Last month I was asked to be part of an exhibition at the Oshkosh EAA Air Venture called "Wings Vs. Wheels". I think the pictures that came out are simply amazing so I had to share them with everyone on here!
Carroll Shelby sure enjoyed me beating on his GT500, almost as much as I did! The things that come out of his mouth are hilarious; he is a super cool guy.
Upon arriving all I knew was that I would be driving a 2010 Shelby GT500 as fast as it would go down a huge runway with a plane flying next to me and I would need to throw it into a high speed drift to turn around. I've never even been to an air show and here I was being asked to be the showcase in one?!?! Well, it sounded fun so I signed up.
I was blown away by the amount of planes there. There were over 15,000 of them. They had every type of plane you could imagine: old, new, large, small, even some that I looked at and thought "wow you're crazy to fly that thing you built in your garage."
The idea of this exhibition was to "race" two 540hp Shelby GT500's against two race planes flown by world champion pilots. I lined up my GT500 with Kirby Chambliss in his 320HP Edge 540 plane. In the opposite lane Doug Van Den Brink lined up with Michael Goulian in his 340 HP Extra 330SC at the opposing end about 7000 feet away from myself and Kirby.
On the starters word we launched off the line. My GT500 pulled on the plane hard and just as we hit about the 1000 foot mark Kirby pretty much had his wing in my passenger window and was just staying there. I looked down at the speedometer as the other plane and GT500 came into view and I was flying at 155mph. So here I am doing a buck fifty-five down a straightaway with a plane on my door that I couldn't look at and a GT500 and another plane coming towards me at the same speed.
We passed with only a couple feet between us and just as we passed I saw an explosion out of the corner of my eyes; a 500-foot wall of fire was set to add some ooh's and ah's. I could feel the heat in the car! I had to keep the car floored through the smoke screen that the passing plane left. My brain did not like knowing I was going 160mph blind. Once I made it out of the smoke it was time to turn around, so I broke hard and threw the car in drift at about 90mph to do a full turnaround. As I did this Kirby did a Cuban Eight to turn around and we then headed back to where we started.
On the way back the opposing plane was heading right for me questionably too low as me and the other GT500 passed – BOOOOOM – then another explosion, which basically was our finish line. We got to do this three times over the weekend. All in all, it was a great time and more of a mental challenge then I ever imagined it to be!
There will be a really good video coming soon but for now check this out for video and high-res pictures: http://www.fordairventure.com/wingvswheels.html
-Vaughn Gittin Jr.
OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS
JR will you please stop selling your soul to Ford? Airplanes? Ford Mustangs HATS and DRIVING SUITS? Honestly probably the lamest thing I've ever seen associated with drifting... right behind Rhys Millen and everything he's ever done.
Our friend above us obviously doesn't understand the importance of keeping good sponsors happy. Awesome post Vaughn, really enjoyed reading through it.
a photog who can pull off frames #8, and 9 deserves respect. nice post.
Epic, a video is needed, and some of these pictures need to be desktops. The Mustang is definitely the best sounding drift car out there right now, nothing sounds quite as good as a V8.
our friend ilia doesn't understand the concept of sponsorships. it's ok though, by the time he's finished the second grade he'll have learned plenty.
haha hard for you to cherish sponsorships when you live in a mini mansion, drive two lexus' and daily your dads nsx. life is rough.
INSANE!!!!
That is cool. Did you get any pics of the STang with the best airplane ever made? The P-51 Mustang? Mustangs and Mustangs. Love it!
Who are you talking about?
Ilia, i'm coming over tonight.
I'll bring some gold diggers over , just make sure you keep the hundred bills filled high in the hot tub.
om1kron, you're way off. I drive a pretty crappy FC, and live in a small apartment.
I know exactly what sponsorships are.. I've been a vendor in the car business for 6 years. I also know that you should choose your sponsors carefully, and that just because a sponsor is offering you a good paycheck now, doesn't mean that you will have longevity later. MOPAR sponsored drifting for a while- where are they now? Do they care about drifting? Do they care about how the car looks? Do they understand what they're getting into?
