Vaughn Gittin Jr.'s deep dive on Ford's 'drift-optimized' 2026 Mustang RTR

Vaughn Gittin Jr. is a busy man. A semi-retired and two-time Formula Drift PRO Champion, Gittin still makes cameo competition appearances in that world in the Monster Energy Ford Mustang Spec 5-FD. In addition, he lined up and competed in the 2026 Baja 500 in Ensenada, Mexico in an Ultra4 Ford Bronco Raptor. And he has not slowed down from there.

Gittin is also the founder and mastermind behind RTR Vehicles. Better known as Ready to Rock Vehicles, Gittin and company scheme up, build, research and drift OEM performance parts, tuning packages and specialized editions of Ford vehicles. And that’s exactly what Gittin has been up to as of late: he and his deft RTR Vehicles team are coming hot off a collaboration in developing the 315-horsepower, 10-speed 2026 Ford Mustang RTR, “drift optimized” by Gittin and his cast of gearhead characters.

After all, Vaughn Gittin is the self-proclaimed “Professional Fun Haver.”

“That’s it,” he declared with a smile on his face. “And fortunately, the type of fun I like has been able to be a career where I can I put smiles on faces. I just love being integrated with the culture on all levels.”

Researched and developed (and drifted) over a four year period before the RTR outfit was ready to let it see the light of day, the 2026 Ford Mustang RTR has been a full-on labor of love for Gittin and crew.

“it’s an absolute dream project,” he smiled. “We just launched it. In fact, we just had the media day in Northern California where we really kind of took the cover off and let media from all over the world drive it. They fell in love with it, seemingly, from the headlines they wrote.

“Really, up to this moment, our business model has been that we take a Ford product, like this Mustang or a Bronco, and build parts for it and kind of evolve a Ford-based product into something for an enthusiast that demands more and a different style and a little different approach to performance. Now I have a vehicle that comes directly off the production line that we collaborated [on] and designed with Ford. We were sharing engineering duties, sharing design duties, and sharing and executing ideas together.

“This makes us only the second company in the 60 years of Mustang to partner with Ford on a factory-built Mustang,” Gittin continued on. “The other company is one everyone knows, which is Shelby. It’s very rare air. I knew we would get here when we started RTR. I didn’t know how, but here we are.”

The 2026 Ford Mustang RTR has been a full-on labor of love for Gittin and crew. RTR/Ford

Gittin did a deep dive on just what he and his crew went to work on in developing the striking Mustang RTR.

“This car is an all-around and entry-level enthusiast vehicle,” explained Gittin. “It’s not a drift car, but we did optimize it to be what I believe to be the greatest drift experience off of a showroom vehicle that you can get. We left no stone unturned. We modified the software and computer systems. We put anti-lag in the car. We enhanced the suspension. Every car comes with a Drift Brake. We stiffened the chassis up. It’s a really incredible package on the performance side.

“When it comes to RTR, style is one of our fortes, and very humbly, I think it is one of the most badass looking Mustangs that’s on the market today. Also, one of the most important aspects of this product was to make it attainable. This is, without a doubt, the most attainable turbocharged Mustangs Ford has ever produced. It starts at around $41,000.

"All of our spec line of vehicles are a bit more expensive and not as attainable. This is really that availability for a lot of the younger demographic that don’t have a pile of money to be able to get into the enthusiast culture and enjoy the types of things that I enjoy behind the wheel. It definitely ticks the box for both RTR and Ford and me personally. It really is a perfect case scenario. We have a Bronco along the same mindset that’s coming out in January, and people can start ordering it very soon.

"It’s an absolute pinch me moment, you know? I’m excited for the market to get their hands on it and for us to be able to continue creating cool shit for the masses together.

“For me right now, I love creating. I love creating vehicles, and I love creating experiences and experiences inside existing events. I also love competing at the top level. That’s what I’m gong to keep doing and what my team is going to keep doing. At the end of the day, it’s just an honor to be a part of this culture. To be the person I am and where I am in all this is an absolute dream, and I just want to keep chasing that dream and pushing it and seeing how far we can go on all fronts.”

And he is still making things happen behind the wheel on the competition side of it all.

“I have had a really good year,” said Gittin. “We won the Mint 400. Our team won at Crandon. We’ve been sitting second in points in Formula Drift as a team. Me, personally, I won Formula Drift in Atlanta at my first round. Coming up in October is the Formula Drift finals at Long Beach. I’m hoping to repeat what I did in Atlanta there.

"After that, it’s all eyes on the Baja 1000. I’ll be testing for Baja the week before Long Beach. I’ll be racing with Ford Racing and Brad Lovell and Loren Healy. The vehicle we are racing will be debuted and shown at Raptor Rally coming up in Lake Havasu. I’m hoping to back up last year’s win at the 1000 and show that Raptor is an incredible platform to not only enjoy the day to day, but to get off into the wild and have some fun.”

Would Vaughn Gittin ever be interested in creating, building and climbing into a Trophy Truck to compete?

“Yeah, funny thing you say that. We have a Trophy Truck being built right now. It's a project that is being done at our new off-road facility in Farmington, New Mexico. The truck is a different approach to Trophy Trucks. We think we’ve got a really cool recipe that‘s going to allow us to be pretty competitive. We’ve got a lot to learn in that space, but between Loren and our entire team learning from the last 20 years of off-road, we think we’ve got a pretty cool recipe. We’re excited.

"We’re not in a rush. We don’t really have a plan of debut. We’re kind of picking at the project. I think we’re probably going to see it out somewhere next year. We’ll see where it goes.”

How about Vaughn Gittin in NASCAR?

“Look, NASCAR is definitely interesting,” answered Gittin. “I think for me to get in and be competitive on an oval and learn all those things those guys have been doing forever would be a tall order. Right now, it’s just too much of a time commitment for me. I do think that I could do pretty well in a road course car pretty quickly. It’s not really something on my radar right now for the short term. It is something I have thought about.

"We’ll see where the future goes. It is interesting, and I think as I continue to test myself in all forms, maybe something like that could come to fruition.”