z | Nexen GT Radial | Jeff Jones | All |
| Jhonnattan Castro | 17 | Toyota GT86 | Nexen | Jhonnattan Castro | All |
| KGMS Toyota Racing | 21 | Toyota GR Supra | Achilles Tires | Ken Gushi | All |
| KORUWORKS | 909 | Nissan 350Z | GT Radial | Ryan Litteral | All |
| Kyle Mohan Racing | 99 | Mazda RX-8 | Nexen | Kyle Mohan | 5–8 |
| LZMFG / Enjuku Racing | 5 | Nissan Silvia S15 | Achilles Tires | Adam LZ R | All |
| NOS Energy Drink Drift Team | 64 | Nissan 370Z Nissan Silvia S14 | Nexen | Chris Forsberg | All |
| Papadakis Racing | 151 | Toyota GR Supra | Nitto | Fredric Aasbø | All |
| Papadakis Racing | 411 | Toyota Corolla (E210) | Nitto | Ryan Tuerck | All |
| Pawlak Racing | 13 | Ford Mustang | Falken | Justin Pawlak | All |
| RAD Industries | 34 | Toyota Supra A80 | Nexen | Dan Burkett | All |
| RTR Motorsports | 25 | Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-D | Nitto | Vaughn Gittin, Jr. | All |
| RTR Motorsports | 88 | Ford Mustang RTR | Nitto | Chelsea DeNofa | All |
| Shelby American Drift Team | 7 | Shelby Super Snake | Nexen | Tyler Nelson R | 1–6 |
| Shelby American Drift Team | 23 | Shelby Super Snake Nissan 240SX | Nexen | Jonathan Nerren R | All |
| Team DAI. | 9 | Subaru BRZ | Falken | Daijiro Yoshihara | All |
| Team Faruk | 53 | Nissan Silvia S14 | Nexen | Faruk Kugay | All |
| Team UPGARAGE with GTRadial | 123 | Nissan Silvia S15 | GT Radial | Kazuya Taguchi | All |
| Travis Reeder Motorsports | 77 | Nissan 240SX | GT Radial | Travis Reeder | All |

## Schedule

An initial schedule featuring eight championship rounds was released in November 2019, but this was revised in April 2020 to a different schedule still featuring eight rounds. A final calendar was announced in June 2020 featuring four double-header rounds.
| Round | Title | Circuit | Location | Date | Winner | Car |
| 1 | Crossroads | World Wide Technology Raceway | Madison, Illinois | September 5 | Fredric Aasbø | Toyota GR Supra |
| 2 | Crossroads | World Wide Technology Raceway | Madison, Illinois | September 6 | Chelsea DeNofa | Ford Mustang RTR |
| 3 | Throwdown | Evergreen Speedway | Monroe, Washington | September 26 | Vaughn Gittin, Jr. | Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-D |
| 4 | Throwdown | Evergreen Speedway | Monroe, Washington | September 27 | Vaughn Gittin, Jr. | Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-D |
| 5 | Showdown | Texas Motor Speedway | Fort Worth, Texas | October 31 | Ryan Tuerck | Toyota Corolla (E210) |
| 6 | Showdown | Texas Motor Speedway | Fort Worth, Texas | November 1 | Chris Forsberg | Nissan 370Z |
| 7 | TYPE S Title Fight Weekend | Irwindale Speedway | Irwindale, California | November 20 | Fredric Aasbø | Toyota GR Supra |
| 8 | TYPE S Title Fight Weekend | Irwindale Speedway | Irwindale, California | November 22 | Aurimas Bakchis | Nissan Silvia S15 |
| Sources: |||||||
The following rounds were included on the original calendar, but were cancelled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic:
| Title | Circuit | Location | Date |
| Streets of Long Beach | Streets of Long Beach | Long Beach, California | April 11 |
| | Orlando Speed World | Orlando, Florida | May 30 |
| | Road Atlanta | Braselton, Georgia | July 4 |
| | Old Bridge Township Raceway Park | Englishtown, New Jersey | July 25 |
| | Sonoma Raceway | Sonoma, California | September 13 |
| Sources: ||||

