Carsen Ruger Takes Top Step At THE DRIFT LEAGUE, Round 1
The first round of The Drift League 2024 season is officially in the history books, with Carsen Ruger standing tall on the podium after wheeling the No. 33 Garagistic BMW E92 to a first-place finish. On his way to the overall win, Ruger qualified first in a field of 14 drivers hungry to secure a Formula Drift license. Jackson Orr finished second in the No. 556 Forsberg Racing Nissan S13, while Elliot “Wild Child” Bright nabbed third in the No. 516 Mad Science Garage Ford Mustang.
Round 1 took place on The Balcony, located at Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond, California. Drivers were faced with a new track layout conceived by longtime drift driver and former Formula Drift competitor Taka Aono, with four outer zones and a challenging initiation. Aono also served as TDL judge, as did former TDL winner / current Formula Drift competitor, Rome Charpentier; and former TDL competitor / current Formula Drift ProSpec driver, Josh Stuart.
With the sun tucked behind the hills and temperatures finally dropping, the Top 4 got underway with Ruger facing Bright. Ruger was unfazed by Bright’s untamed swagger, while Orr took down Devyn Bloch after Bloch bobbled his lead run. With the final battle matchup set, Bloch battled Bright for third place, the latter of whom buried the loud pedal of his Mustang to bully Bloch into ceding a podium finish.
The stage was finally set for the final battle between Ruger and Orr. Ruger opened with an impressive lead run, executing several snappy transitions as Orr gave chase. Nevertheless, Orr’s efforts fell short as Ruger locked in proximity on the chase to take the overall win.
