10 Things We Learned from 2025 Formula DRIFT Seattle

Matt Field and his Borla Performance GT Radial Heat Wave Visual Leen Customs Drift Cave Motorsports Corvette is back in the chase for the championship after winning in Seattle. Field entered Seattle in fifth place, but after earning 50 points with a win, he now sits in third place with 150 points tied with Adam LZ (70 points behind first place James Deane). 

Field has been a serious contender for the championship in the past few years (finishing second in 2021 and 2022, and third in 2023). In 2024, he finished in 7th. We're sure he's excited to be doing better this season and with two events left to go, he still has a shot at the championship. 

James Deane and his 2025 AutoZone Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD kicked the event off by being the first in line for practice and threw down a heater of a lead run on the newly modified course. From that point on Deane seemed like he was going to be the one to beat in Seattle. 

Since Deane won the St. Louis round, he would kick off the battles in Top 32 on Saturday. Starting with Ken Gushi, in classic James "The Machine" Deane form, he threw down consistent lead and chase runs most of the day. Deane would go onto to win against Branden Sorensen, Wataru Masuyama, and Adam LZ before losing to Matt Field in the finals. In the end, Deane would earn 40 points in Seattle (10 points for every win) separating him from Fredric Aasbø, whom he was tied with coming into this round. 

Fredric Aasbø came into Seattle tied with James Deane (180 points) and most would have been safe to assume the two champions would leave the event tied or pretty close in points. However, Aasbø ran into a transmission issue in his battle with Daniel Stuke in the Top 32 when his car came out of gear exiting Outer Zone 3. It would result in contact between the two and ultimately give Stuke the win over the three-time champion. 

By going out in Top 32, Aasbø failed to earn any points and would fall to second, 40 points behind James Deane going in to Utah with just two rounds left in the season. 

Adam LZ was one of the most exciting drivers to watch in Seattle this weekend. His ability to throw the car into some of the turns and make it look amazing definitely did not go unnoticed with the fans. We may not have Chelsea DeNofa and Justin Pawlak showcasing style in the series anymore, but LZ is on his way to carrying that torch now. 

LZ would have a controversial battle with Dylan Hughes in the Great 8 where the two would make contact in Outer Zone 4. After winning that battle, LZ would lose to James Deane in the Final 4. LZ would finish in third place, marking the third time he's landed on it this season. LZ currently sits tied for third with Seattle event winner Matt Field with 150 points (70 points behind first place Deane). 

While we miss Daigo Saito competing the last two rounds, we can't deny that it's great having Wataru Masuyama fill in for Daigo in the Enjuku Racing / BC Racing / Jerry Yang Racing GR86. Masuyama hasn't competed in Formula DRIFT since 2022, and although he's been competing in Formula DRIFT Japan the last few years, he hasn't missed a beat with the competition level in the US. 

Masuyama's first couple of practice runs were with his teammate Hiro Minowa and he looked comfortable in the GR86 right away. Masuyama would start the event in the Seeding Bracket where he would get his first win back against Dan Burkett before losing to Odi Bakchis. However on Saturday during the Main Bracket, Masuyama would take out Connor O'Sullivan and Nick Noback before losing to James Deane in the Great 8. It'll be nice to see how Masuyama finishes out the rest of the season and if it will mean he returns to the series full time next year. 

Despite some drivers not in favor of the seeding bracket, we'd venture to say a few of them that experienced mechanical or engine issues during Friday practice might have been in favor of it this round, especially if they were already seeded. Reason being, if there was qualifying, they would have had to have their car running Friday afternoon/evening in time for the qualifying session. However, with seeding, only the drivers in the seeding bracket needed to run on Friday giving the seeded drivers all night to work on their vehicles. 

Those that experienced engine issues on Friday included Conor Shanahan, who would end up borrowing Dmitriy Brutskiy's PROSPEC car, Ryan Tuerck, and then unfortunately Dmitriy Brutskiy who would have his own issues in his PRO car. 

Branden Sorensen was one of the few drivers who was doing great during practice early on and consistently filling the zones. This carried over for him during the Seeding Bracket that evening where he would finish on the top spot. Unfortunately for Sorensen the next day in the Main Bracket, he would face four-time champion James Deane in the Top 16. After putting down a good chase run behind Deane, Sorensen would end up getting into the wall towards the end of Outer Zone 1 that would ultimately disrupt his line and send him three tires off in Outer Zone 2 earning him an incomplete and giving Deane the win. 

Sorensen's driving this season has been exciting to watch since the season opener in Long Beach. Each event he's continually showing why he's going to be a contender for the championship very soon. 

Last season, Conor Shanahan competed with Rome Charpentier's BMW E36, and did pretty well with an 8th place overall finish. Especially when you take into account that he missed the Atlanta round due to a scheduling conflict with a Drift Masters event that he attended that weekend instead. 

This year Shanahan's been competing in every round in the Shanahan 79 GT86. While he hasn't missed a round this year, he's currently sitting in 15th place with just two rounds to go. Shanahan suffered some engine issues on Thursday and ended up using Dmitriy Brutskiy's PROSPEC BMW in competition. Despite looking pretty comfortable in the borrowed BMW, Shanahan would end up losing to local Dylan Hughes in the Top 16. 

It'll be interesting to see if he stays with the GT86 next year or toys with the idea to switch over to a BMW in 2026 given his success with them on this side of the pond.

A lot of people will say the fans at Road Atlanta are some of the best ones in Formula DRIFT. It doesn't hurt that Formula DRIFT has been going to Atlanta every year since it started in 2004, especially since many of their fans have been attending from the start. 

However, the Seattle audience might be Atlanta's biggest rival. Formula DRIFT has been coming to Evergreen Speedway since 2006, so their fans have been at it almost as long. The vibe at Seattle is different than Atlanta, but in a good way. The fans are just as enthusiastic and entertaining. They don't hesitate to let the judges know if they disagree with a call and cheer for their favorite driver almost every battle. The metal overhang covering the stands help make the large venue a little more intimate, plus it help amplify the noice from both the cars and the audience.Also, you don't get that stomping your feet on metal bleachers effect at Road Atlanta. 

As an added bonus, it's great to just walk the parking lot during the event and see what showed up. A lot of the fans bring out some nice and rare builds to this event. Especially with the Canadian border so close and their ability to bring over newer JDM cars. In any case, we hope Seattle stays on the schedule for years to come, as this place has been a staple to the series for such a long time.

This year's Seattle course may not have looked like there was any real changes from the graphic Formula DRIFT released prior to the event. However, once you saw some laps, it was clear to see the increased width in the power alley that holds Outer Zones 2 and 3 was a great addition. The course also adjusted the placement of Zones Two, Three, and Four, as well as shortening the finish line.

The widened power alley now resembles the change they made to the power alley in Orlando last year where the line is more of a "S" curve versus a straight line. With the cars gaining grip each year and increasing speed, this change was definitely one for the better and the tandem battles this weekend demonstrated that.