## Championship standings
### Scoring system

Formula Drift featured double-header weekends throughout 2020 in order to maintain an eight-event schedule. This compressed the schedule of each event, so traditional qualifying was scrapped and replaced by a seeding process based on, but not limited to, championship standings, similar to the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series.
For this reason, points were only awarded for the main event, which features a maximum of 32 competitors. The competitors 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 (Sweet 16) receiving 32 points and classifying 9th through 16th, and the third round (Great 8) receiving 48 points and classifying 5th through 8th. The two drivers eliminated from the fourth round (Final Four) engage in a battle for the final step on the podium, with the fourth-placed driver receiving 64 points and the third-placed driver 76 points and a trophy. In the Final, the runner-up receives 88 points and the winner 100 points.
Final classification within each round was determined by highest seeding position; for example, of the four drivers eliminated in the Great 8, the driver seeded highest going into the event is awarded 5th position.
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th–8th | 9th–16th | 17th–32nd |
| Points | 100 | 88 | 76 | 64 | 48 | 32 | 16 |

### Pro Championship standings

| Pos | Driver | WWT1 | WWT2 | EVS1 | EVS2 | TEX1 | TEX2 | IRW1 | IRW2 | Pts |
| 1 | Vaughn Gittin, Jr. | 10 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 540 |
| 2 | Chelsea DeNofa | 12 | 1 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 500 |
| 3 | Ryan Tuerck | 2 | 3 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 484 |
| 4 | Fredric Aasbø | 1 | 12 | 2 | 18 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 448 |
| 5 | Chris Forsberg | 4 | 11 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 428 |
| 6 | Aurimas Bakchis | 3 | 2 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 18 | 1 | 408 |
| 7 | Justin Pawlak | 6 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 17 | 16 | 19 | 3 | 372 |
| 8 | Michael Essa | 13 | 7 | 3 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 2 | 14 | 356 |
| 9 | Jeff Jones | 14 | 15 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 12 | 4 | 320 |
| 10 | Taylor Hull | 15 | 17 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 320 |
| 11 | Kazuya Taguchi | 5 | 10 | 5 | 13 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 320 |
| 12 | Adam LZ RY | 25 | 25 | 14 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 288 |
| 13 | Daijiro Yoshihara | 11 | 14 | 4 | 14 | 14 | 8 | 11 | 18 | 288 |
| 14 | Matt Field | 9 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 20 | 288 |
| 15 | Dylan Hughes | 7 | 5 | 10 | 11 | 18 | 18 | 20 | 15 | 240 |
| 16 | Jonathan Nerren R | 29 | 29 | 30 | 29 | 8 | 11 | 17 | 7 | 208 |
| 17 | Dean Kearney | 19 | 19 | 22 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 19 | 208 |
| 18 | Ken Gushi | 17 | 8 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 8 | 192 |
| 19 | Travis Reeder | 18 | 16 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 8 | 11 | 192 |
| 20 | Dan Burkett | 8 | 9 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 16 | 22 | 192 |
| 21 | Jhonnattan Castro | 20 | 20 | 23 | 22 | 16 | 17 | 15 | 21 | 160 |
| 22 | Wataru Masuyama R | 26 | 26 | 15 | 15 | 19 | 19 | 21 | 23 | 160 |
| 23 | Ryan Litteral | 21 | 21 | 24 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 16 | 144 |
| 24 | Rome Charpentier R | 23 | 23 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 128 |
| 25 | Faruk Kugay | 24 | 24 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 128 |
| 26 | Alec Robbins R | 16 | 18 | 21 | 16 | | | 27 | 27 | 128 |
| 27 | Tyler Nelson R | 28 | 28 | 29 | 28 | 26 | 26 | | | 96 |
| 28 | Kyle Mohan | | | | | 27 | 27 | 26 | 26 | 64 |
| 29 | João Barion | 22 | 22 | 25 | 24 | | | | | 64 |
| 30 | Yves Meyer R | 27 | 27 | 28 | 27 | | | | | 64 |
| Sources: |||||||||||
In-line notation :
| Bold | Top seed |
| 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. For example, the Shelby Super Snakes entered by Tyler Nelson and Jonathan Nerren were not eligible for Ford points because their engines had been developed by Shelby American, the Nissan Silvia S15 entered by Aurimas Bakchis was not eligible because it featured a custom-built V8 engine, and the Nissan Silvia S14 entered by Chris Forsberg in the final round was not eligible for the same reason.
| Pos | Manufacturer | WWT1 | WWT2 | EVS1 | EVS2 | TEX1 | TEX2 | IRW1 | IRW2 | Pts |
| 1 | Ford | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1140 |
| 1 | Ford | 10 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1140 |
| 2 | Toyota | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 980 |
| 2 | Toyota | 2 | 8 | 11 | 18 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 980 |
| 3 | Nissan | 4 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 716 |
| 3 | Nissan | 5 | 11 | 9 | 13 | 13 | 7 | 9 | | 716 |
| 4 | BMW | 13 | 7 | 3 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 2 | 14 | 356 |
| 5 | Chevrolet | 9 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 20 | 352 |
| 5 | Chevrolet | 22 | 22 | 25 | 24 | | | | | 352 |
| 6 | Cadillac | 15 | 17 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 320 |
| 7 | Dodge | 19 | 19 | 22 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 19 | 208 |
| 8 | Mazda | | | | | 27 | 27 | 26 | 26 | 64 |

