Event Recap Formula Drift Streets of Long Beach Rd 1:
Big new competition changes kicked off at RD 1 of the 2024 Formula Drift season. As explained by FD in this article here, traditional solo qualifying runs have been replaced by the new Seeding Bracket, with fans being able to witness tandem battles on Friday as 16 drivers fight to secure one of the remaining eight place in Saturday’s competition. Under the new system, the top 24 positions in the competition bracket will be determined by the finishing positions from the previous round. For Long Beach, it was based on the 2023 Championship standings. But moving forward, the ranking for Round 2 will be based on the finishing results from Round 1, and so on.
Top 16 Seeding Bracket Battle
This new bracket saw Jeff paired up against Jao Barion for the first ever seeding battle
Top 16 Jones vs Barion = Jones Gets the Win
Locks in his spot for the Main Event on Saturday
Great 8 Jones vs Burkett =
Burkett advances as Jones makes a mistake in Outer Zone 2
Main Event Top 32 Battle vs Odi Bakchis:
Bakchis lead first based on his higher P2 2023 rank. Jones and Bakchis had 2 great runs with Jones coming up just a bit short and the Judges awarding the win to Bakchis.
Jeff Jones Racing finished Round 1 tied for 17th Place going into Rd 2 Atlanta next month
Quote from Jeff Jones:
I want to thank to all of my partners, all of the fans who joined us in Long Beach and those who followed the action on livestream. It was an honor to debut my exciting new partnership with Kumho Tire USA at this event. My team did such a great job getting the car dialed and our pit activation area this year is on another level! The support and energy were truly inspiring, and I’m determined to push for better performance results next month in Atlanta.”
Event Highlights:
Successful debut of our new partnership with Kumho Tire USA
Release of our new 2024 Merch, with an almost sell out of all shirt styles within 2 days.
Our Jeff Jones Racing Pit Party during Half-Time was a massive turn out with fans eager to get a picture and a signed autograph from Jeff plus win 1 of 7 prize packs (1 NRG x Jeff Jones Racing Steering Wheel, 1 Evol Auto Works $250 Gift Card, 4 doc Merch Bundles, and 1 BIG Drift Energy Sun Hat).
FD SERIES NEWS
NEXT ROUND
Round 2: Road to the Championship presented by AutoZone on May 09 -11. Please visit formulad.com for the competition schedule, ticket information, driver profiles, special content, and the event livestream.
Next up for Jeff Jones Racing 2024 :
April 26th-28th LS Fest West Las Vegas, NV
May 9th-11th Formula Drift Rd 2 “Road to Championship” Atlanta, GA
May 18th HOTPIT Autofest Rd 2 Bakersfield, CA
