At 14, Camren Sorensen Becomes Formula Drift's Youngest-Ever Winner in Indianapolis

Camren Sorensen is 14 years old, and on July 31 he became the youngest driver ever to win a Formula Drift event. Competing in Round 3 of the PROSPEC series at Indianapolis Raceway Park, Sorensen took the top step of the podium in his Optima Battery / Sorensen Motorsports BMW, a result Formula Drift itself flagged as a first in the series' 23-year history.

The win didn't come easily. In the Top 8, Sorensen lined up against his own sister, Amanda, who was forced out of the battle after her car suffered a supercharger belt failure. Sorensen advanced from there through to the final, where he faced South African driver Jason Webb. Light rain earlier in the session had left parts of the track greasy, and in the finals two of the three judges sided with Sorensen over Webb to hand him the round win.

The final PROSPEC Round 3 results had Sorensen first with 50 points, Webb second with 40, and Dmitriy Brutskiy third with 30. The result also reshuffled the championship picture: Sorensen jumped from sixth in points to third overall, sitting on 100 points and just ten behind series leader Brutskiy's 110, with Webb sandwiched between them on 103. It was Sorensen's second podium of the season, following an earlier top-three finish at Round 2.

"That was an amazing event," Sorensen said afterward, adding, "I'm so excited for Vegas. The car will be ready and I'll be ready to do this again!" — a reference to the next PROSPEC round on Formula Drift's calendar.

Sorensen's milestone landed in an otherwise rough weekend for Formula Drift at Indianapolis. A day after the PROSPEC round, severe flooding from a major storm forced the cancellation of the PRO Round 5 main event, the first cancellation of a PRO round in the championship's history. Formula Drift president Ryan Sage addressed the timing directly, saying it was "with a heavy heart" that the call was made just a day after what he called a successful PROSPEC round.

For a 14-year-old, the contrast underscored how far Sorensen has jumped in a single weekend — from an outside title contender to a driver within striking distance of the PROSPEC points lead, on a stage most competitors are years older than him to reach. With the series now heading toward its next rounds, Sorensen's climb up the standings, and the family rivalry that helped produce it, is one of the more unusual storylines developing in American drifting this season.