# 2019 Formula D season

The 2019 Formula D season (officially titled Formula DRIFT Black Magic Pro Championship) was the sixteenth season of the Formula D series. The season began on April 6 at Long Beach and concluded on October 19 at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale after eight events.
James Deane won his third consecutive championship with the Worthouse Drifting team, and his teammate Piotr Więcek placed fourth in points. However, the team and both drivers would leave Formula Drift at the end of the season: it was announced in 2020 that Worthouse had withdrawn from the series and that both its drivers were pursuing other opportunities. Deane would return to the series in 2023.
Driver Travis Reeder made Formula Drift history by becoming the first driver to compete with an electric vehicle. His team Napoleon Motorsports developed a fully electric Chevrolet Camaro dubbed the Chevrolet Camaro EL1. Reeder was unable to run it during the opening round at Long Beach since the event's fire safety teams had not been given training on electric vehicle fires. He practiced with the car during the second round at Orlando but competed with his regular Nissan 240SX S13. The car made its first competitive appearance in the third round at Road Atlanta, and he campaigned it until the finale at Irwindale when minor issues forced him to revert to his S13.
Two drivers also made history during the season by scoring a perfect 100 on a qualifying run, something that had only been previously achieved by Tanner Foust at Sonoma Raceway in 2006. Justin Pawlak recorded a perfect score during the fourth round at Wall Speedway, and James Deane recorded a perfect score during the seventh round at Texas Motor Speedway.
Two drivers made a one-off appearance at Long Beach: Mitch Larner, renting a Toyota 2JZ powered Nissan 240SX S14 from fellow competitor Forrest Wang, and Manuel Vacca, driving a BMW E46.

## Entries

| Team | No. | Car | Tires | Driver | Round(s) |
| Asphalt Anarchy | 82 | Cadillac ATS-V | Achilles Tires | Taylor Hull | All |
| Bakchis Motorsports | 723 | Nissan Silvia S14 | Falken | Aurimas Bakchis | All |
| Bridges Racing | 43 | Dodge Viper ZB II | Achilles Tires | Dean Kearney | All |
| Chris Forsberg Racing | 64 | Nissan 370Z | Nexen | Chris Forsberg | All |
| Coffman Racing | 959 | Nissan 240SX S13 | Achilles Tires | Matt Coffman | 1–6 |
| Drift Cave Motorsports | 46 | Nissan 240SX | Achilles Tires | Patrick Goodin | 1–7 |
| Drift Cave Motorsports | 777 | Chevrolet Corvette C6 | Falken | Matt Field | All |
| Enjuku Racing | 352 | Nissan Silvia S14 | Achilles Tires | Kevin Lawrence | All |
| Essa Autosport | 101 | BMW M3 E46 | Achilles Tires | Michael Essa | All |
| FFF Drifting Department | 117 | Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano | Nexen | Federico Sceriffo | All |
| Get Nuts Lab | 11 | Nissan 240SX S14 | Achilles Tires | Mitch Larner R | 1 |
| Get Nuts Lab | 808 | Nissan Silvia S15 | Achilles Tires | Forrest Wang | All |
| Greddy Racing/Ken Gushi motorsports | 21 | Toyota GT86 | Achilles Tires | Ken Gushi | All |
| Hohnadell Racing | 118 | Nissan 240SX S14 | Nexen | Alec Hohnadell | 1–3 |
| HP Garage | 19 | BMW M3 E46 | Achilles Tires | Manuel Vacca R | 1 |
| Huddy Racing | 129 | BMW M3 E46 | Achilles Tires | Dylan Hughes R | 1–7 |
| Jeff Jones Racing | 818 | Nissan 370Z | Nexen | Jeff Jones | All |
| Jhonnattan Castro | 717 | Subaru BRZ | Nexen | Jhonnattan Castro | All |
| Kazuya Taguchi | 123 | Nissan GT-R Nissan Silvia S15 | Achilles Tires | Kazuya Taguchi | All |
| KORUWORKS | 909 | Nissan 350Z | Nexen | Ryan Litteral | All |
| Kyle Mohan Racing | 99 | Mazda RX-8 | Nexen | Kyle Mohan | All |
| Meeks Drift | 316 | Cadillac ATS-V | Nexen | Austin Meeks | All |
| Nando Drift Team | 357 | Chevrolet Corvette C7 Z06 | Achilles Tires | João Barion R | 1–3, 6–8 |
| Napoleon Motorsports | 77 | Nissan 240SX S13 Chevrolet Camaro EL1 | Nitto | Travis Reeder R | All |
| Papadakis Racing | 151 | Toyota Corolla (E210) | Nexen | Fredric Aasbø | 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 |
| Ryan Tuerck Racing | 411 | Toyota GT86 | Nitto | Ryan Tuerck | All |
| SSG Motorsport | 111 | Nissan Silvia S14 | Nexen | Sebastien Gauthier R | 1–4, 6–8 |
| Stratton Racing | 33 | Chevrolet Corvette C6 | Achilles Tires | Dirk Stratton | All |
| Team DAI. | 9 | Subaru BRZ | Falken | Daijiro Yoshihara | All |
| Team IMR | 17 | BMW M3 E46 | Nitto | Alex Heilbrunn | 1–4 |
| Worthouse Drift Team | 130 | Nissan Silvia S15 | Falken | James Deane | All |
| Worthouse Drift Team | 215 | Nissan Silvia S15 | Falken | Piotr Więcek | All |

