At the 2019 Formula Drift Half Way Point - FD Profile: Life of Ken Gushi Video

Ken Gushi and the Toyota Racing - Achilles Tire -  GReddy Performance 86 Team fight back in a strong FDNJ round 4 performance to the Top 8 quarter finals.   1 month before the second half of the season resumes at July 19-20 at FDSEA at Evergreen Speedway, WA.

In this Life Of episode, we hang for the whole weekend at Road Atlanta with Ken Gushi. Gushi gives us some insights into his team, his responsibilities as a pro driver and we also get to go along with Ken in competition.

TEAM GREDDY RACING GEAR - SHOPGREDDY.COM

Round 1 FDLB - April 5th-6th Streets of Long Beach, CA

Round 2 FDFL - April 26th-27th Orlando Speed World, FL

Round 3 FDATL - May 10th-llth Road Atlanta, GA

Round 4 FDNJ - June 7th-8th Wall Speedway, NJ

 

Photos: Larry Chen Photos

Round 4 FDSEA - July 19th-20th Evergreen Speedway, WA - coming soon...

Ken Gushi Motorsports

Toyota Racing

GReddy Performance Products

GReddy event coverage from Formula Drift FDATL 2016

Ken Gushi and the GReddy Racing - SR by Toyota Team has definitely had our share of highs and lows over the years at Road Atlanta.

Last year the Formula Drift event in Atlanta was one of our all time highs, with our first Team Podium with Ken.   It really showed the strength of the driver, team and car, having to fight multiple one more time (OMT) battles with tough competitors, on the way to a 2nd place finish.  It began a string of top qualifiers and podium finishes over the rest of the 2015 Season and Rd.1 this season.  (Watch Last Years SR by Toyota Driven 2 Drift recap of FDATL 2015.) 

Unfortunately, Round 2 in Atlanta this year, did not go as well.  Read below and hear first hand from Ken, how the race week unfolded...


Luckily with one extra round this season, and a big shake up between Rd1 and Rd2 finishers, the championship race is still a wide open. (Formula Drift Post Show Video)


FDATL - Top32 Video Clip - Gushi Lead Run with Essa.
http://formuladrift.networka.com/amazing-chase-at-michaelessa-win-vs-at-kengushi-top-32-number-fdatl-2nd-run-formulad-dot-com/live

Look for Gushi and the GReddy Racing - Nexen Tire - SR by Toyota 86 Team to regroup and comeback harder then ever for Rd.3, Orlando Speedworld, FL - June 3-4

Ken Gushi s personal event recap: "Formula Drift Atlanta was a tough break for our team. We started the weekend on Thursday with open practice and for some reason, I could not get the car to rotate properly from In-Clip 1 to OuterZone 1. I began addressing the issue by making rebump adjustments on the KW coilovers. A few clicks out and it began to show improvements. But then I felt like now it was rotating a bit too slow. So I made a couple changes on the compression side. It was better.... I think. Thursday's open practice ended with a lack of confidence going into Friday's qualifying.
My strategy for Qualifying was to mirror the same line and angle as last year but in lap one, I threw the car in too aggressive into outer zone 2 and ended up running short towards the latter half the zone. 76. Second lap, I decided to tone down a little at outer zone 2 and ended up running a bit timid but with a cleaner conservative line. 79. We were slotted 19th in the top 32 battle, matched up with Mike Essa. I haven't scored so low in a qualifying round since the first round of 2015. This is not a very good feeling nor was it any form of a confidence boost.
Saturday morning, I decided to have the rear springs swapped to a softer rate with hopes of increasing rear grip. I don't know if that was a smart move, but I will get into that later.
During practice that morning, the car felt great up front, but when chasing, I couldn't get the car to hook up accelerating into outer zone 1. No matter who I chased, I would get gapped at outer zone 1 going up-hill. At this point, I was lost with the rear suspension set-up. I didn't know which way to go and we were running out of time. My top 32 battle against Mike was a disaster since my worst fears became a reality. Mike was split-second faster to get back on throttle after initiation, and I had a hard time finding grip going uphill towards outer zone 2. To make things worse, the steering wheel locked at full-lock braking into outer zone 2. It would have been okay if I was to get back on throttle, but was in no shape or form to do that at that moment. We both drove past the finish line with about a 4 car gap. Advantage Mike.
On my lead lap, I drove my absolute best to throw as much angle and smoke as I could but I was not able to shake him off. My transition from outer zone 1 to outer zone 2 was the best chance I had to throw him off. Instead of braking into outer zone 2, I decided to throw it in backwards and use angle and throttle to decel, but no luck. The was my absolute best run of the weekend and it came a little too late.
We were knocked out and as a result, we sit 11th in the championship ranking with 6 rounds left. Do we still have room to make up points and take the fight to the top? Absolutely. We will come back in Orlando standing on the podium."

