ROCKINGHAM — Who will take home the 2025 MB Drift season championship belt?
That will be determined Saturday afternoon following “Drift Wars,” MB Drift’s final competitive event this year at Rockingham Speedway.
Wade Smith and Derick Gaskins are tied for the lead with 184 points after each winning one of the first two rounds earlier in the season.
Smith returned to competition with a new car after taking a year off to win “The Initiation” in May, and Gaskins slid to his first win in the series at June’s “The Smoke Show.”
The final battle in both previous rounds came down to Smith and Gaskins.
Trailing behind them in the No. 3 spot in the standings is Dan Stoneburner, who placed third in the second round.
Dan Stoneburner leads a run with Dustin Walker at Round 2.
William R. Toler - Richmond Observer
The first year he competed, Stoneburner finished the season in third place when the series was at Myrtle Beach Speedway. He also placed second one year, winning every event in which he competed.
Max Czibere, Tyler Williams, Brandon Goodman and Dustin Walker are all tied with 114 points.
Czibere placed third in this year’s first round and finished third for the season in 2024.
Goodman was a major contender early when MB Drift moved to the Rock in 2021, finishing the inaugural season at seventh and second in 2022. However, he only competed once in 2023 and twice in 2024.
Rounding out the top drivers are Russell Canada with 98 points, followed by five drivers with 84 points: Nate McDuffie, who finished sixth in 2021 and eighth in 2024 (in a three-way tie with Gaskins and Stoneburner); Gabe Broyles; Andy Lacause-Wright,who won the second and third rounds of 2024 to win the championship; Anton Shenderov, a Belarusian native who finished second last season; and Taylor Walker, wife of Dustin Walker.
Max Czibere, right, and Russ Canada lay down smoke during a run at Round 2.
William R. Toler - Richmond Observer
An 18-foot screen will be set up for spectators to watch the livestream of Round 3 and the Formula Drift competition afterwards.
The two-day weekend will also feature a “fun run” course for those not competing on Saturday, as well as open drifting on Sunday.
In addition to the competition, MB Drift is also collecting items for the Richmond County Animal Shelter and has encouraged those who won’t be attending to donate through the shelter’s Amazon wish list.
“Richmond County has been so great to us these past 5 years and we would really like to give back the community that has been our drift home,” reads one of the series' Facebook posts.
2024 MB Drift season champ Andy Lacause-Wright borrows Steven Larsen's car during Round 2.
William R. Toler - Richmond Observer
MB Drift still has one event scheduled for this season — the annual Halloween Havoc Oct. 25-26, which includes a trunk-or-treat and costume contest.
Across the highway, Rockingham Dragway will be hosting the second annual Sandhills Bracket Championship on Saturday, preceded by a test and tune on Friday.
See the RO's Facebook page for photos of previous MB Drift events.