## Schedule

| Round | Title | Circuit | Location | Date | Winner | Car |
| 1 | O'Reilly Auto Parts The Streets of Long Beach Presented by Permatex | Streets of Long Beach | Long Beach, California | April 6 | Aurimas Bakchis | Nissan Silvia S14 |
| 2 | AutoZone Scorched Presented by Black Magic | Orlando Speed World | Orlando, Florida | April 27 | Aurimas Bakchis | Nissan Silvia S14 |
| 3 | O'Reilly Auto Parts Road to the Championship Presented by Permatex | Road Atlanta | Braselton, Georgia | May 11 | Fredric Aasbø | Toyota Corolla (E210) |
| 4 | The Advance Auto Parts Gauntlet Presented by Black Magic | Wall Stadium | Wall Township, New Jersey | June 8 | Ryan Tuerck | Toyota GT86 |
| 5 | Permatex Throwdown Presented by AutoZone | Evergreen Speedway | Monroe, Washington | July 20 | Piotr Więcek | Nissan Silvia S15 |
| 6 | Pep Boys Crossroads Presented by Rain-X | World Wide Technology Raceway | Madison, Illinois | August 10 | James Deane | Nissan Silvia S15 |
| 7 | Advance Auto Parts Showdown Presented by Rain-X | Texas Motor Speedway | Fort Worth, Texas | September 14 | Chelsea DeNofa | Ford Mustang RTR |
| 8 | Auto Zone Title Fight Presented by Rain-X | Toyota Speedway at Irwindale | Irwindale, California | October 19 | Ken Gushi | Toyota GT86 |
| Sources: |||||||

## Championship standings
### Scoring system

Points were awarded for qualifying and for the main event. During qualifying, drivers performed solo runs which were judged on parameters such as line, angle, fluidity and commitment and assigned a numerical score up to 100. These scores were then ranked to determine the qualifying classification and hence populate the brackets for the competition phase. Up to 6 points were then awarded for the top 32 qualifiers.
The qualifiers proceed through a series of competition heats, with those eliminated in the first round (Top 32) receiving 16 points, the second round (Sweet 16) receiving 32 points, the third round (Great 8) receiving 48 points, and the fourth round (Final Four) receiving 64 points and classifying 3rd and 4th. Of the two drivers eliminated in the Final Four, the driver who qualified highest is awarded third place and the final step on the podium. In the Final, the runner-up receives 80 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.

#### Qualifying stage

| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th–8th | 9th–16th | 17th–32nd |
| Points | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

#### Competition stage

| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th–8th | 9th–16th | 17th–32nd |
| Points | 100 | 80 | 64 | 64 | 48 | 32 | 16 |