### 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 | WWT1 | WWT2 | EVS1 | EVS2 | TEX1 | TEX2 | IRW1 | IRW2 | Pts |
| 1 | Nitto | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1380 |
| 1 | Nitto | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 1380 |
| 2 | Falken | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 1 | 892 |
| 2 | Falken | 6 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 3 | 892 |
| 3 | Achilles | 7 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 820 |
| 3 | Achilles | 13 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 820 |
| 4 | Nexen | 4 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 732 |
| 4 | Nexen | 8 | 11 | 15 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 15 | 10 | 732 |
| 5 | GT Radial | 5 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 640 |
| 5 | GT Radial | 18 | 16 | 17 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 640 |

## Footnotes

* ↑ Jones used Nexen tires for the first events at St Louis but switched to GT Radial for the remainder of the season.
* ↑ Forsberg suffered an engine failure with his primary Nissan 370Z in practice for the final weekend at Irwindale. He was able to make rudimentary repairs and, having received a bye run for round 7, took the run before withdrawing from the event for safety reasons. For the finale, Matt Field lent Forsberg his backup car, a Nissan Silvia S14 with an LS engine. This marked the first time Forsberg had competed in Formula Drift without Nissan power.
* ↑ Nerren blew an engine in the closing stages of the Washington round, so used a backup Nissan 240SX at Texas Motor Speedway.
* ↑ The Missouri round was originally scheduled to take place on August 8, but was revised to a double-header.
* ↑ The Seattle round was originally scheduled to take place on July 18, but was rescheduled to September 26 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ultimately, this was revised to a double-header.
* ↑ The Texas round was added to the first revised schedule in April, slated for October 17. This was later revised to a double-header, before being pushed back two weeks when Texas Motor Speedway cleared its calendar leading up to the NASCAR Cup Series race due to uncertainties over the pandemic.
* ↑ The traditional Irwindale finale was originally scheduled to take place on October 17, but was rescheduled to November 21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with an extra round added for August 22. Ultimately, this was revised to a double-header to close the season.
* ↑ The Road Atlanta road was originally scheduled to take place on May 9, but was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic before ultimately being cancelled.
* ↑ The Englishtown round was originally scheduled to take place on June 20, but was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic before ultimately being cancelled.
* ↑ Pawlak suffered an engine failure in practice.
* ↑ Jones received a bye run in the Top 32 but crashed in practice. He was unable to complete the bye run, so was scored outside the Sweet 16 and the 16th position was left vacant.