Formula DRIFT Utah took place last weekend from Aug. 29-31 and it brought an end to the 2024 PROSPEC season, and some absolutely crazy moments that showcased some of the best drifting in Formula DRIFT history.
Going into this event, James Deane was in first place with 496 points, which is 104 points above the second place driver, Odi Bakchis, who had 392. This is an unbelievable lead, the largest in Formula DRIFT history, in fact. Because his lead was so large, Odi Bakchis needed to place better than James Deane to even have a shot at winning the 2024 Formula DRIFT Championship title. But, if James Deane places higher than Odi Bakchis, he will be crowned the 2024 Formula DRIFT Champion, giving him his 4th Formula DRIFT championship (the first 4-time champion ever), and the first driver in Formula DRIFT history to be crowned a winner before the final event even happens.
All eyes were on Odi Bakchis. If he places worse than James Deane in this event, it will be statistically impossible for him to make a comeback in the last event of the season, in Irwindale. According to the bracket shown here, there’s actually a chance that Bakchis and Deane could meet in the Top 4 and battle it out head to head against each other for the win. But before they can do that, they must beat their opponents in the Top 32, Top 16, Top 8, and then finally each other in the Top 4.
In the Top 32, James Deane needed to beat Ryan Litteral, and Odi Bakchis had to beat Diego Higa in order to move on to the Top 16. All 4 of these drivers drove like their lives depended on it, but in the end, Deane and Bakchis came on top of their battles. The Top 32 has always been one of the most stressful and chaotic moments during Formula DRIFT events. During an interview with Laurette Nicoll, James Deane says, “The top 32 is hard because it’s so early in the competition.”
After the Top 32 concluded, Deane and Bakchis moved on to the Top 16, and this was a massive obstacle for Odi Bakchis. The reason for this is because he was going against the 2023 Drift Masters champion, and a personal friend of James Deane, Conor Shanahan. But before this battle, James Deane battled Andy Hateley, and Deane took the win after a close fight. Now it’s time for Odi Bakchis to go up against Conor Shanahan, both of these drivers knew what was at stake here, and none of them held back. After their battle, the judges decided to give them an OMT, meaning One More Time, so they go and get new tires and re-run the battle. The reason the judges did this was because they were both so good, that they couldn’t decide a winner. Once they re-ran the battle, the judges were still indecisive but in the end, they gave the win to Odi Bakchis. The spark is still alive.
Only one more battle to go, and Deane and Bakchis will meet and decide what will happen. Will James Deane make history? Or will Odi Bakchis stay in the fight for the championship? In the Top 8, James Deane went up against Dylan Hughes. James Deane got the win after Dylan Hughes wasn’t on throttle during outside zone 2, causing Deane to crash into Hughes. After this battle, Odi Bakchis battled Jeff Jones. During Bakchis’s lead, he pulled far away from Jeff Jones during outside zone 3, earning him the win. This means that Deane and Bakchis will go against each other in the Top 4 to decide it all.
The moment finally came, everyone watching was waiting for this battle. As I’ve said previously, there’s two outcomes here. Either James Deane wins, and makes history by becoming the first 4-time champion in Formula DRIFT, or Odi Bakchis wins, and remains in the fight for the championship title for the next and last event. To watch this insane battle for yourself, go to 2:25:47 in the Formula DRIFT Top 16 livestream. This battle was super close, but it came down to one factor. When James Deane was leading, his car went 1 tire off track, causing a big correction in his car and causing Odi Bakchis to be disrupted. Since the first run was flawless, it comes down to who’s at fault for this. Did Odi Bakchis hit James Deane, sending him off track? Or did James Deane just overshoot it and go off on his own. After further replays from the drones up above, it’s clear to see that Bakchis did not hit James Deane, and that it was an independent mistake on James Deane. This means Odi Bakchis got the win! That one mistake from Deane cost him a moment in history. He defied the odds and took down a drifting titan, and kept his name alive for the last event of the season.
Besides the PRO event, it was also the last event in the PROSPEC season. In the end, Tommy Lemaire was crowned the 2024 PROSPEC champion! He finished his season with 296 points, which is 26 points above the second place driver, Connor O’Sullivan. Even though Lemaire got first place in the championship, it doesn’t mean he got first place in the event. A driver named Dmitriy Brutskiy won 1st place in this event, placing him 6th in the championship standings. Tommy Lemaire is a great driver and I would love to see him jump up to PRO for the 2025 season.
The next and final Formula DRIFT event of the 2024 season will take place in Irwindale, California on October 18-19. Tune in and watch on Formula DRIFT’s YouTube page or on Motorsports.TV.
