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 FDNJ 2016

At the season halfway point, Ken Gushi and the GReddy Racing - Nexen Tires - SR by Toyota 86 moves back into 4th position of the 2016 Formula Drift Pro Championship with a 4th place finish at Wall Speedway, New Jersey.

The race week started off with a course change back to the 2013 style layout.  This move seemed to really tighten up the field during Friday's Qualifying sessions.  Ken laid down two smooth qualifying passes for a score of 81 and 82pts., netting him the number 11spot moving into Saturday's elimination brackets.







Ken's 1st opponent was number 22 qualifier, Juha Rintanen from Finland with his new 2JZ powered S15.  Ken lead with another smooth lead run and a close follow run for a Top 32 win...
 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqbmvykXRE0&feature=youtu.be&t=16m56s)





After the Formula Drift half-time break, Ken faced off with his SR by Toyota teammate, Ryan Teurck in a similarly built 2JZ-powered Toyota 86.  The two were so equally matched in the 16 bracket battle, it took a OMT (one more time battle) for the judges to award Ken the win.  Many fans commented that the battles between Gushi and Teurck were the best of the event...
 (https://youtu.be/QkICyzi3OSs?t=9m12s)

In the Great 8 round, Ken faced off against Matt Field in his V8 Supercharged S14.  Again Gushi runs a smooth and clean lead run, but Field pulls off an amazing close chase run.  The pressure was on Ken to keep close proximity.  Under the pressure, Field spins on the infield, handing the win to GReddy Racing - Nexen Tire - SR by Toyota Team...
 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkICyzi3OSs&feature=youtu.be&t=15m11s)

The Final 4 finds Gitten vs Heilbrunn and Gushi vs. Forsberg.  This Semi-Finals match up against Chris Forsberg and his Nutritious injected V8 370Z, is a rematch from the previous round in Orlando.  Ken pushes extra hard for an aggressive chase run, but ends up running out of space off the bank in the transition, ending the night in 4th place.
 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-1LkTEkcdA&feature=youtu.be&t=14m1s)


The GReddy Racing - Nexen Tire - SR by Toyota 86 Team is happy to report, Ken Gushi still in the hunt for the 2016 Formula Drift Championship, with 4 rounds to go... in Montreal, Seattle, Fort Worth and Irwindale.

Going into the July 15-16. round 5, at Autodrome St. Eustache, Montreal, Canada, our SR by Toyota Team leads the Formula Drift Manufacture's Championship and our Nexen Tires Team leads the Formula Drift Tire Manufacture's Championship.

Technical partners: SR by Toyota, Nexen Tires, Rays Engineering/Gram Lights, KW Suspension, Wisefab, Wilwood, Rocket Bunny/Pandem, Turbo by Garrett, WPC, Supertech, OS Giken, APR Performance, Wilwood,  Ignition Projects, NGK Spark Plugs, Redline Oil, BC Brian Crower, Takata Bluemoon Performance,  Tuned by N8, Boost Brigade.

Round 4: The Gauntlet Event Results
  1. Gittin, Vaughn Monster Energy / Nitto Tire Ford Mustang RTR Winner
  2. Forsberg, Chris NOS Energy Drink / Hankook Tire Nissan 370Z 2nd Place
  3. Heilbrunn, Alex RTS Monster BMW M3 3rd Place
  4. Gushi, Ken GReddy Racing / Nexen Tire SR by Toyota 86 4th Place
  5. Moen, Kenny Team Boost Lock BMW E46 5th Place
  6. Aasbo, Fredric Rockstar Energy Drink / Nexen Tire SR by Toyota tC 6th Place
  7. Field, Matt Falken Tire / Driftcave Motorsports Nissan 240 7th Place
  8. Essa, Michael Loudmouth Exhaust / Achilles Tire BMW M3 8th Place
  9. Kearney, Dean Oracle Lighting Dodge Viper 9th Place
10. Yoshihara, Dai Falken Tire / Turn 14 Subaru BRZ 10th Place
11. Bakchis, Aurimas Ark Performance / Feal Suspension / Falken Hyundai Genesis 11th Place
12. Tuerck, Ryan Gumout / Nameless Performance / Hankook Tire SR by Toyota FR-S 12th Place
13. Nishida, Robbie Achilles Radial Infiniti G35 13th Place
14. Pawlak, Justin Roush Performance Ford Mustang 14th Place
15. Bluss, Kristaps HGK / Mast / Motul / Achilles BME E46 15th Place
16. Wang, Forrest Get Nuts Lab / Hankook Tire Nissan 240 16th Place