Formula Drift Rd.2 Atlanta - May 6-7

Ken Gushi and the GReddy Racing - Nexen Tire - SR by Toyota 86 Team will begin our east coast leg of the 2016 Formula Drift Pro Championships this weekend, May 6th and 7th at Road Atlanta, GA. and we are bring along our full Boost Brigade line!

Be sure to watch it live, Friday & Saturday
http://www.formulad.com/live

 
Formula Drift video teaser:

 
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS 

Friday, May 6, 2016 
7:00am – VENUE OPEN: Credential Holders Only – Venue 
7:00am – 9:45pm – BOX OFFICE HOURS – Box Office 
10:00am – 9:00pm – WILL CALL: Open for credential pick up – Will Call Tent 
1:30pm – 3:30pm – PRO: Open Practice – Track 
3:45pm – 6:45pm – PRO: Qualifying: All Drivers – Track 
6:45pm – 7:30pm – PRO: Autograph Signing Session – TBA 
7:00pm – 8:00pm – PRO 2: Practice – Track 
8:15pm – 8:30pm – PRO 2: National Anthem / Opening Ceremonies – Track 
8:45pm – 10:30pm – PRO 2: Top 16 Competition – Track 
10:30pm – 11:00pm – PRO 2: Trophy Ceremony & Closing 


Saturday, May 7, 2016 - Main Event 
7:00am – 9:00pm – BOX OFFICE HOURS – Box Office  
7:00am – VENUE OPEN: Credential Holders Only – Venue 
10:00am – 8:00pm – WILL CALL: Open for credential pick up – Will Call Tent 
2:30pm – 4:00pm – PRO: Open Practice – Top 32 – Track 
4:10pm – 6:00pm – PRO: Main Competition - Round of 32 – Track 
6:00pm – 7:30pm – HALF TIME BREAK 
6:30pm – 7:30pm – VIP EXPERIENCE: Track Walk – TBA 
7:30pm – 8:00pm – NATIONAL ANTHEM / OPENING CEREMONIES – Track  
8:00pm – 10:00pm – PRO: Main Competition - Round of 16 to Finals – Track 
10:00pm – 10:30pm – TROPHY CEREMONY & CLOSING

GReddy Event Coverage from Formula Drift Atlanta 2015

Ken Gushi drives the GReddy Performance X Hankook Tire X Scion Racing FR-S to a 2nd Place finish in round 2 of the Formula Drift Pro Championships at Road Atlanta!photo via. Scion Racing (Alex Wong / Larry Chen)

Saturday's Full Event Video via Formula Drift Channel. (here)

After a less then ideal season opener on the streets of Long Beach last month, the GReddy Team regrouped and came back stronger then ever.  With a fresh GReddy 2JZ engine, drastic set-up changes, and just a couple weeks to work, the GReddy Team prepared the Scion FR-S for Ken Gushi's attack on the high-speed Road Atlanta roadcourse.

From the start of the Formula Drift Thursday practice till the end of the event, Ken drove with focused aggression.  Ken utilized the full potential of his Hankook tires and the FR-S' newly found speed and angle.  During Friday's Qualifying, Ken had a slight bobble on his first qualifying run due too being overly aggressive, but like a true professional, cleaned up his second run for an impressive 89pt and the number 6 position for the Saturday tandem battles.



In Top 32, Ken received a solo bye run, since the #27 seed, Mats Baribeau's JZX90 was unable to make the grid.  This sent Ken directly onto the opening ceremonies and best 16 battle against the #11 seed, Alec Hohnadell in his V8 S14.

In the FDATL Great 8 there was an all GReddy battle between #14 seed, Charles Ng in is GReddy twin turbo VR38-powered G37 vs Ken Gushi's GReddy 2JZ.  (video) After close battle with Ng, Ken moves on to arguabllly the best battles of the event with defending 2014 Formula Drift Champion, Chris Forsberg.





In this all Hankook tire battle, Ken and Forsberg made near perfect lead and follow passes, run after run.  But after the second OMT (one more time) battle, Ken showed just a little more proximity in a crucial part of the the course, "the horseshoe" and that was enough to edge out the win and moving on to the finals.

