SPRING VALLEY, Minn. - Top American drifter Vaughn Gittin Jr. is set to make his dirt track racing debut in an experiment set up by Speedway Illustrated Magazine at Deer Creek Speedway as part of the 10th Annual Featherlite Fall Jamboree.

Ford Motor Company-backed Gittin is ready to drive the modified of O'Reilly USMTS sensation Corey Dripps on Tuesday, Sept. 17 at Deer Creek during the track’s special NASCAR Night of Victory with guests Daytona 500 winner Kevin Harvick, Hendrick Motorsports driver Landon Cassill and legendary crew chief and braodcaster Larry McReynolds.

JE Pistons’ Sean Crawford introduced Speedway Illustrated editor Karl Fredrickson to Gittin at a Las Vegas restaurant at last year’s SEMA show. Fredrickson wondered out loud how a drifter would perform in a dirt car and told Gittin he could probably make it happen if he’d be willing to try.

Gittin, known as “JR” to his friends and fans, and one of drifting’s iconic figures, jumped at the chance.

Gittin’s aggressive, foot-on-the-floor, big-smoke driving style has made him the only American to win a D1 Grand Prix event. And he’s done it twice, in both 2005 and 2007. He’ll need all that talent for this special event.

Is drifting little more than smoke and mirrors, or will Gittin make dirt racing look like easy money?