2016 Formula DRIFT Championship Presented by BlackVue Standings After 3 Events
  1. Gittin, Vaughn Monster Energy / Nitto Tire Ford Mustang RTR 298.00 Points
  2. Aasbo, Fredric Rockstar Energy Drink / Nexen Tire SR by Toyota tC 258.00 Points 
  3. Forsberg, Chris NOS Energy Drink / Hankook Tire Nissan 370Z 252.00 Points 
  4. Gushi, Ken GReddy Racing / Nexen Tire SR by Toyota 86  200.00 Points

 2016 Manufacturer Championship Standings After 4 Events 
  1. SR by Toyota 459.00 Points 
  2. Ford 404.00 Points 
  3. Nissan 339.00 Points 
  4. BMW 297.00 Points 
  5. Mazda 171.00 Points 
  6. Chevrolet 169.00 Points 
  7. Dodge 119.00 Points 
  8. Infiniti 102.00 Points
  9. Lexus  70.00 Points 

2016 Tire Championship Standings After 4 Events 
  1. Nexen 536.00 Points 
  2. Falken 456.00 Points 
  3. Nitto 450.00 Points 
  4. Hankook 425.00 Points 
  5. Achilles 383.00 Points 
  7. GT Radial 229.00 Points

GReddy Event Coverage from Formula Drift Rd.4

Ken Gushi and the GReddy Performance X Hankook Tire X Scion Racing FR-S Team, place 5th in Round 4 of the Formula Drift, #FDNJ, to hold the 4th position in the Pro Championships...

With near perfect runs, Gushi scores back to back Top Qualifier results in #FDOrlando and #FDNJ. 

The #1 spot in Wall, New Jersey was Ken's 2nd the REV'D (Energy Bar) Killer Qualifier award in a row. (video clip)

Unfortunately the unpredictable weather conditions of Saturday's main event, made the 1st spot a little bit of a disadvantage, having to be part of the first group of tandem battles in the eliminations.


Dailymotion Livestream Replay from FDNJ


Top 32 started off on a windy but dry course with one of the closest battles of the day for the GReddy Team, with Ken going against the aggressive driving of Nate Hamilton and his turbo V8 S13.  But a great run on the bank with lots of angle by Gushi got the approval of the Judges to move on.




After the Formula Drift half time break and opening ceremonies, Ken took on the supercharged V8 S14 of Matt Field.  On a super slick track, Ken taps the guardrail on the lead run initiation onto the bank but keeps going, unfortunately Field ends up spinning.  Ken follows with a safe chase run until Field spins again, giving Gushi the win.




The Great8 battle paired up the two 2JZ powered FR-S in the series, Ken Gushi vs. Ryan Tuerck.  With the wet but drying track, it wasn't the cleanest run for Ken in the lead position, so when it was time for Ken to chase, he attacked like he was in his practice "missile" car. 
This following run by Ken was probably one of the most enjoyable runs to watch in the wet.  check out this fan video for the door to door run...(video clip)

Congratulations to FDNJ event winners: 1st Fredric Aasbo, 2nd Dean Kearney and Ryan Tuerck

Also check out the full event report from DrivingLine.com

With 3 more round in this year's series, look for the GReddy Team to charge hard for valuable qualifying results and that top step of the podium in our chase for the Championship.

Rd. 5 - Seattle, WA - July 24-25
Rd. 6 - Fort Worth, TX - Aug 21-22
Rd. 7 - Irwindale, CA - Oct 9-10 - Final

Our Technical Partners - Scion Racing and Hankook Tires lead both the Manufactures and Tire Manufactures Championships.

