American Kenda Rubber Co. Ltd. has expanded its 2024 driver roster for the 2024 Formula Drift (FD) Pro season.
Kenda made its debut in the 2023 season with the launch of the Vezda UHP Max tire.
This year, Kenda is expanding its team from four drivers to eight.
The new team includes:
- Derek Madison, in his rookie season in FD Pro, has moved up from ProSpec.
- Ryan Litteral, an experienced FD Pro known for campaigning with the RB engine.
- Jhonnattan Castro, Factory Toyota driver and five-time Dominican Republic Drift Champion.
- Alec Robbins, campaigning his Nissan and returning to Team Kenda for the second year.
- Taylor Hull, returning to Team Kenda for the second year.
- Jonathan Hurs, campaigning a new build in 2024 with a Cadillac XLR chassis.
- Nick Noback, the defending winner of the 2023 season finale at Irwindale with an all-new livery on his BMW E46.
- Ken Gushi, a Formula Drift driver since its inception in 2004, who is also a Factory Toyota driver and is returning with JDM tuning legend GReddy for the 2024 season.
"2023 was our debut year with the new tire," says Edward Koczan, motorsports program manager for Kenda Tires USA.
"We were determined to use that season as a learning year, while we supported our drivers and introduced the Vezda UHP MAX tire. In 2024, we’re ready to race with our largest lineup ever in Formula Drift
“For Kenda Tires, the Podium2Pavement message is the Kenda Motorsports mantra behind our racing involvement,” says Brandon Stotsenburg, vice president of automotive for Kenda Tires USA.
For this 2024 season, Kenda Tires will focus on enhanced fan engagement and activation, while also forging B2B partnerships at each round for selected Kenda Tire retail customers and distributor partners.
Kenda will be announcing additional fan-facing activities and contests centered around Team Kenda at each event, and Team Kenda drivers will be also engaging with fans on the official Kenda Motorsports Instagram page with driver takeovers and other content planned.