If your sponsors "don't get it" and are simply diluting the thing you love to gain mass appeal, you're not helping anybody. You're doing a disservice to yourself and to your community.
illia, so you telling me if somone came to you and asked you to race a brand new GT500 against some cool airplanes, which included a giant wall of fire...you would say no? hahahahaha
this is fucking badass JR
he was probably going to throw the beautiful ford racing, falken tire , bosch spark plug, k&n airfilter, msd ignition , tampax, lou's bbq , mustang into a 160 mph drift but the p-51 mustang pilot brake checked him. seeing how he didnt win the race.
ilia---You really have NO IDEA! Anything that brings drifting to the masses is great!!
And JR is backed by a great sponsor in FORD and its only common sense to give back. Did you see JR's trip to japan in the mustang, taking it back to the roots, courtesy of a FORD mustang!!
Go back to your crappy FC and stop hating on anyone doing better than yourself!!
Ford Racing is NOT MOPAR. Chrysler tanked, of course they're not going to continue writing checks for a factory drift team that hardly anyone outside of the drifting community has heard of. Ford can afford to support Vaughn and will continue to do so. If you knew anything about sponsorships, especially in a sport like drifting, you'd know that any sponsor is a good sponsor, and you have to take what you can get. The fact that Ford Racing is willing to sponsor a DRIFT car for god's sake, shows that they care about drifting.
ilia:
Ford Racing is NOT MOPAR. Chrysler tanked, of course they're not going to continue writing checks for a factory drift team that hardly anyone outside of the drifting community has heard of. Ford can afford to support Vaughn and will continue to do so. If you knew anything about sponsorships, especially in a sport like drifting, you'd know that any sponsor is a good sponsor, and you have to take what you can get. The fact that Ford Racing is willing to sponsor a DRIFT car for god's sake, shows that they care about drifting.
I don't think he's doing better than I am at all, as I have no desire for what he's achieved. I just wish he had a better looking car, tried harder to do drifting justice, and wasn't watering the sport down for mass appeal. There's no need to be that big of a corporate flag waver.
Oh yeah, and JR, kick ass in Sonoma1
ilia,
You are so far out of line it's ridiculous. Do you think any sport got successful by staying in its own little niche never presenting itself to the public? How the heck do you expect drifting to grow if it has zero mass appeal? And being a "Corporate Flag Waver" is called having a large sponsor and trying to keep them happy. If he decided he was never going to do a single thing for Ford they would drop him in a heartbeat. You say you know what the importance of sponsors is but you clearly don't have a clue about how keeping one works. I race in real life and have sponsors to try to keep happy. You don't get sponsors by sitting on your ass and doing nothing. And when you do get them you do everything in your power to keep them. Give you head a shake.
I'm glad most of you enjoyed the pictures, they blew my mind when I saw them!
Ilia- I love drifting and you know what else I love? Its called Fun. This event was fun, this event was also an opportunity to expose drifting to a couple hundred thousand people. Its weird I have a Mustang suit on? Remember when I had one since 2005 I genuinely love the Mustang and will jump at any opportunity to have fun in one. I also genuinely love Drifting and will continue to do whatever I can to expose it to every and any demographic to help the growth of the sport and do my part to make sure up and coming drivers have opportunity to chase dreams. Your attitude towards the things I am doing is the first I have heard so I will just assume you dont really understand the larger picture of my initiatives, It certainly is ussually not about money my friend.
JR- is it possible to make your pro drift car look better? The other thing I can't dig at all is the fact that it's completely race prepped. It doesn't look like a street car at all. Daigo Saito has a fully prepped high horsepower car, but he does it with style. Why can't you? Why is it so difficult?
So just becuase he doesn't have a gaudy areo, and dish wheels, his car has no style? Sad to see that dirfting nowadays has to be about cars with rediculious looking areo, widebodys, and offset...
ok ok
You guys keep doing your America thing with fighter planes and explosions and ford mustangs. I'll keep telling you that you should probably not sign a release to do whatever ford wants you to at the beginning of each season.
It'll be fine.
