Deane wins Formula DRIFT PRO at Long Beach as Shanahan takes championship title

By winning his Top 32 Competition heat against Jhonnattan Castro, Conor Shanahan became the 2026 Formula DRIFT PRO champion in only his third year in the Series. Driving the Red Bull / GT Radial / JYR Toyota GT86, Shanahan’s consistency throughout the season allowed him to claim the title after his Top 32 heat. The 23 year-old was subsequently knocked out of the Top 16 by Simen Olsen, leaving his rivals to fight for the Round 8 win.

“As a 10-year-old kid I had a dream of coming to the States to drive, never mind fighting for a championship. And today’s the day!” said an emotional Conor. “I want to thank everybody who supported me over the years, especially my mom and dad. My brother is the reason I’m champion, the reason we won. And of course, Jerry Yang Racing: I walked into his workshop at the beginning of the year and within the first 15 minutes I felt like we had a good shot at the championship this year.”

By winning Round 8, five-time champion James Deane clinched second in the 2026 FD PRO Championship. He beat Jack Shanahan in a very close Final, which saw the elder Shanahan spin out of Zone 6 as he fought to maintain contact with the Mustang driver.

“These days don’t come easy with the level of driving in FD,” a relieved Deane said. “It’s been an amazing weekend for Irish drifting – to have myself and Jack in the final, Conor winning his first Formula DRIFT championship, and for us to be 1-2-3 in the championship is unbelievable!”

Jack Shanahan’s spin meant he retained third in the championship standings, which can’t be considered a poor result for only his second season in FD. “I felt like I had him beat, until I didn’t!” Jack proclaimed before climbing the podium to stand beside his brother Conor and neighbor James.

LZ finished third in Round 8 after losing a very close BMW battle to Jack in the Final 4 heats. It was LZ's best result of the season and catapulted him from 14th to ninth overall. However, the result was bittersweet for LZ.

“I wanted to get a podium so I could announce I won’t be back in 2027. It’s not over for me, but I’m stopping for now and so proud to be standing here,” LZ told the packed Long Beach grandstands. A fan favorite, he explained there were other priorities he needed to focus on but hoped to return in the future

Matt Field claimed fourth place in the Borla Performance / GT Radial / Heat Wave Visual / Logitech / Liqui Moly Corvette. He lost to Deane in the Final 4 heats, primarily because the Vette driver collided with the Mustang while initiating into Zone 1. Needing to remain close to his rival, Field had to be aggressive and a slight error ended his night. However, the points haul jumped him from seventh to fifth overall

Branden Sorensen saw his 2026 title bid crumble. Arriving in Long Beach in fourth position, he was fighting for a Top 3 championship place until a broken power steering pulley on the Sorensen Motorsports / Quad Lock BMW ended the dream. Knocked out of the Top 32, Branden placed 17th on the night, remained fourth overall, and has shown the world he’s a serious contender for 2027

Cole Richards became the 2026 Rookie of the Year despite the Richards Racing Toyota GT86 experiencing engine problems with during practice and into Top 32 competition. He lost his Top 32 battle against Tommy Lemaire, but so did his Rookie rivals Cody Buchanan and Nate Chen. Fortunately, Richards had amassed enough points to be crowned ROTY.

Veteran driver Ryan Tuerck announced his departure from the series at the start of the season, and Round 8 was the final opportunity to say goodbye. After Ryan’s drift career began in 2002, he joined FD in 2008 where his best results saw him finish third in both 2020 and 2022. Sadly, the highly respected driver of the Rain-X Toyota GR Corolla was eliminated from the Top 32 but he recieved much love from friends and fans alike.

Round 8 also saw the departure of long-time Formula DRIFT Judge Brian Eggert, who had been with the Series for 15 years and was finally hanging up his headphones and clipboard.

Formula DRIFT also said goodbye to popular Norwegian driver Simen Olsen, who joined the series in 2021 and finished fourth in 2023, narrowly missing out on the Top 3.

The 2026 Auto Cup was won by Ford, largely thanks to the success of James Deane, but not forgetting Vaughn Gittin Jr.’s Round 2 win.

The winner of the 2026 Tire Cup was GT Radial for the second year in a row, and by a significant margin.

ROUND 8 FD PRO TOP 16 DRIVER POINTS

1. James Deane 50 +3
2. Jack Shanahan 40 +4
3. LZ 30 +1
4. Matt Field 30 +1
5. Fredric Aasbo 20 +1
6. Rome Charpentier 20 +1
7. Simen Olsen 20 +1
8. Ryan Litteral 20 +1
9. Conor Shanahan 10 +2
10. Tommy Lemaire 10 +1
11. Dan Stuke 10 +1
12. Wataru Masuyama 10 +1
13. Jeff Jones 10 +1
14. Dan Burkett 10 +1
15. Vaughn Gittin Jr 10 +1
16. Rudy Hansen 10 +1

2026 FD PRO TOP 16 DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

1. Conor Shanahan 224
2. James Deane 218
3. Jack Shanahan 206
4. Branden Sorensen 165
5. Matt Field 150
6. Fredric Aasbo 149
7. Aurimas Bakchis 132
8. Dylan Hughes 91
9. LZ 88
10. Ryan Tuerck 88
11. Chris Forsberg 82
12. Cole Richards 79
13. Dan Stuke 68
14. Ben Hobson 67
15. Vaughn Gittin Jr 62
16. Dan Burkett 58

2026 AUTO CUP TOP 5 FINAL RESULTS

1. Ford 346
2. Toyota 287
3. BMW 244
4. Chevrolet 151
5. Nissan 120

2026 TIRE CUP FINAL RESULTS

1. GT Radial 532
2. Nitto 346
3. Kenda 332
4. Kumho 284