Formula Drift’s return to Las Vegas Motor Speedway could hardly have gone better for Conor Shanahan. Driving the Red Bull / GT Radial / JYR Toyota GT86, the Irishman won Round 7 at The Bullring, beating Matt Field’s Corvette in a fierce final and jumping to the top of the 2026 standings.
From five behind to in front
Shanahan came to Nevada five points behind James Deane. His maximum 50-point haul lifted him to 212 points and turned the title fight on its head, leaving his rivals needing a perfect finale — and a scoreless one for Shanahan — to beat him at Long Beach.
He had shown his pace early, qualifying second with 91.03 points behind Branden Sorensen, who topped the qualifying session at the new venue.
A one-two for GT Radial
The final was a battle between teammates on GT Radial tyres, Shanahan and Field, and the result clinched the 2026 Tire Cup for the brand with a round to spare. It was GT Radial’s second straight Tire Cup and third in four seasons.
Jack Shanahan completed the podium in his E82 BMW, his third top-three finish of the year after Long Beach in April and Stafford Springs.
Back in the desert
Las Vegas was one of three new venues on the 2026 calendar. Formula Drift last raced at the facility on a temporary layout between 2008 and 2012, and The Bullring also hosted the final round of the PROSPEC championship the night before.
Lead image is illustrative. Photo: Alex Eddit / Wikimedia Commons (CC0).