Sorensen dominates Formula DRIFT qualifying in Las Vegas

This weekend marks Formula DRIFT’s return to Las Vegas Motor Speedway after previously using a temporary track at the facility from 2008-12. As part of a three-year agreement, the series will utilize The Bullring within LVMS and has invested in paving and infrastructure updates to reinforce its commitment.

With 31 drivers Qualifying for the Top 32 Competition places, nobody was eliminated after every driver completed at least one of their two Qualifying runs.

Hometown Hero, Branden Sorensen dominated Qualifying, setting the best scores on both his first and second runs. He’ll start from the No.1 position thanks to a score of 91.4 points, which also earned him a bye run through the Top 32 heats and directly into the Top 16. Sitting third in the title race, 24 points behind the leader, Sorensen is undoubtedly a strong contender for the 2026 Formula DRIFT PRO Championship.

Second place went to Conor Shanahan with a score of 91.03 points on his second run. The Irishman is second in the overall standings and only five points behind the leader, countryman James Deane (Ireland) who qualified in a relatively low seventh place with 86.66 points driving the O'Reilly / Pennzoil Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD.

Three-time FD PRO Champion Chris Forsberg claimed third with 89.13 points after a very strong second run

The leading Rookie driver was Cody Buchanan (USA). He scored 84.26 points driving the Life Wide Open / Reboot Energy 350Z, placing 14th in Qualifying.

Formula DRIFT PRO Qualifying utilizes UDSM (Universal Drift Scoring Method) technology from Race Data Labs. The telemetry and data system has automated the objective aspects of scoring individual qualifying runs with up to 80% of each PRO driver’s Qualifying score for drift Line and car Angle quantified and scored entirely by UDSM Driving Style. The remaining 20% for Style continues to be assessed and awarded by the existing panel of three Formula DRIFT judges.

The top qualifier receives four Championship points, second place receives three, third gets two, and all other drivers receive one point.

RESULTS FROM FD PRO QUALIFYING

1. Branden Sorensen (USA) – Sorensen Motorsports / Quad Lock BMW
2. Conor Shanahan (Ireland) – Red Bull / GT Radial / JYR Toyota GT86
3. Chris Forsberg (USA) – Destined Industries Nissan Z

The Formula DRIFT Link ECU PROSPEC Championship retained its competitive tandem Seeding Bracket Qualifying format, providing lower ranked drivers with additional competitive track time to increase their experience level.

With 24 of the places in Top 32 Competition determined by the Championship standings from Round 3, the remaining eight places would be filled from among the 12 drivers competing in the Seeding Bracket.

Brian Wills took the Seeding Bracket win. He beat Rookie Matt Shulman in a close Final, which was decided when Shulman collided with Wills in Zone 3 and 5 before he spun out.

Rookie Jacob Duncan lost to Wills in the Top 4 heats and placed third thanks to his higher Seeding rank.

Drivers receive three PROSPEC Championship points for each Seeding Bracket heat win. As the victor, Wills received 12 points, with Shulman on nine and Duncan on six.

Four drivers were eliminated from the Seeding Bracket, including Hooman Rahimi (USA), Allen Boss (USA), Coty Demster (USA) and Adam Knapik (USA).

The 2026 Link ECU PROSPEC Championship will be decided by the Top 32 Competition heats today. Coming into Las Vegas, the top six drivers have a mathematical opportunity to claim the title, with double PROSPEC Champion Dmitriy Brutskiy leading the points table.

All drivers in the Link ECU PROSPEC Championship are required to use Link Engine Management and GT Radial tires.

RESULTS FROM FD PROSPEC SEEDING BRACKET

1. Brian Wills (USA) – Nasty Habit Motorsports Nissan S14.9
2. Matt Shulman (USA) – Enjuku Racing / BC Racing Nissan S13
3. Jacob Duncan (USA) – Duncan Motorsports Nissan S13

Follow this weekend's Formula DRIFT action on RACER Network.