### Pro Championship standings

| Pos | Driver | LBH | ORL | ATL | WNJ | EVS | WWT | TEX | IRW | Pts |
| 1 | James Deane | 6$^2$ | 11$^{10}$ | 3$^4$ | 3$^5$ | 2$^2$ | 1$^1$ | 2$^1$ | 3$^6$ | 565 |
| 2 | Fredric Aasbø | 4$^{10}$ | 9$^1$ | 1$^1$ | 2$^2$ | 14$^{18}$ | 2$^2$ | 4$^{11}$ | 13$^{10}$ | 513 |
| 3 | Aurimas Bakchis | 1$^5$ | 1$^5$ | 5$^5$ | 11$^6$ | 12$^{13}$ | 5$^7$ | 5$^2$ | 4$^8$ | 497 |
| 4 | Piotr Więcek | 7$^3$ | 6$^3$ | 6$^6$ | 6$^7$ | 1$^1$ | 3$^4$ | 6$^3$ | 6$^7$ | 482 |
| 5 | Ryan Tuerck | 17$^7$ | 16$^{15}$ | 2$^3$ | 1$^9$ | 9$^3$ | 4$^6$ | 8$^{29}$ | 5$^3$ | 443 |
| 6 | Chris Forsberg | 3$^8$ | 2$^7$ | 7$^8$ | 12$^8$ | 4$^{11}$ | 10$^5$ | 3$^5$ | 10$^4$ | 439 |
| 7 | Michael Essa | 12$^{12}$ | 15$^{14}$ | 4$^{10}$ | 14$^{12}$ | 7$^8$ | 8$^{25}$ | 10$^8$ | 2$^{12}$ | 385 |
| 8 | Chelsea DeNofa | 10$^9$ | 3$^6$ | 9$^2$ | 13$^{10}$ | 10$^6$ | 9$^3$ | 1$^7$ | 9$^1$ | 384 |
| 9 | Daijiro Yoshihara | 9$^4$ | 5$^2$ | 10$^7$ | 9$^3$ | 3$^4$ | 12$^{11}$ | 7$^9$ | 8$^{16}$ | 360 |
| 10 | Vaughn Gittin, Jr. | 11$^{11}$ | 4$^{16}$ | 16$^{24}$ | 4$^{11}$ | 15$^{21}$ | 6$^{12}$ | 18$^{13}$ | 7$^{13}$ | 350 |
| 11 | Ken Gushi | 13$^{17}$ | 13$^{12}$ | 17$^9$ | 7$^{14}$ | 5$^5$ | 19$^{13}$ | 11$^{10}$ | 1$^2$ | 343 |
| 12 | Justin Pawlak | 8$^{13}$ | 7$^4$ | 21$^{18}$ | 5$^1$ | 6$^7$ | 13$^{15}$ | 17$^4$ | 11$^5$ | 311 |
| 13 | Forrest Wang | 2$^6$ | 8$^8$ | 11$^{12}$ | 10$^4$ | 24$^{23}$ | 11$^{10}$ | 19$^{17}$ | 14$^{11}$ | 305 |
| 14 | Matt Field | 5$^1$ | 12$^{11}$ | 13$^{17}$ | 8$^{20}$ | 11$^{10}$ | 7$^{14}$ | 15$^{16}$ | 17$^{17}$ | 305 |
| 15 | Kazuya Taguchi | 23$^{22}$ | 19$^{19}$ | 18$^{11}$ | 16$^{18}$ | 20$^{17}$ | 15$^{20}$ | 9$^6$ | 12$^9$ | 204 |
| 16 | Travis Reeder RY | 15$^{19}$ | 18$^{18}$ | 31$^{31}$ | 31$^{31}$ | 16$^{24}$ | 21$^{18}$ | 12$^{12}$ | 16$^{15}$ | 202 |
| 17 | Dean Kearney | 14$^{18}$ | 17$^{17}$ | 12$^{14}$ | 22$^{22}$ | 25$^{25}$ | 18$^9$ | 14$^{15}$ | 19$^{19}$ | 187 |
| 18 | Jhonnattan Castro | 19$^{15}$ | 21$^{21}$ | 15$^{22}$ | 25$^{25}$ | 21$^{19}$ | 16$^{24}$ | 20$^{18}$ | 15$^{14}$ | 186 |
| 19 | Ryan Litteral | 16$^{26}$ | 25$^{25}$ | 26$^{26}$ | 21$^{21}$ | 17$^9$ | 20$^{16}$ | 13$^{14}$ | 18$^{18}$ | 171 |
| 20 | Patrick Goodin | 25$^{24}$ | 10$^9$ | 8$^{15}$ | 17$^{13}$ | 18$^{12}$ | 25$^{23}$ | 30$^{30}$ | | 171 |
| 21 | Jeff Jones | 32$^{32}$ | 24$^{24}$ | 20$^{16}$ | 15$^{17}$ | 23$^{22}$ | 27$^{27}$ | 29$^{28}$ | 25$^{25}$ | 153 |
| 22 | Dirk Stratton | 26$^{25}$ | 26$^{26}$ | 14$^{20}$ | 24$^{24}$ | 22$^{20}$ | 24$^{22}$ | 22$^{21}$ | 22$^{22}$ | 152 |
| 23 | Dylan Hughes R | DNQ | 22$^{22}$ | 19$^{13}$ | 19$^{16}$ | 8$^{14}$ | 17$^8$ | 27$^{26}$ | | 139 |
| 24 | Taylor Hull | 27$^{27}$ | 27$^{27}$ | 25$^{25}$ | 27$^{27}$ | 26$^{26}$ | 31$^{31}$ | 24$^{23}$ | 23$^{23}$ | 136 |
