To kick off the 2019 Formula Drift season we have compiled a fun Top 10 list of the drivers you don’t remember over the past 15+ years of Formula Drift.
10. Rod Millen
Yes, the Dad of Rhys Millen had a stint in Formula Drift in 2006. He debuted in a Mazda Rx-8 and lost to Tanner Foust in his first ever event at Streets of Long Beach in Top 16. His career was short lived as a drift driver and eventually he sold the Rx-8 to Tony Angelo who went on to use it in several Formula Drift seasons. Rod Millen’s racing career is very impressive including holding the overall Pikes Peak record from 1994-2007 with a blistering 10:04:06 in his AWD Toyota Celica. Rod Millen even went on to win the Transsyberia Rally 2007 along with a very long list of racing awards and achievements.
9. Mark Arcenal
Mark Arcenal had a very short career in Formula Drift that included about one single qualifying run. Sadly he crashed his S14 above at Sonoma Raceway that year and never returned. Mark is the owner of a hugely successful brand in Fatlace/Illest based out of San Francisco. He is also a very respected car builder putting together some amazing and unique project cars including doing builds for OEMs to debut at the SEMA Show.
8. Tsukasa Gushi
Another father makes our list of most forgotten Formula Drift drivers at number 8 isTsukasa Gushi. He is the father of Ken Gushi and Tsukasa also had a unique and interesting career in motorcycle and rally racing before his run in Formula Drift. He also owned and ran a performance garage in San Gabriel, California and quickly put his son Ken Gushi behind the wheel at a very very young age. He drove a Subaru WRX converted to RWD in the 2006 season next to Rod Millen but sadly never qualified under the Top 16 format of the time to compete in tandem.
7. Blake Fuller
Blake Fuller is another interesting name on the forgotten drivers list. He actually debuted the very first FWD car in Formula Drift converting an Acura Integra to RWD and running it in Formula Drift. Sadly, we had no pics in the Wrecked Magazine archive of it so we featured a photo of him later on in his Braille Battery Nissan 350z. What some might not know is that GoPuck is another brand founded and run by Blake Fuller. Under that brand he has taken his Tesla Model S to hold the EV lap record at Sonoma Raceway and holds the EV Production Car record at Pikes Peak at 11:48 in the same Tesla Model S.
6. James Bondurant
James Bondurant’s name might sound familiar as he is the grandson of the famous Bob Bondurant who had an amazing racing career and now owns a race school in Arizona. James and his Drift Avengers had a short career in Formula Drift competing in an old road race Lexus IS300 that he worked to setup for Formula Drift. The car never quite got there and James quickly went into retirement after unsuccessfully competing for a small period of time.
5. Katsuhiro Ueo
While tons of Japanese drivers came and went from Formula Drift over the years we felt like Katsuhiro Ueo wins top honors in this category. Ueo had near legend status in the old school drifting community within the AE86 world. He dominated in his AE86 in D1GP but appeared in America with a S15 Silvia. His limited time in Formula Drift left some serious impressions during his era. His 2009 tandem battle against Ken Gushi won tandem battle of the year at Wrecked Magazine for that season. Then in Las Vegas he was part of the famous bunny hop battle against Ryan Tuerck where Tuerck’s Pontiac Solstice went flying through the air after jumping over Ueo’s S15 under the Vegas lights. As quickly as he came into Formula Drift he was gone and earned himself this mark as a forgotten driver.
4. Kenji Yaminaka
Kenji Yaminaka makes the list because of his big driving style but even bigger character at the time in Formula Drift. Kenji is the only person to ever use an oversized human prop while on the podium of Formula Drift using his famous oversized ear to excite or confuse fans… I’m not really sure which it was. Kenji Yaminaka was also a member of the famous Drift Alliance for a short period of time. Kenji drove and dominated in the JIC Silvia for some time and interestingly enough had a winning all time record against Vaughn Gittin Jr. (2-1) and never lost a battle against Chris Forsberg (2-0) during his time period in the sport. Kenji is also the most successful driver to make our list having three podiums during his 24 rounds he competed in Formula Drift.
3. Alex Pfeiffer
Alex Pfeiffer had a long stint in Formula Drift and most notably use to drift this Honda s2000 for RSR back in the day. He also owned and founded Battle Version suspension that still develops and builds arms for several car chassis today. Alex was also the first ever Hawaiian to run in Formula Drift being born in Honolulu. He had quite the personality and was a memorable drifter back in the day.
2. Robby Unser
The car above was debuted at SEMA 2007 for Robby Unser but it was campaigned that next season by Bill Sherman in Formula Drift. Of all the cross over racers and relatives of famous race car drivers I have to say Robby Unser had the most promise behind a drift car. He ran a quick stint in a 240sx for Enjuku Racing in the 2007 season. Robby never made a dent with records in Formula Drift but he was the rookie of the year in the 1998 Indy season where he finished 5th at the Indy 500. Robby also is a nine time winner in his class at Pikes Peak.
1. Tyson Beckford
YES!!! The Tyson Beckford had a brief stint with Team X and teammate Tony Brakohiapa back in 2005. The man who Vogue Magazine called “the most famous male model of all time” put on a racing suit and competed in Formula Drift. Sadly, one of his first events was at Soldier Field in Chicago back in 2005 that destroyed a good 10+ cars on its weekend. Tyson Beckford was one of those cars drifting his Ford Mustang right into the turn one wall and never really making a successful return after that.