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 | FMT | Bluemoon

photos via Scion Racing / Larry Chen / Alex Wong

Formula Drift Rd.4, FDNJ this weekend

The last leg of this east coast events, is Rd.4 in Wall New Jersey this weekend.  Look for Ken Gushi and the GReddy Racing Team to push hard to move up the Championship rankings.

Formula Drift Rd. 4, #FDNJ
Qualifying : Friday, June 26th
Main Event : Saturday, June 27th
Livestream : http://www.formulad.com/live


Check out www.ShopGReddy.com now to order your #GReddy21 Team T-shirts.
Order now and get FREE USPS Shipping (USA only) plus our Limited-ed GReddy X Gramlights Decal and official Ken Gushi Hero Card.




 
After Ken's 2nd in Atlanta and 3rd in Orlando, the team is 4th in Formula Drift Series.

To catch up on the action from Orlando, you can watch the Formula Drift CBS Sports.

It airs this Wednesday, June 24th at 8:00pm EST on the CBS Sports Network.

Formula D Rd.4 - Wall Stadium, NJ

• Monday GReddy coverage from Formula Drift #FDNJ 2014

The Gauntlet of Wall Stadium can be a very exciting track.  The dangerous tight steep banks of Wall to the harsh transition back to flat inner field can be tricky to tune in the dynamics of these new generation of powerful Formula D competition cars. 

Thursday practice gave a bit of bad luck in a wet testing session.  On a high line of the bank, Ken caught a little too much guard rail with the back end of the FR-S and it through the front end of the car right into the barriers.   But with some hard work by the team and some extra parts from the Tuerck/PSI team, the GReddy Performance x Hankook Tire x Scion Racing FR-S was ready in time for Friday Qualifying.  Ken scored a 73pt run for 25th seed in Top32 out of one of the large fields this season.

In Top32 eliminations, Ken Gushi was matched up against the 2JZ-powered S14 of Kenneth Moen.  Both the follow and lead runs between were very close and could have went OMT, but the final split decision ended up cutting the weekend short.  Although the event outcome wasn't good, great lessons for team were learned and we can't wait to get the car back to the GReddy R&D HQ for some more upgrades.  Next round, Seattle, WA, July 18-19.

*On a side note, we would like to send our congratulations to our Scion Racing/Hankook Tire teammates from Papakakis Racing on their 1st event win with Fredric Aasbo!

Congratulations to FDNJ event winners: 1st Fredric Aasbo,  2nd Chris Forsberg,  3rd Odi Bakchis

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

GReddy Racing in June

Today, Tue, June 10 starts the 10day count-down to our race-packed week of Rd.4 Formula Drift at Wall, NJ and then the week-long event at the famous Pikes Peak Hill Climb.

Ken Gushi

Our driver Ken Gushi will also be doing double duty in first the 2014 GReddy Performance x Hankook Tire x Scion Racing Drift FR-S at #FDNJ, then in the revised 2013 FR-S for #PPIHC .







Here's what the race schedule will look like:

6/19   - #FDNJ Thursday Practice 3:00-7:00pm ET (Wall Speedway - Closed)
6/20   - #FDNJ Friday Practice and Qualifying 12:00-8:00pm ET
6/21   - #FDNJ Saturday Competition 12:00-8:00pm ET
             *(watch the live-stream :  http://www.formulad.com/live/ )

6/23   - #PPIHC Monday - Tech Inspection 9:00am-3:00pm MT (World Arena, CO)
6/24   - #PPIHC Tuesday - Practice Day 4:00-8:30am MT (Pikes Peak)
6/25   - #PPIHC Wednesday - Time Attack 1 Qualifying 3:30-6:00am MT (Lower Section)
6/26   - #PPIHC Thursday - Time Attack 1 Practice 3:45-6:00am MT (Middle Section)
6/27   - #PPIHC  Friday - Time Attack 1 Practice 4:00-6:00am MT (Upper Section)
          - #PPIHC  Friday - FAN FEST 5:00-10:00pm MT, downtown Colorado Springs, CO
6/29   - #PPIHC Saturday - 92nd running of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb 8:00am
              *(watch the Live-stream : http://live.todocast.tv/template.ma-ovp.php?EventNumber=TDC-E1731 )