* You really have to see these battles to appreciate the commitment from both drivers.  Check out this Road Atlanta fan video. (here)


After a very long weekend of aggressive runs, the GReddy Performance x Hankook Tire x Scion Racing FR-S began to show some wear.  But Ken still gave it 100% to finish the two runs in impressive fashion, against the finalist from the other side of the bracket, and current points leader, Odi Bakchis.

Congratulations to FDATL event winners: 1st Odi Bakchis & 3rd Chris Forsberg

Look for the GReddy Team to work even harder to find that next step on the podium...

Formula Drift Rd.3, Orlando, FL - June 5-6 
Orlando Speedworld.

 

GReddy Performance X Hankook Tire X Scion Racing FR-S 
with Driver: Ken Gushi

 technical partners
  Ray's  | KW Suspension
 Rocket Bunny | Garrett | Supertech | TRUST 

 WPC  | Ignition Projects | OS Giken | SPL Parts | FMT | Bluemoon

FDATL Formula Drfit Press Release

For Immediate Release

May 9, 2015

Formula DRIFT Round 2: Road to the Championship Results;
Aurimas “Odi” Bakchis Takes His First Victory Moves into First Place in the Standings


Long Beach, Calif. – May 9, 2015 – Formula DRIFT presented by GoPro returned to Road Atlanta for Round 2: Road to the Championship. Aurimas “Odi” Bakchis in the Feal Suspension / ARK Performance / Nitto Tire Nissan 240 SX takes the victory for his first Formula DRIFT win of his career and rises to the top of the standings.

Round 2: Road to the Championship was a night of upsets as the top qualifiers failed to move past the early rounds of the competition. The action packed event provided the fans with a competitive atmosphere that kept them on their feet throughout the night. 240,000 fans tuned in to watch the competition unfold on the Livestream broadcast during the event weekend.

“This season thus far has been very competitive,” says Jim Liaw, President of Formula DRIFT. “The competition is as tough as ever as can be proven by all the upsets tonight. It will be exciting to watch how the season unfolds especially as we head into a brand new venue at Orlando Speedworld for the next round.”

The semi-finals were a challenge for both defending champion, Chris Forsberg in the NOS Energy Drink / Hankook Tire Nissan 370Z and Ken Gushi in the GReddy Racing / Hankook Tire Scion Racing FR-S as their battles were too close to determine a definitive winner by the judges, leading to multiple one more time battles. During their third battle, Gushi edged out Forsberg with his close proximity on his chase run giving him the win, while Forsberg inches his way up the rankings to third place. The Finals pitted Gushi and Bakchis. Bakchis’ speed was too much for Gushi as he took an early lead in his lead run, which lead to his first Formula DRIFT victory and moves him into first place in the standings. Gushi found the podium for the first time since the 2009 season and moves into fifth place overall. “It feels great to get my first win,” said Aurimas Bakchis, winner of Round 2: Road to the Championship. “Road Atlanta is my favorite venue and I’m super stoked to continue the momentum I set in Long Beach. Currently sitting in first for the Championship and it feels amazing!”

The 2015 Formula DRIFT season will continue to Round 3: Uncharted Territory on June 5-6 and for the first time be held at Orlando Speedworld. For more information visit: www.formuladrift.com and find Formula DRIFT on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Tune into Formula DRIFT on CBS Sports and check your local listings for airtimes.

Round 2: Road to the Championship Event Results
1. Bakchis, Aurimas    Feal Suspension / ARK Performance / Nitto Nissan 240SX    Winner
2. Gushi, Ken    GReddy Racing / Hankook Tire Scion Racing FR-S    2nd Place
3. Forsberg, Chris    NOS Energy Drink / Hankook Tire Nissan 370Z    3rd Place
4. Wang, Forrest    Get Nuts Lab Nissan S15    4th Place
5. Moen, Kenny    Bridges Racing / Achilles / Gatebil Nissan S14    5th Place
6. Ng, Charles    Maxxis / Sparkplugs.com Infiniti G37    6th Place
7. Goodin, Pat    Enjuku Racing / Falken Tire Nissan S13    7th Place
8. Stoneback, Geoff    Geoff Stoneback Racing Nissan S14    8th Place
9. Pawlak, Justin    Roush Performance Car Crafters Ford Mustang    9th Place
10. Aasbo, Fredric    Rockstar Energy Drink / Hankook Tire Scion tC    10th Place
11. Grunewald, Conrad    Always Evolving / Replay / GT Radial Chevy Camaro    11th Place
12. Gittin, Vaughn    Monster Energy / Nitto Tire Ford Mustang RTR    12th Place
13. Whiddett, Mike    Red Bull Mazda MX-5    13th Place
14. Tuerck, Ryan    Ryan Tuerck Racing / Retaks / Maxxis Scion FR-S    14th Place
15. Hohnadell, Alec    11 Racing Nissan S14    15th Place
16. Yokoi, Masashi    D-Max Nissan S15    16th Place
2015 Formula DRIFT Championship Presented by GoPro Top 3 Standings After Two Events
1. Bakchis, Aurimas    Feal Suspension / ARK Performance / Nitto Nissan 240SX    187.00 Points
2. Aasbo, Fredric    Rockstar Energy Drink / Hankook Tire Scion tC    143.00 Points
3. Forsberg, Chris    NOS Energy Drink / Hankook Tire Nissan 370Z    106.00 Points