| 25 | Dan Burkett | 24$^{23}$ | 31$^{31}$ | 23$^{21}$ | 23$^{23}$ | 27$^{27}$ | 23$^{21}$ | 28$^{27}$ | 26$^{26}$ | 136 |
| 26 | Federico Sceriffo | 28$^{28}$ | 29$^{29}$ | 27$^{27}$ | 29$^{29}$ | 28$^{28}$ | 22$^{19}$ | 26$^{25}$ | 28$^{28}$ | 136 |
| 27 | Matt Coffman | 20$^{16}$ | 23$^{23}$ | 22$^{19}$ | 20$^{19}$ | 13$^{16}$ | 14$^{17}$ | | | 136 |
| 28 | Kevin Lawrence | DNQ | 32$^{32}$ | 32$^{32}$ | 30$^{30}$ | 19$^{15}$ | 30$^{30}$ | 25$^{24}$ | 27$^{27}$ | 120 |
| 29 | Kyle Mohan | 31$^{31}$ | DNQ | 28$^{28}$ | 28$^{28}$ | 30$^{30}$ | 29$^{29}$ | 23$^{22}$ | 20$^{20}$ | 119 |
| 30 | Austin Meeks | 30$^{30}$ | 28$^{28}$ | DNQ | 26$^{26}$ | 29$^{29}$ | 28$^{28}$ | 31$^{31}$ | 24$^{24}$ | 119 |
| 31 | João Barion R | DNQ | 30$^{30}$ | 30$^{30}$ | | | 26$^{26}$ | 16$^{20}$ | 29$^{29}$ | 101 |
| 32 | Alex Heilbrunn | 18$^{14}$ | 14$^{13}$ | 24$^{23}$ | 18$^{15}$ | | | | | 87 |
| 33 | Sebastien Gauthier R | 29$^{29}$ | DNQ | 29$^{29}$ | DNQ | | 32$^{32}$ | 21$^{19}$ | 21$^{21}$ | 85 |
| 34 | Alec Hohnadell | 21$^{20}$ | 20$^{20}$ | DNQ | | | | | | 34 |
| 35 | Mitch Larner R | 22$^{21}$ | | | | | | | | 17 |
| NC | Manuel Vacca R | DNQ | | | | | | | | 0 |
| Sources: |||||||||||
In-line notation :
| $^{Superscriptnumber}$ | Qualifying position |
| 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 | ORL | ATL | WNJ | EVS | WWT | TEX | IRW | Pts |
| 1 | Toyota | 4$^{10}$ | 9$^1$ | 1$^1$ | 1$^9$ | 5$^5$ | 2$^2$ | 4$^{11}$ | 1$^2$ | 1059 |
| 1 | Toyota | 13$^{17}$ | 13$^{12}$ | 2$^3$ | 2$^2$ | 9$^3$ | 4$^6$ | 8$^{29}$ | 5$^3$ | 1059 |
| 2 | Ford | 8$^{13}$ | 3$^6$ | 9$^2$ | 4$^{11}$ | 6$^7$ | 6$^{12}$ | 1$^7$ | 7$^{13}$ | 789 |
| 2 | Ford | 10$^9$ | 4$^{16}$ | 16$^{24}$ | 5$^1$ | 10$^6$ | 9$^3$ | 17$^4$ | 9$^1$ | 789 |
| 3 | Nissan | 3$^8$ | 2$^7$ | 7$^8$ | 12$^8$ | 4$^{11}$ | 10$^5$ | 3$^5$ | 10$^4$ | 644 |
| 3 | Nissan | 23$^{22}$ | 19$^{19}$ | 18$^{11}$ | 16$^{18}$ | 19$^{15}$ | 15$^{20}$ | 9$^6$ | 12$^9$ | 644 |
| 4 | Chevrolet | 5$^1$ | 12$^{11}$ | 13$^{17}$ | 8$^{20}$ | 11$^{10}$ | 7$^{14}$ | 15$^{16}$ | 17$^{17}$ | 473 |
| 4 | Chevrolet | 26$^{25}$ | 26$^{26}$ | 14$^{20}$ | 24$^{24}$ | 22$^{20}$ | 24$^{22}$ | 16$^{20}$ | 22$^{22}$ | 473 |
| 5 | BMW | 12$^{12}$ | 15$^{14}$ | 4$^{10}$ | 14$^{12}$ | 7$^8$ | 8$^{25}$ | 10$^8$ | 2$^{12}$ | 385 |
| 6 | Cadillac | 27$^{27}$ | 27$^{27}$ | 25$^{25}$ | 26$^{26}$ | 26$^{26}$ | 28$^{28}$ | 24$^{23}$ | 23$^{23}$ | 255 |
| 6 | Cadillac | 30$^{30}$ | 28$^{28}$ | DNQ | 27$^{27}$ | 29$^{29}$ | 31$^{31}$ | 31$^{31}$ | 24$^{24}$ | 255 |
| 7 | Dodge | 14$^{18}$ | 17$^{17}$ | 12$^{14}$ | 22$^{22}$ | 25$^{25}$ | 18$^9$ | 14$^{15}$ | 19$^{19}$ | 187 |
| 8 | Ferrari | 28$^{28}$ | 29$^{29}$ | 27$^{27}$ | 29$^{29}$ | 28$^{28}$ | 22$^{19}$ | 26$^{25}$ | 28$^{28}$ | 136 |
| 9 | Mazda | 31$^{31}$ | DNQ | 28$^{28}$ | 28$^{28}$ | 30$^{30}$ | 29$^{29}$ | 23$^{22}$ | 20$^{20}$ | 119 |

