Though the Ford Mustang is currently used as the go-to car in various racing venues, there are tremendous differences between a Mustang set up for drag racing, road racing, and drifting. Yet at the end of the day, which car is better? That’s quite a doozy of a question, one that frankly has no good answer. Every setup has its strengths and weaknesses, though that won’t stop serious racers from testing their racing techniques out on each other.

Ford Racing has made public this video of 2010 Formula Drift champion Vaughn Gittin Jr. locking the proverbial horns with American Iron Series champion Chris Cobetto. At Summit Point Raceway, these two victorious warriors of racing take their respective machines and do battle in two very different Mustangs.

Entitled “Drift VS. Grip”, the challenge is to see whether Vaugh Gittin Jr.’s sideways sliding racing style is any match for the traditional grippy-tire action of road racing. The results are shockingly similar, with Gittin’s drift setup managing to keep Cobetto at bay for much of the track. However, it is clear who has the faster Mustang once they hit the straightaways, and Cobetto’s American Iron Mustang eventually crosses the finish line in first.

This race was all done in good fun, and it is quite interesting to see two very different Mustang duking it out, head to head. As Vaughn Gittin Jr. puts it, drifting is faster than a lot of people think…but it still isn’t quite as fast as the American Iron Series Mustangs.

With that out of the way, we have to ask…what other kinds of racing Mustangs would you like to see compete head to head in a competition of speed?