Round 4. - Formula Drift Wall NJ (by SR)

 Delayed Monday Coverage from Formula Drift #FDNJ :

Because we went straight to Colorado Springs for the GReddy Racing Scion tC's Pikes Peak Hill Climb challenge directly from FDNJ, here is an excerpt from the Scion Racing event recap...

FDNJ Recap: Aasbo Makes the Great 8, Ken Gushi Returns to the Main Event 25 June 2013, 12:48 pm

Scion Racing takes on Formula Drift New Jersey, Wall Speedway

When you’re sitting in the stands, a tandem battle between two drivers seemingly passes before you can really even begin to process what you’ve just seen. One moment, your eyes are lingering on where the bright red starting lights used to be, and the next, you’re busy trying to find the outline of the course through a plume of tire smoke. 

Ken Gushi doesn’t see things the way the rest of us do. Like most other professional drivers, part of what makes him great is his ability to slow time down in his head, and in fractions of a second, react to even the slightest of changes in front of him. Unfortunately, when that’s the way you’re wired, two consecutive events sitting on the sidelines for reasons beyond your control gives you a lot of time to think.

We don’t know exactly what’s been on his mind, but judging from his very first practice sessions in the GReddy Racing Scion FR-S, he seemed intent on taking it out on the car’s Hankook tires. Run after run, Ken was shredding up the car’s rubber, filling the bowl of Wall Speedway with smoke seemingly even faster than usual.

Thanks in no small part to the work of the team, the GReddy Racing FR-S was keeping pace the entire way, putting power down nicely during each of Ken’s runs. We’ll still be keeping our fingers crossed, but it’s looking increasingly as though most of the car’s mechanical issues have been ironed out, giving Ken a relatively clear path through the remainder of the season.

Their path on Saturday, however, wasn’t quite as inviting. Ken’s qualifying performance the previous day had him seeded 22^nd overall, which meant that he was set for a Top 32 matchup against Vaughn Gittin Jr. We’ve had more than our fair share of run-ins with JR, both figuratively and literally, having been matched up against him at every event thus far this season.

The way Ken had been driving, however, he probably could’ve been matched up against anyone and it wouldn’t have mattered. During their first run, Ken hung right on Vaughn’s door the entire way, and put on one of the best performances we’ve seen from him in a while. For a moment it seemed as if he had a legitimate chance to put a serious dent in JR’s championship aspirations, but the battle ultimately was called a One More Time.

Ken pushed just a little bit too hard on his lead run during the OMT battle, and ended up being pulled off course by Wall Speedway’s unforgiving bank. Top 32 was earlier than we wanted to see him go out, and we’re sure that Ken feels the same way, but a little more seat time should have Ken and the GReddy Racing team back to full strength for the next stop in Evergreen Speedway.

Formula D Rd.4 - Wall, NJ - June 21-22

Before we head out to Colorado Springs for Pikes Peak International Hill Climb with the GReddy X Scion Racing Time Attack tC, the team will be battling it out with other top drifters on the Formula Drift Pro Championship in Wall, NJ for Rd.4

With a 2nd season full of unpredictable ups and downs, the GReddy Racing team is carefully preparing the GReddy Performance X Scion Racing Drift FR-S for the last event of the east-coast leg.  We are really excited to see all the fans in the Tri-state area and we know Ken will put on a great show on the NJ banks...

So don't forget to either come see us on June 21-22 at Wall Speedway, catch us on the Formula D live stream, or follow us on one of our @GReddyRacing social media sites from the event.

( FB, Twitter, Instagram, and Vine)

Check out the Scion Racing Driven 2 Drift episode from last season...

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

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

 WPC  | Cosworth | Diamond | DTA | Alpinestars