Manufacturers Championship Standings After Two Rounds
1. Scion    295.00 Points   
2. Ford    163.00 Points   
3. Nissan    143.00 Points   
4. Chevrolet    125.00 Points   
5. Toyota    87.00 Points   
6. Infiniti    85.00 Points   
7. Mazda    72.00 Points   
8. Dodge    36.00 Points   
9. BMW    34.00 Points   

Tire Championship Standings After Two Rounds
1. Hankook    295.00 Points   
2. Nitto    275.00 Points   
3. Falken    190.00 Points   
4. Maxxis    188.00 Points   
5. Achilles    187.00 Points   
6. Yokohama    139.00 Points   
7. GT Radial    107.00 Points  

GReddy FDATL Event Report coming soon...

Formula Drift Atlanta this weekend

Formula Drift -  May 8-9
Round 2, Road Atlanta.


Cheer on Ken Gushi and the GReddy Performance x Hankook Tire x Scion Racing FR-S Team.   Watch the live-stream via.  http://www.formulad.com/live


Until then, watch chapter 2 of the Driven 2 Drift youtube series, for behind the scenes look at Round 1, Long Beach last month...



And watch the coverage of the Formula Drift round 1 on CBS Sports...

Formula D Rd.2 - Road Atlanta

• Monday GReddy coverage from Formula Drift #FDATL 2014

For round 2 of the Formula Drift Pro Championships the GReddy Performance x Hankook Tire x Scion Racing FR-S headed east for the first of three east coast events.  The end result moved the Team into the 11th spot for the championship rankings.

Friday's practice and qualifying gave Ken Gushi his first taste of wet conditions in the new, more powerful, 2014 2JZ-powered FR-S.  The first qualifying session was was in the rain and Ken put it a solid performance (71pts.-wet.) The second session of qualifying came late in the night on a wet but drying track. Below is Ken's slippery (78pt) run, which landed him into the 7th spot for Saturday's Top32.

Ken Gushi Road Atlanta Qualfying by driftstream

 

Saturday's weather saw less serious storms, but it also made it tricky to prepare for the unpredictable rain.  The first battle of the day for Gushi was suppose to be against Kado's V8-350Z.  Unfortunately, Kado could not make it to the start, so Ken received a bye run moving him into the main 16 bracket.




After the half time break and opening ceremonies festivities, Ken got a #FDIRW 16-bracket rematch against Kearney's S/C V10-Viper.  In a close battle with some contact, Ken's smart driving in changeable conditions got him the Win to move onto the Great8.

Luckly, Ken was able to escape the match with just a few scratches to the car. (see OMGdrift video)

The Great8 tandem battle was a battle of the 2JZ engines.  Ken's FR-S verses Robbie Nishida's SC300. Pretty evenly matched and in tricky weather conditions, the two had a close back and forth battle.  It might have been one of the most exciting pairs of the night.  


In the end, the Great 8 Formula Drift Rd.2 Road Atlanta finish and 7th place qualifying provided good points in the Team's championship challenge.

Next round, #FDFL will be in Homestead, FL on May 30-31st...

Congratulations to FDATL event winners: 1st Vaughn Gitten Jr.,  2nd Fredric Aasbo,  3rd Chris Forsberg 

see the Scion Racing Coverage here

GReddy Performance X Hankook Tire X Scion Racing FR-S 
with Driver: Ken Gushi

 technical partners
Takata | Ray's  | KW Suspension
 Rocket Bunny | Garrett | Supertech | TRUST 

 WPC  | Ignition Projects | OS Giken | SPL Parts | FMT | Bluemoon

Formula Drfit Rd.2 Road Atlanta is coming

Round 2 of the Formula Drift Pro Championships, starts off a three round east coast leg for the GReddy Performance x Hankook Tire x Scion Racing FR-S Team.

The Team is excited to bring our most powerful FR-S to date to the high-speed Road Atlanta road course.

