Adam LZ Pulls Off Incredible New Jersey Win As Collete Tension Builds Behind The Scenes

Adam LZ just delivered in one of the most memorable weekends in Formula DRIFT history at Englishtown Raceway Park for Round 4 of the 2025 season.

His second career victory came at the same track where he claimed his first win back in 2023, and he did so in style.

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A Perfect Final Initiation Sealed The Deal

LZ’s performance in the Drift HQ BMW E36 throughout the weekend was impressive. The most jaw-dropping moment came during his final battle against three-time champion Fredric Aasbo, where he pulled off the entry of the weekend that sealed the deal.

In his lead run, he scraped the wall so perfectly that sparks went flying, leaving even Aasbo stunned behind.

The victory catapulted LZ from ninth place up to third in the championship standings. It looks like his choice to go “all-in on FD” for 2025 after stepping back from European competition might be paying off.

He looked more confident than ever behind the wheel of the E36, but this story wasn’t the only drama of the weekend.

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The Storm That Nearly Ended Everything

On Thursday evening, it almost seemed like this weekend might not happen at all. Tornado-like winds estimated at 60 to 70+ mph ripped through the paddock in the space of about 15 minutes.

What started as a power outage during the PROSPEC seeding livestream quickly escalated into what Formula DRIFT officials called a “wet white out” condition. Considering it lasted just a few minutes, the destruction was crazy.

The worst-affected was Jeff Jones’s Nissan 370Z, which was crushed when a tree fell directly onto the roof, caving it in and destroying the windshield in the process.

The paddock looked like a war zone afterward – awnings were scattered everywhere, and transporters were damaged.

Formula DRIFT reported “hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of structural damage” to team equipment, infrastructure, signage, and team setups. Multiple team canopies were also destroyed throughout the venue.

Given this, they made a rare decision to restructure the entire weekend, with PRO seeding pushed to Friday morning.

With the help of other drivers, including James Deane, Jones and his team managed an epic turnaround, getting the car back out on the track in time for qualifying and once again showcasing the drifting spirit in the paddock.

Even before the storm hit, there was already drama on the track.

In one of several incidents, Chellee Hansen’s Nissan PS13 rolled after low-speed contact with Carsen Ruger during PROSPEC, although she thankfully escaped uninjured.

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One Of The Most Memorable Rounds In Formula DRIFT History

Once order had been restored, the competition resumed. The drivers seemed determined to make up for lost time, and Englishtown’s “simple” figure-8 layout ensured that the battles were intense from start to finish.

Rookie Connor O’Sullivan had his breakout performance of the season, reaching the Top 4 for his best PRO series result yet before falling to LZ.

With this, O’Sullivan now leads the Rookie of the Year championship, sitting 12 points ahead of Irishman Jack Shanahan, who took the top spot in the PRO Seeding Bracket.

The championship battle got even more interesting when Aasbo managed to scrape past James Deane in a Top 4 battle of the top two contenders, which needed “One More Time” to decide the winner.

That eventually extended Aasbo’s points lead to 20 over Deane, who ultimately secured third place after defeating the winner of the previous round, 15-year-old Hiroya Minowa.

Deane had his own dramatic moments earlier in the competition as well – he’s certainly had no shortage of them this year through FD and Drift Masters!

During his Top 16 battle against Rome Charpentier, Deane accidentally turned his RTR Mustang into a Bronco before riding up the front wheel and monster truckin’ onto the hood of Rome Charpentier’s BMW 1 Series in the Top 16.

It was a freak accident that you certainly don’t see every day!

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LZ And Collete Both Took The Spotlight

Besides the car roll earlier in the event, the PROSPEC category also delivered additional drama in the battles, particularly involving popular YouTuber Collete Davis.

Collete was leading against Nik Jimenez in the Top 16 battle when Jimenez misjudged the corner, smashing Collete onto the top of the safety barriers. (Sound familiar?)

@colletedavis

Heartbreaking 💔 #motorsport #drift #cartok #cars #crash

♬ original sound – colletedavis

After a weekend of positive drifting camaraderie, Jimenez seemingly drove off without checking if she was okay, leaving her stuck on top of the barrier. Fans were not impressed, and social media lit up with criticism for his actions.

