6Speed Rides Along in Formula Drift Pro’s 1,000 HP Roush Mustang

Driver Justin Pawlak has a decade of experience in FD, and he talks to 6SO about the many changes to the cars & competition over the years.

To say that this year’s SEMA show was BIG is an understatement — attendance was an estimated 200,000 people. The recent Las Vegas event also proved big for us here at 6SpeedOnline, as you can see from all of our coverage. And as expected, SEMA saved some of the most exciting stuff for the grand finale — with plumes of tire-smoking antics, including our ride-along with Formula Drift pro Justin Pawlak.

Pawlak, aka “JTP,” has been a longstanding name in the Formula Drift scene and, in fact, 2018 marks 10 years of competition for him. Although he got his start sliding around in Japanese imports, like the Mazda RX-7, he has been competitively thrashing with the Mustang platform, and with the Roush team, since 2014.

So, naturally, Ford and Roush brought Pawlak to Las Vegas to do what he does best and decimate some Falken tires. Throughout the duration of SEMA, Pawlak and other popular Ford Racing stars, like Jack Roush Jr. and fellow FD pro Chelsea DeNofa, were tearing up the pavement just outside the front of the show, at the Ford Out Front display. Between the modified Ford Raptor doing jumps and the Roush Stage 3 Mustang doing burnouts until the tires popped, it proved to be one hell of a show.

This also proved to be a great opportunity to check out what Ford Racing and Roush brought to the show, like the Roush Stage 3 Mustang that was tilted 90 degrees like a rotisserie.

This is certainly a very cool way to showcase the Roush goodies that are usually hidden underneath. Things like the front splitter, Roush engine package, and suspension components were on full display.

There was also a Roush-prepared engine with cutaway sections showcasing various details. We are pretty keen on the cutaway profile of the Roush supercharger sitting atop the engine. It’s also pretty cool to see this Coyote-based V8 fully exposed.

But this all pales in comparison to the 1,000 horsepower beast of an engine in Pawlak’s Formula Drift Roush Mustang. Fortunately, we were able to get a quick tour around the engine bay as well as a brief interview with JTP.

6Speed Rides Along in Formula Drift Pro’s 1,000 HP Roush Mustang continued…

Jake Stumph

Jake Stumph is a lifelong car enthusiast and racer, and former content editor for Internet Brands Automotive which he joined in 2015. His work has been featured by several other prominent automotive outlets, including Jalopnik and Autobytel.

He obtained a bachelor's degree in Political Science at the Ohio State University in 2013, then pivoted from covering politics and policy to writing about his automotive adventures, something that, he says, is a lot more fun. Since that time, he has established connections with most of the world's major automakers, as well as other key brands in the automotive industry.

He enjoys track days, drifting, and autocross, at least, when his cars are running right, which is uncommon.

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