Practice starts - Thur., May 8th

Qualifying - Fri., May 9th

The Main Event - Sat., May 10th

For more on the GReddy Performance x Hankook Tire x Scion Racing FR-S and Ken Gushi follow us @greddyracing via Facebook, Instagram, and/or Twitter.

You can also watch the live stream at: http://formulad.com/live/

Here is a little clip we found online of Ken Gushi at last year's Atlanta practice...

Round 2 - Road Atlanta 2013

 Monday Coverage from Formula Drift #FDATL:

 

Unfortunately our trip to Formula Drift Rd.2 Atlanta this weekend, did not go at all as planned.  Although Ken Gushi and GReddy Racing X Scion Racing Drift FR-S was in top form during Thursday and Friday practice, the results were less then ideal.  The car showed great speed and lots of smoke.  But it was a mechanical failure late in the last practice session right before Friday qualifying, that ended the race weekend early for the team.



The Team rallied to rectify the problem in time for Ken make a qualifying attempt, but just didn't have enough time with the new knock-out style qualifying system. 
 

It was a great disappointment for the entire team not have the Drift FR-S running on Saturdays for the fans, but Ken made the best of the bad situation to take time to visit with fans in the pits.  We will strive to do much better in the next round, Rd.3 Palm Beach, FL at the end of this month.  May 31-June 1st.

   Congratulations to FDATL evnet winners: 1st Daigo Saito, 2nd Darren McNamara, 3rd Vaughn Gittin

Here's some footage we found on youtube of Ken practicing in Atlanta:

GReddy Performance X Scion Racing Drift FR-S
Driver: Ken Gushi

 technical partners
Hankook Tire | Ray's  | KW Suspension
  Takata | Rocket Bunny | TRUST 

 WPC  | Cosworth | Diamond | DTA | Alpinestars

Next Event Formula D Rd2 - Atlanta

Friday, May 10th & Saturday, May 11th
Road Atlanta, Braselton, GA

Round 1, Long Beach was a great start, but soon the GReddy Team will be at Road Atlanta for Round 2 of the Formula Drift Pro Championships.  The team has made major improvements (including speed) since our last appearance in Georgia.  Ken Gushi and the GReddy Performance X Scion Racing Drift FR-S are excited to head out east...

Come out and Cheer us on or follow us via social media. (FB, Instagram, Twitter)
Live stream: http://www.formulad.com/live/

See what our 1st trip to Road Atlanta was like in the Scion Racing Driven to Drift Episode from last year

GReddy Performance X Scion Racing Drift FR-S
Driver: Ken Gushi

 technical partners
Hankook Tire | Ray's  | KW Suspension
  Takata | Rocket Bunny | TRUST 

 WPC  | Cosworth | Diamond | DTA | Alpinestars

Formula D Atlanta Coverage

  with the GReddy Performance X Scion Racing Drift FR-S

(for more photos, see our GReddy Racing FB)

Still on a high from our Great8, debut in Round 1 on the Streets of Long Beach, Formula Drift Rd.2  lead us east to Road Atlanta, GA.   Ken Gushi and the Drift FR-S took to the new track layout for 2012 well.  He showed some great tandem runs in Thursday practice.

After some late night adjustments, the team was feeling pretty confident for Friday qualifying sessions.  In Ken's 1st qualifying run, he scored a solid but conservative 83pts and was looking forward to going more aggressive in the 2nd Qualifying run.  But in the next run, he went  too aggressive and initiated his drift a little too early.  This ended up bending a wheel and lower control arm on the rumble strip.   This meant Ken would have to stick with the score of 83, placing the team in the 2nd half of the brackets and drawing a tough Top 32 battle with Justin Pawlak, the winner of Rd.1.

In Top32 eliminations, Ken drove hard, with good Hankook tire smoke, but was unable to advance to the next round.  JTP and his Mustang eventually went on to also win Rd.2.  It was a tough day for the team, but we look forward to improving in Rd.3 Palm Beach, FL early next month. - June 1-2  (Don't forget to follow us during the next race weekend for more #GReddyRaceOffers on ShopGReddy.com)

 

Congratulations to our Scion Racing Team mate, Fedric Aasbo and the Need for Speed / Papadakis Racing Scion tC on their 2nd place finish in Rd.2

 

 Photos by: G-Force Photo

Congratulations to FD Rd.2 Winners
    1st - Justin Pawlak     2nd - Fredric Aasbo     3rd - Diago Saito

GReddy Performance X Scion Racing Drift FR-S

 technical partners

Hankook Tire  |  Ray's Engineering  |  KW Suspension  |  Cosworth  |  TRUST  |  DTA  |  Alpinestars