This past weekend, drifters and fans from around the world descended on the Road Atlanta track in Braselton, Georgia for the second event of the Formula Drift 2013 season. With just seven races total in the 2013 season, every race means a lot to the drivers and teams that support them, but you don’t always need to win to get the lead.

Vaughn Gittin Jr. finished in third place at the Road Atlanta event. Thanks to his second-place finish at the Streets of Long Beach, Gittin now has a small points lead over his competitors. But can he stay on top?

That is the question that Gittin and his competitors are no doubt asking themselves as the 2010 Formula Drift Champion still seeks his first top finish for the 2013 season. At the Streets of Long Beach, Gittin fell to second place to Daijiro Yoshihara, garnering 88 points for his efforts. At Road Atlanta, Yoshihara didn’t even make it to the Round of 16 though.

Instead, it was Daigo Saito who would end up taking first place at this event, beating out Darren McNamara in the final round. Gittin lost to Saito in the quarterfinals, but beat Michael Essa in the consolation round to secure third place. That makes Gittin the only driver to finish both races on the podium thus far, giving him a total 172 points, an 11-point lead over Saito.

But in a sport where first place earns drivers 100 points, an 11-point lead is hardly indomitable. Gittin will have to keep his guard up going into the next race in Palm Beach, Florida, if he wants to stay on top of the standings.

What of our other favorite Mustang driver, Justin Pawlak? Alas, he suffered a repeat loss at the hands of Ryan Tuerck, again getting knocked out in the Round of 16. We hate to say it but Pawlak will need a podium soon to help make up all that lost ground. In the points standings Pawlak currently sits in 11th place with 116.5 points, though one first-place finish could put him right back in the running, if it can happen soon enough.

Formula Drift is keeping things tight and interesting as usual. So which Mustang drifter are you cheering for?