Round 8: Shoreline Showdown of the 2026 Formula DRIFT PRO Championship saw a new Champion crowned, a five-time Champion win the Final Round, and three Irish drivers – brothers and friends – occupy the PRO Championship podium at the end of another remarkable season.
Date: October 23–24, 2026
Location: Long Beach, CA
Event: Formula DRIFT PRO Championship Final Round 8; Shoreline Showdown
The introduction of the Universal Drift Scoring Method (UDSM) to assist with scoring in PRO Qualifying and Competition analysis undoubtedly changed the sport, and brought individual skill into sharp focus. Teams, drivers, Judges and fans gained greater insight into the ability of drivers to place their car at speed in tandem competition, with UDSM applying numbers to the precision. Its development throughout the season has allowed drivers to better understand how to score points and advance through each Round. And in the end, the very best drivers have been recognized.
The Formula DRIFT community also came together to celebrate the contribution and bid farewell to family members, whose contribution will never be forgotten, but all will be missed.
PRO QUALIFYING
Arriving at the Final Round with a 47-point advantage over second place James Deane (Ireland), meant Conor Shanahan (Ireland) could have potentially sealed the 2026 FD PRO Championship by receiving four points for qualifying first in his Red Bull / GT Radial / JYR Toyota GT86 on the proviso Deane and third-place Branden Sorensen (USA) failed to qualify. It was an unlikely scenario, which didn’t transpire. In fact, Conor placed third in Qualifying, gaining two points, while his closest rivals fractionally closed the gap.
Brother Jack Shanahan (Ireland) placed first driving the Pulsar Turbos E82 BMW and was awarded four Championship points. Fellow Irishman Deane placed second and gained three points. Both drivers would need Conor to lose his Top 32 Competition heat, and would have to win Round 8 to claim the title. It was a tall order but anything can happen under the heat of competition.
The only American driver in the title hunt was Branden Sorensen (USA) in the Sorensen Motorsports / Quad Lock BMW who arrived in Long Beach in third place, 48-points behind Conor. He qualified fifth and scored one point, which took himself out of title contention. However, he’d remain firmly in the chase for a Top 3 position.
With 31 drivers Qualifying for the Top 32 Competition places, it meant top qualifier Jack Shanahan earned himself a Bye Run through the first heats, giving him an advantage over his closest rivals.
In contrast, Deane would face Andy Hateley (USA) in the Top 32, although the Drift Wizard had experienced mechanical gremlins in his Drift Wizard E46 BMW during Qualifying but could hopefully resolved it before the Top 32.
Conor’s opponent in Top 32 heat would be Jhonnattan Castro (Dominican Republic) who qualified 30th and also appeared to struggle with his Metaldom Toyota GR86. Inevitably, there would be a number of teams hoping Castro could also rectify the problems to challenge Conor for the heat win…
The leading Rookie driver was Nate Chen (USA) who placed 14th in the NCR Toyota GT86 with JYR. Both he and fellow Rookie Cody Buchanan (USA) would need a good result in Competition to claim the 2026 Rookie of the Year title from points leader Cole Richards (USA).
With a 41-point advantage over Buchanan, Richards appeared to have a hand on the trophy, but engine problems for the Richards Racing Toyota GT86 in Qualifying appeared to leave the door ajar for Buchanan and Chen.
PRO COMPETITION
With the success of his rivals reliant upon the misfortune of Conor Shanahan, all eyes were on his Red Bull / GT Radial / JYR Toyota GT86 as it pulled to the starting line for the Top 32 heat against Castro. Tension rose as Castro’s GR86 applied pressure on their first run. Castro had returned to form and anything could happen. However, a small mistake in Zone 4 saw the Dominican driver momentarily drop two tires outside the track limits, and that’s how 23 year-old Conor Shanahan became the 2026 Formula DRIFT PRO Champion in only his third year in the Series.
“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 after the FD Judge’s decision was announced. “I want to thank everybody who supported me over the years, especially my Mum 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.”
