Mustang driver Ken Gushi comes into his own behind the wheel of Ford’s rear-drive pony car

To the untrained eye, the sanctioned motorsport of drifting looks and sounds like a driver’s education course gone awry—a mess of fishtailing, parking-lot donuts, plumes of smoke and squealing tires. But to the growing legions of astute observers and participants, there’s shape and substance, an underlying quality of finesse and agility. The most graceful drifters garner major corporate sponsorships, like California’s Japanese American Ken Gushi, who drives a 2007 Ford Racing Mustang Cobra for Ford Racing and Toyo Tires.

The youngest professional drifter in the sport, Gushi is a modest 19-year-old who began competing four years ago. In 2003, Gushi placed in the top 10 at an amateur drifting competition sponsored by drifting proponent Option Magazine, and decided to take drifting more seriously. Both fans and corporate sponsors took note, recognizing Gushi’s finely honed drifting skills, and generating the buzz that he is the "face of drifting."


Engineering Supervisor Andy Slankard says, "Ken's a great fit for Ford. He's great with the fans and as courteous as can be. People line up to see him at races, sometimes 50 or 60 people, and he'll meet and talk to each one of them. He's a great fit for us."

Gushi is one of the U.S.’s most renowned drifters, learning the sport from his father, Tsukasa Gushi, at one of the many dry lakebeds that dot California’s desert interior. He and his father, who learned to drift as a teen in Japan, would set up their own tracks in the desert with orange cones, simulating popular championship drifting courses.

The Mustang immediately became Gushi's favorite vehicle for drifting. "It's an amazing drift car. It has the perfect amount of torque, power, weight distribution, and in-corner stability," explains Gushi. "After I got used to the insane amount of torque, I found that the Mustang had a lot more potential than the average drift car, even though it weighs hundreds of pounds more than my previous car, a Nissan 240 SX."

The Mustang has a 2004 4.6-liter Ford Cobra engine with a Ford Racing Whipple Supercharger. This provides around 600 horsepower and pushes 550 foot pounds of torque to the rear wheels. "With that much horsepower, drifting gets a lot more fun than sliding around with four tiny little cylinders," Gushi says, explaining how he adjusted to drifting an American car. "More horsepower is definitely more fun."

So much more fun, in fact, that Gushi drifts around corners at 60-70 mph, sometimes hitting 125 mph before going into the turn. During a single event, he burns through five to seven full sets of tires.

Drifting hasn't always been popular in the U.S. Mainstream awareness has only picked up in the last several years and at first, fans were reticent to welcome corporate sponsors, viewing them as a threat to the sport's integrity and close-knit community. Gushi has a more reflective interpretation.

"Ford's sponsorship has brought out my best skills on the track. I also think their presence opens more doors for the sport, provides opportunities for new drivers, non-auto sponsors and more competition," he says, excited at the prospect of expanding the ranks of drifters and attending larger events.

Gushi hopes that Formula D, the first championship drifting event in the U.S., eventually reaches the level of popularity enjoyed by the X Games, which vaulted skateboarding, motocross and similar sports into mainstream America’s consciousness. According to Slankard, drifting and the X Games already share several similarities, including an all-day festival atmosphere with popular music, demonstrations and opportunities for fans to meet the drifters.

While Gushi continues to compete in drifting, he is pursuing a business degree and would like to become a professional racecar driver. Ironically, he’ll have to attend racing school first.