RTR continued their kick-off to the 2024 season with the annual Formula Drift parade through the streets of Long Beach Thursday night. Though James might have been harder to recognize in it behind the wheel of a stock Mustang he was easily spotted back on track behind the wheel of his AutoZone Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD on Friday. That’s right, just two days removed from James’ losing his entire engine bay to a fire the RTR team had him rebuilt and back on track!

Friday began with the first official practices of the season for James and Ben and the first ever seeding bracket for Formula Drift. James having locked in P4 based on last year results would immediately be locked in for today’s Top 32, but rookie Ben was left to battle his way into the main event. Unfortunately, a mechanical issue would lead to Ben zeroing his lead run and failing to qualify for Round 1.

The story was written throughout last week with James’s car catching fire and the RTR team working overtime to bring it back to life, but it had no ending. That is until Saturday when James wrote the perfect Hollywood ending claiming his first win with RTR! The win itself was not short on drama as mechanical gremlins would arise throughout the day and the usual sunny California skies would turn cloudy opening up to rain from the Top 16 onward. However, James and team would persevere, just as they’d done all week, to claim the top spot on the podium. The win also makes James the current points leader with a 16 point lead over second.

James and Ben next head to Formula Drift Atlanta for Round 2 where they will be joined by Vaughn for the first of two rounds he will be competing in this season.