Vaughn Gittin Jr. Jumps His Mustang into the Freedom Factory
Vaughn Gittin Jr. and Chelsea Denova visit the Freedom Factory. And Cleetus McFarland tries to impress his girlfriend… with mixed results.
It’s a move worthy of one of Ken Block’s Gymkhana series videos. Drift legend Vaughin Gittin Jr. performs an insane entry into Cleetus McFarland’s Freedom Factory race track. Thanks to a rise right before the entry to the track, the Gittin Jr.’s Mustang drift car catches an impressive amount of air while it’s sliding sideways. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably aware of Cleetus McFarland’s new playground. McFarland and crew recently bought DeSoto Speedway. The track was built in the 1970s but was abandoned at some point. McFarland was able to purchase it last year when the foreclosed property was auctioned off. Owning your own racetrack is pretty much the coolest thing a car guy can do. Given McFarland’s hijinks so far on his YouTube channel, the Freedom Factory will no doubt produce some pretty amazing content.
Formula D pro drifters Vaughn Gittin Jr. and Chelsea Denofa stopped by the track recently with their Mustang racers. The Mustangs are the Team RTR (Ready to Rock) machines. These monsters put out around 900 horsepower and can rev to an insane 9,000-rpm thanks to their custom V8s built by Roush Yates. “We’re putting the track to the real test,” says Gittin. They don’t waste any time shredding around the recently cleaned up banks of the Freedom Factory oval track. McFarland even has a go in a third Mustang drift car that Gittin and Denofa brought along as well, after first doing a few sideways laps in his Crown Victoria faux-police car.
While the powerful Crown Vic is easy to slide around, the professionally setup Mustang drift machine he has a chance to drive is a little more challenging. “So this one of those moments when you’re trying to impress your girlfriend and you just can’t seem to figure it out,” admits McFarland in the video. “The car was sending me on a loop. I just could not figure it out, so after many attempts and my beloved girlfriend being so supportive I finally just had to go up to Chelsea with my tail between my legs and ask what I was doing wrong.”
Despite it being a full-blown drift machine, McFarland just can’t seem to get the Mustang to slide with as much ease as his Crown Vic cop car. “Your Crown Vic has so much more power, so this car requires you to use technique,” Denofa tells McFarland.
After a brief rundown of a better approach, McFarland hits the banks of the Freedom Factory again to see if he can wrestle the Mustang into submission. His second attempt is far better than the first. He manages to get some pretty decent drifts from the Mustang. As DeNofa rightly says: “Sometimes you have to slow down to go faster.”
Don’t take our word for it, though. Check out the video.
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