is one of Japan's top competitors in the sport of drifting. Born in

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, but raised in San Gabriel Ca, he was taught by his fathe
Tsukasa Gushi
at the age of 13 with a Toyota AE86. Ken has become the youngest competitor in both the D1 Grand Prix of Japan and the Formula Drift Championships of the U.S. when he was 16, despite not passing his driving test at the time.

Racing career

Ken reached #1 qualified, but loss at top 16 tandems, in 2004 Formula Drift Championship very first round at Road Atlanta. A few weeks after Road Atlanta, Ken won the $10,000.00 Winner-Take All International Drifting Shoot-Out at the Road & Track U.S. Sports Car Invitational (30 April 2004 - 2 May 2004), part of the

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one m ...

and

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

-sponsored event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Here at this famous race course, it hosted its first ever professional drifting competition, where 14 teams/drivers competed for the right to take home a $10,000 cash prize, the largest jackpot in drifting history in the U.S. Ken, piloting Rotora's Nissan 240SX took top honors as he defeated Japanese Pro D1 driver Kazu Hayashida of RS-R in the best 8, before eliminating Samuel Hübinette with Team Mopar/Lateral G Racing 500+ horsepower Dodge Viper in the semi finals en route to the finals against Rhys Millen with Team RMR's

Pontiac GTO The Pontiac GTO is an automobile that was manufactured by American automaker Pontiac from 1963 to 1974 for the 1964 to 1974 model years, and by GM's subsidiary Holden in Australia for the 2004 to 2006 model years. The first generation of the G ...

. Seventeen-year-old Ken Gushi, the youngest competing driver in D1 Grand Prix history bested Rhys Millen with a series of consistent bumper to bumper tandem drifting runs. Finishing the 2004 Formula Drift season with his Nissan 240SX, Ken jumped into the

Ford Racing Ford Performance (formerly Ford Racing) is the high-performance division of the Ford Motor Company and the multinational name used for its motorsport and racing activity. History * 1896 – Henry Ford reached a top speed of 20 mph in his ...

backed

Mustang GT The Ford Mustang is a series of American automobiles manufactured by Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its sixth generation, it is the fifth-best sellin ...

in the 2005 series, finishing off the year in 3rd place overall, and winning the third round of the season in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

to become Formula D's first Japanese-born event winner. In 2007, following his father's dreams, Ken took on the challenge to race at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Though he had qualified 3rd place in the Pike's Peak Open class, Ken miscalculated a corner, taking the car off course. Also, in 2007 he participated in the

Forza Motorsport Showdown ''Forza Motorsport 2'' is a 2007 sim racing, simulation racing video game developed by Turn 10 Studios for the Xbox 360 console. It is the second title in the ''Forza'' series, and is the sequel to the original ''Forza Motorsport'' (2005) and was ...

piloting the Royal Purple Team

350Z : The Nissan 350Z (known as Nissan Fairlady Z (Z33) in Japan) is a two-door, two-seater sports car that was manufactured by Nissan Motor Corporation from 2002 until 2009 and marks the fifth generation of Nissan's Z-car line. The 350Z entered prod ...

. In 2008, Ken was picked up by Scion Racing and RS-R to pilot the first ever RWD converted

Scion tC The Scion tC is a compact car manufactured by Toyota under its Scion brand from 2004 to 2016 over two generations: ANT10 (2004–2010) and AGT20 (2010–2016). Both generations were built in Japan. The tC was introduced first in the United States ...

. This was done by using the Toyota Avensis chassis (which the Scion tC is based on and is originally an AWD platform) and first ever converted it into a RWD car. In 2009, Ken got 2nd place at Sonoma. He ended up finishing 10th. In 2010, Ken finished 15th. April 16, 2011 Ken takes first place in the 35th annual Toyota Pro Celebrity Race at the Long Beach Grand Prix. Ken joined fellow Scion Racing driver, Christian Rado in the track modified tCs for the 10 laps of competition. Ken finished in first place for the Pro category and 2nd overall behind actor William Fichtner. June 2011, Ken takes 3rd place in the Formula Drift Asia at Singapore. In 2011, Ken finished 14th in the 2010 Scion Racing tC. For the 2012

Formula Drift Formula Drift (also known as Formula D) is a United States-based motorsport drifting series. Formula Drift, Inc. was co-founded by Jim Liaw and Ryan Sage in 2003 as a sister company to Slipstream Global Marketing, the same partnership that int ...

season, Gushi is driving the 2013 GPP Scion Racing FR-S w/ Hankook tires. In the FR-S, he achieved a 4th-place finish at Round 5: Seattle.

Pokémon Go

Gushi is a Lv.40 Pokémon Master on Pokémon Go, having played the game since the release day. According to his interview on

Maximum Driftcast In mathematical analysis, the maxima and minima (the respective plurals of maximum and minimum) of a function, known collectively as extrema (the plural of extremum), are the largest and smallest value of the function, either within a given ran ...

he said: "I wanted to be the very best, the best that ever was. And now I am". He also said that he would give the name Corey Hosford to his most powerful Snorlax.

Personal life

He attended St. Stephens School in Monterey Park, California. He attended

Gabrielino High School Gabrielino High School (abbreviated GHS and often referred to as Gab) is a public high school located on San Gabriel Boulevard in San Gabriel, California, east of downtown Los Angeles, serving the 9th to 12th grades. It was established in 1994. Ga ...

San Gabriel, California San Gabriel (Spanish for " St. Gabriel") is a city located in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County, California. At the 2010 census, the population was 39,718. San Gabriel was founded by the Spanish in 1771, when Mission San Gabriel Arc ...

and Don Bosco Technical Institute in Rosemead, California.

References

External links

Formula D Official Driver Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gushi, Ken Japanese racing drivers Japanese emigrants to the United States People from Okinawa Island People from the San Gabriel Valley Don Bosco Technical Institute alumni Drifting drivers D1 Grand Prix drivers Formula D drivers Ryukyuan people Living people 1986 births