Despite her team’s best efforts to repair the BMW E46, Collete failed to return to the start line in time for her Great 8 battle, ending her weekend in a dramatic and unfortunate fashion.

The Off-Track Drama Everyone’s Talking About

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only thing that had fans talking about the drifting YouTube power couple over the weekend. Even before things got crazy for both of them, fans noticed something was off between Adam LZ and Collete Davis, and the rumor mill was in full flow.

Before the event even started, it became apparent that the couple had unfollowed each other on social media platforms and had no public interaction when they were at the same event the previous week. They didn’t set up next to each other, as they usually do, either.

When Collete had the dramatic crash with Jimenez, LZ was nowhere to be seen in her pit area afterward. (Awkward.)

The commentary team seemed to catch on as well. Jared DeAnda, who’s known for often mentioning them together, carefully avoided doing so throughout the weekend. He would “almost” reference their relationship, then seemingly stop himself.

During the opening ceremony, Collete had her mom with her instead of LZ.

LZ’s “umbrella girl” was also clearly absent.

Then, when LZ claimed victory on the podium, Collete was nowhere to be seen.

Did They Both Confirm What Everyone Suspected?

While both remained tight-lipped about the situation throughout the weekend, some social media interactions have come to light since, which seemingly confirm what everyone was thinking.

In Collete’s latest YouTube video discussing the weekend, after many (unsurprising) LZ-related comments under the video, she couldn’t resist biting on one.

A user asked, “how you gonna pay for FD with adam gone?” She fired back with “I’ve always run my own program.. with my cars, partners and team 👍”

Meanwhile, LZ responded to a tongue-in-cheek post from @formuladerp on Instagram, where they said LZ “channeled some insane single man aura” to get the win.

His response? “I’m dying 😂”

Many took this as confirmation of the situation, but if you watch the video above, you’ll likely see the real (unrelated) reason for LZ’s comment.

Whether it’s a simple bust-up (we’ve all been there, right?) or something more serious, it remains to be seen. Brace yourselves for more drama!

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Championship Standings After The Carnage

After all the drama, weather delays, and incredible drifting, here’s how the PRO championship standings look after Round 4:

Position	Driver	Points
1	Fredric Aasbo	150
2	James Deane	130
3	Adam LZ	100
4	Hiroya Minowa	100
5	Aurimas Bakchis	100
6	Jhonnattan Castro	90
7	Matt Field	80
8	Branden Sorensen	70
9	Chris Forsberg	60
10	Dan Stuke	52
11	Connor O`Sullivan	42
12	Rome Charpentier	40
13	Dylan Hughes	40
14	Ken Gushi	40
15	Conor Shanahan	40

Fredric Aasbo still leads with 150 points, with James Deane close behind on 130 points. LZ’s spectacular victory moved him into third place, on equal points with Hiro Minowa and Odi Bakchis. On-form Jhonnatan Castro sits just 10 points behind, setting up what could be an incredible championship fight for the rest of the season.

In the Rookie of the Year battle, Connor O’Sullivan’s breakthrough performance now has him leading by 12 points over Jack Shanahan, with Tommy Lemaire just two points behind.

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A Weekend That Had Everything

This round will undoubtedly go down as one of the wildest weekends in Formula DRIFT history.

From the literal tornado that nearly canceled everything, to an incredible victory from LZ despite the lingering relationship drama that had the entire community buzzing, and some of the best driving and most bizarre crashes we’ve seen all season.

The fact that they managed to pull off such an incredible event after the destruction shows just how dedicated the Formula DRIFT community is. From the organizers working around the clock to get the venue ready, to teams like Jeff Jones’s crew making miraculous repairs.

The championship fight is heating up, and with half the season still to go, anything can happen. But one thing’s for sure – Adam LZ proved he’s back and ready to fight for this championship.

Phew… We need a breather after that one. While we expected a crazy round, we didn’t expect it to be THAT crazy!