Shanahan’s consistency throughout the 2026 season had allowed him to claim the title after the Top 32 heat. The Irishman was subsequently knocked out of the Top 16 by Simen Olsen (Norway), leaving his rivals to fight for the Round 8 win.
For the popular Norwegian driver Olsen, the victory was bittersweet. He was eliminated from the Top 8 by Matt Field (USA) and said goodbye to the Series he joined in 2021; finishing fourth in 2023 and winning a great deal of admiration. Olsen is departing to focus on other things and will be missed by the Formula DRIFT community.
Matt Field advanced to the Final 4 heats where a collision with Deane’s Mustang while initiating into Zone 1 put him out of contention. Field had to be aggressive in order to pressure the Irishman, but the error ended his night. The driver of the Borla Performance / GT Radial / Heat Wave Visual / Logitech / Liqui Moly Corvette finished in fourth place and the points haul jumped him from seventh to fifth overall.
Five-time PRO Champion James Deane went on to win Round 8, allowing him to clinch second in the 2026 FD Championship by beating Jack Shanahan in a very close Final. The heat was decided when the elder Shanahan spun out at Zone 6 as he fought to maintain contact with Deane’s Mustang.
“These days don’t come easy with the level of driving in FD,” a relieved Deane pronounced. “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 2026 PRO 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 to collect their trophies, completing the remarkable Irish domination of the 2026 Formula DRIFT PRO Championship season.
Joining James and Jack on the Round 8 podium was LZ, who placed third after losing a very close BMW battle to Jack in their Final 4 heat. Third represented LZ’s best result of the season and catapulted him from 14th to ninth overall. However, the result was also bittersweet for LZ…
“I wanted to get a podium tonight 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.
In a night packed with jubilation and despair, Branden Sorensen (USA) 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 by the random part failure, Branden placed 17th on the night, remained fourth overall, and has shown he’s a serious contender for 2027.
Cole Richards (USA) could have suffered a similar fate after he experienced engine problems in his Richards Racing Toyota GT86 during Qualifying. The problem persisted into Competition and Cole was eliminated from his Top 32 battle by Tommy Lemaire (Canada). But so were his Rookie rivals Cody Buchanan (USA) and Nate Chen (USA). Fortunately, Richards had amassed enough points to become the 2026 Rookie of the Year.
As if the departures of Olsen and LZ weren’t enough, veteran driver Ryan Tuerck (USA) had announced he was leaving the Series at the start of the season, and Round 8 was his 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 received a great send off by 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.
“This was easily the hardest and most tide-turning season in our 23 years, but also very likely the most inspiring and motivational,” said Ryan Sage, President of Formula DRIFT. “We seem to say it every year, but somehow the drivers and their cars keep getting better, raising the level of competition to a previously unimagined level. Against that backdrop, we saw our first all-Irish podium at Round 4, with five-time Champion James Deane flanked by the Shanahans. We also battled the weather, introduced three new markets, and tackled the challenging task of creating real-time, trackable, displayed data to assist with judging, driver analysis, and provide greater insight to the fans.
“We also have to acknowledge the incredible contribution of the people who are leaving the Series, from veteran Ryan Tuerck to LZ and Simen Olsen, as well as our Judge Brian Eggert, who has been a key part of the Series’ growth over the past 15 years. We’re going to miss them all, but we’re always excited to see what the future will bring. And with that in mind, we’ll shortly be announcing our 2027 schedule to allow the teams, drivers and fans to prepare for another epic season.”
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 2026 Tire Cup went to GT Radial for the second year in a row, and by a significant margin.
ROUND 8 PODIUM
James Deane
Jack Shanahan
LZ
ROUND 8 FD PRO TOP 16 DRIVER POINTS*
POSITION
DRIVER
POINTS
1
James Deane
50 +2
2
Jack Shanahan
40 +3
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*
POSITION
DRIVER
POINTS
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 STANDINGS*
Ford
346
Toyota
287
BMW
244
Chevrolet
151
Nissan
120
2026 TIRE CUP FINAL STANDINGS*
GT Radial
532
Nitto
346
Kenda
332
Kumho
284
Preliminary standings. Final results pending official confirmation