Thanks for the support everyone! One thing I have learned is that as much as a drift purist I think I could be someone shows me up, not everyone can get it
Ilia-I do not own the Falken Tire Mustang. I am very proud to fly the colors Of Falken Tire a company with great tires and the longest supporter of drifting over here. It has been 5 years and it might be time for a change, but it is not fully my decision and I am extremely appreciative for what they have built me to compete in. We have been more focused on making the car work then worrying about aero and to be honest id rather drive a pink polka dot car that works and is fun to drive then a car that looks good and drives like garbage. I am just now finallizing the aero kit for the car and it will be seen soon enough, I can only dream YOU will approve of it. I hope I have cleared some of the misery you seem to be in. I appreciatte the feedback regardless of its relevance, have fUn in that FC even a "ugly" car guy knows they can easily be sexy.
Hey JR, you don't come to ASB anymore.
bummer, man.
@crappy attitude
I think someone's jealous....
Ilia-just for the record I dont get paid from Ford to compete in a Mustang.In general I do what makes sense and more importantly what I want to do. Thanks for the advice though.
I will be back at oshkosh next year come check it out, you might be proud how I represent drifting out there, if not Im sure the 100000 plus smiles and cheers will drown your frown.
Have fun pal!
Awesome stuff JR, keep doing you and balling out. I'd rather have guys getting paid for doing what they love then otherwise. Keep drifting, keep grinding and keep having fun, the love outweighs the hate.
Oh, And can we get some of these as desktop wallpapers....like ASAP!! haha
If you go to the link in the post there is Hi res shots for desktops. Enjoy man! Thanks!
That look like fun. I would do it for free. Hay JR dont worry about llia and if he likes the Stang. Every one gives everyone crap about what they drive. I get crap all the time for driving my 1966 Dodge Coronet. I just got a supercharger for it so hell ya! I think your Stang looks good and I"m A MOPAR man. Just remember that we have great taste in cars. I would love to see a red,white, and blue Falken paint scheme on your car, it would fit you perfectly. Know for the hole MOPAR thing. MOPAR pulled from all major motor sports except NASCAR and NHRA. They will be back. If you look in their parts book they had MOPAR Drift all over it. They just dont have the money right know to back Sam and Shawn. It be nice if they backed me to drift my Coronet and help me find a damn CUDA! Good luck JR and tell Sam and Shawn I said good luck to them too. thanks. Like always keep up the kick ass work guys. BOOOOOSH!
illa is the poster child of the elitist pricks of the Chicago drift scene. They are too cool for everything. They treat drifting like Middle School.
I can certanly say that JR does whatever is in his power to show drifting to any one. He, Chris and Tony came down to El Salvador to do the first drift show in our country, and everyone loved it. I would love to have him here back again sometime, and you guys can watch him drift whenever you want, just GO AND DO IT! This show certanly looks like fun, let's do it over here bro!
Good luck, take care and keep it sideways.
BH-I hate that I miss ASB, everytime you throw it I have a conflicting event this year! but remeber we have East Coast Bash bro, I was there this year and hope to go in September, get a flight sucka!!!!
JR you're a madman, i've never seen anything that insane at the air shows here in Canuckistan, you should come show us how it's done 8)
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I wish i could make it out to east coast bash this year, but scheduling conflicts are dumb
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keep up the good work!
@ ilia - Too bad your crews cars look better than your crews driving
Weak sauce slow bull shite! 30 mph drifts = LAME!!! Get out of the parking lots homie!
Disregard everything I've said, I suck cocks.
I live in a mansion and drive two lexus's, as well as my dad's nsx... I love drifting in parking lots at 30 miles per hour, but my car is so ugly that I'm just afraid to take it anywhere else. The elitist prick chicago drift scene is here to stay, so you better deal with it or else I'll personally deliver you all wet willies.
Honestly, I think JR is a great driver, and I respect him, but I agree with ilia... Personally I really don't care about bringing drifting to the masses, or pictures of a mustang/airplane/fire, but at the same time it really has nothing to do with drifting, and the all american folk out in oshkosh probably ate it up, so mission accomplished I guess.
Keep drifting legit and I live in a mansion.
JR - ASB 2010...midwest. Be there or be square
GET EM!
Chicago sucks.
put these pictures on desktops!!! please.
REGARDLESS of what JR does, who sponsors him, or what car he drives or what that car looks like, he is a great driver, and i have mad respect for him. keep doing your thing out there JR, for the fans, not the haters.
WoA'S - High res pics for desktops can be found at this link: http://www.fordairventure.com/wingvswheels.html
Awsome PICS!! Looks like you had a Blast JR