To some, a four-leaf clover is a good luck charm. To Formula Drift star Vaughn Gittin Jr., it’s a challenge.
There are several ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Many people mark the occasion by wearing at least one green item of clothing (and pinching anyone who forgot to), eating corned beef and cabbage, and/or going to an Irish pub and drinking beer (which may or not be green). This Ford Performance video showing Vaughn Gittin Jr. drifting through a four-leaf clover highway interchange may not officially mention St. Paddy’s, but it definitely looks like one hell of a way to kick off the festivities.
Gittin Jr. and the Ford Performance crew find their lucky loops in Lake Worth, Texas. They also find a cooperative police force which shuts the entire interchange down for their video shoot.
Sticking with the four-leaf clover theme, Gittin Jr.’s Ford Mustang RTR is covered in a green wrap and runs – you guessed it – green underbody lighting. If that isn’t perfect for St. Paddy’s, we don’t know what is.
Before firing up his specially prepared drift machine, Gittin Jr. tucks what appears to be a preserved four-leaf clover into his racing suit. He doesn’t need luck, though. He has years of experience and 900 horsepower to help him get – and stay – sideways. He roars away from a dead stop, the back end of his car wiggling in an attempt to find traction.
Luckily, Gittin Jr. doesn’t need much of that. Shortly after launching, he upsets the balance of his car so that he can slide through the first leaf of the clover. He leaves a cloud of white rubber vapor in his wake as he drifts past the people waiting in the drive-thru line at a Whataburger, giving them a show to go with their St. Paddy’s Day dinner.
He charges on using a mixture of right pedal, steering lock, and hand brake to roar and smoke his way through the other three leaves of the 1.4-mile highway layout. We’ll drink to that – no matter what day of the year it is.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
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