A Tornado Just Hit Formula DRIFT Mid-Competition And The Aftermath Is Insane

At Englishtown, New Jersey, for Round 4 of the 2025 Formula DRIFT series, things took a shocking turn all within 15 minutes as a tornado blasted through the paddock, destroying cars and multiple team setups.

What started as typical competition drama quickly escalated into something nobody could have predicted.

Before the storm hit, things had already been crazy on track, with a car rolling on its roof, as well as some big crashes.

The storm brought carnage to the paddock during the tail end of the PROSPEC Seeding, just as the PRO drivers were due to go out for their practice session. 

Things initially started with a power outage, resulting in a cut to the livestream. Then, the storm cell brought “tornado-like winds” estimated at 60 to 70+ miles per hour or more, causing a “wet white out”, according to Formula DRIFT. 

Once the storm passed, the paddock area was decimated, with destroyed awnings strewn alongside hit transporters and various other objects scattered across the venue.

In the aftermath, they found “hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of structural damage” to team equipment, FD equipment, signage, and booths.

The FD team was forced to change plans, resulting in the cancellation of competition activities for the night and a revised plan for the following days.

Jeff Jones’s FD 370Z Gets Crushed By A Tree

The worst-impacted car was Jeff Jones’s Nissan 370Z, which had a tree fall directly onto its roof.

The destruction was severe enough that you could see the tree literally crushing the car, which is certainly not the kind of contact he had expected this weekend!

Thankfully, the drifting spirit and camaraderie in Formula DRIFT soon shone through, with James Deane commenting on Jeff Jones’ Instagram post with: “That was scary man, glad everyone is okay. Let’s get some bars in that machine and get you right for Saturday 🙏”

True to his word, Deane was later seen in the team paddock, getting stuck in with helping Jeff fix his car.

Meanwhile, numerous offers for help poured in on various social media platforms, with fans offering their garages and spare parts to assist the teams.

As messy as it was, it’s always incredible to witness the drifting community come together in wild events like this, even at the top tier of the sport.

The Event Continues, But Later Than Planned

Despite the extensive damage, “everybody’s okay,” and no one was hurt or injured, which was described as very lucky, FD stated in the announcement below.

With some teams unable to work on their cars in the paddock and the amount of dangerous objects strewn across the venue, it was (quite rightly) decided it would be safer to postpone, allowing everybody to regroup.

This meant canceling the rest of the night’s planned PRO Seeding competition, which will now take place on Friday morning. PROSPEC continues as scheduled on Friday afternoon.

Needless to say, this freak occurrence is extremely rare, as only two other weather incidents in the past 22 years have forced a reschedule – one in Long Beach due to heavy rain, and another in St. Louis, which was hit by a similar storm cell.

PROSPEC Craziness Before The Storm Hit

Before the storm rolled in, the PROSPEC event was already getting plenty of attention. Jerry Johnson claimed his first Seeding Bracket win, taking the top spot ahead of Brian Hoplamazian and Jayce Habich.

There was, unfortunately, a rare-seen car roll for Chellee Hansen in her Nissan PS13, who thankfully got out unscathed after taking a hit from Carsen Ruger.

Thankfully, rolling is another rarity in drifting, making the incident particularly noteworthy even before the weather chaos began.

Plenty more limit-pushing action was happening throughout the PROSPEC qualifying. The level of commitment these drivers show, especially in the development series, continues to impress.

Given that the PRO drivers haven’t even had the chance to get underway yet, it’s already been an absolutely insane weekend. Who knows what the rest of it will have in store!