### 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 | ORL | ATL | WNJ | EVS | WWT | TEX | IRW | Pts |
| 1 | Falken | 1$^5$ | 1$^5$ | 3$^4$ | 3$^5$ | 1$^1$ | 1$^1$ | 2$^1$ | 3$^6$ | 1189 |
| 1 | Falken | 5$^1$ | 5$^2$ | 5$^5$ | 5$^1$ | 2$^2$ | 3$^4$ | 5$^2$ | 4$^8$ | 1189 |
| 2 | Nexen | 3$^8$ | 2$^7$ | 1$^1$ | 2$^2$ | 4$^{11}$ | 2$^2$ | 3$^5$ | 10$^4$ | 952 |
| 2 | Nexen | 4$^{10}$ | 9$^1$ | 7$^8$ | 12$^8$ | 14$^{18}$ | 10$^5$ | 4$^{11}$ | 13$^{10}$ | 952 |
| 3 | Nitto | 10$^9$ | 3$^6$ | 2$^3$ | 1$^9$ | 9$^3$ | 4$^6$ | 1$^7$ | 5$^3$ | 932 |
| 3 | Nitto | 11$^{11}$ | 4$^{16}$ | 9$^2$ | 4$^{11}$ | 10$^6$ | 6$^{12}$ | 8$^{29}$ | 7$^{13}$ | 932 |
| 4 | Achilles Tires | 2$^6$ | 8$^8$ | 4$^{10}$ | 7$^{14}$ | 5$^5$ | 8$^{25}$ | 9$^6$ | 1$^2$ | 845 |
| 4 | Achilles Tires | 12$^{12}$ | 10$^9$ | 8$^{15}$ | 10$^4$ | 7$^8$ | 11$^{10}$ | 10$^8$ | 2$^{12}$ | 845 |

## Footnotes

* ↑ Taguchi competed in a Nissan GT-R at Long Beach but used a Nissan Silvia S15 for the remainder of the season.