Denofa: Le Mans Invitational One Of “Top Five Things” in His Life

2023 Formula Drift Champion Chelsea Denofa said racing on the Circuit de la Sarthe in this weekend’s Mustang Challenge Le Mans Invitational has had “one of the top five things” he’s done in his life to date, in what is just his second ever road racing event.

In the Formula Drift paddock, Denofa represents the Blue Oval in his No. 88 RTR Motorsports Pennzoil BC Racing Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD, but he joins Creative Auto Sport to pilot a Mustang Dark Horse R this weekend as one of six Dark Horse Stars competitors on the grid.

The non-points-paying rounds also see Ford CEO Jim Farley, Frankie Munoz, Tanner Foust, Chris Harris and Sir Chris Hoy contesting the star-studded class.

“I had no idea what to expect,” Denofa told Sportscar365. “I think that’s what made the impact even better than it is.

“Just seeing [Le Mans] and the other racing and the track and the experience and just driving on the streets at 160 plus mph and then turning back onto the track.

“The visual cues here are really easy to see and beautiful to watch from driving standpoints. It’s definitely a big impact coming from the fact that I am not, this is not so not my space. It’s almost like I have no business being here, so it makes business great.

“It’s super fun. The last race I did was probably in the top five things I’ve done in my life. I had an absolute blast.

“The Mustang chassis, in general, is super, super stiff and super safe. It’s a cool car, especially at Le Mans. Most people here haven’t seen these cars at all, really. It’s still a street-type of car. It’s very relatable. So to me, nothing’s better than 40 Mustangs firing down Le Mans straight.”

To prepare for the Le Mans Invitational, Denofa also entered a pair of regular-season, point-paying rounds at Sebring International Raceway, where he finished a weekend-best seventh overall in the top Dark Horse class in Race 1 in his road racing debut.

“I came here to turn as many laps as I could,” he said. “For someone like me, who’s very new to this, this is my second road race, really ever, I need more laps to find it.

“I’m still struggling with the roll speed through the turns, but with my drifting background and my no fear of having oversteer, I end up picking the throttle up a lot earlier than other people, so I make up for some of the roll speed.

“The speeds could be faster, and that’s something that I think Sebring helped with a ton.

“Each session and each lap, we get faster. It’s never going backwards.”

Denofa heads into Saturday’s Race 2 as a class winner, after a post-race penalty for Tanner Foust elevated him to a 13th place finish overall and a Dark Horse Stars victory.

“Saying we have a first-in-class trophy from Le Mans is insane from someone like me, who came from trying to figure out how to do burnouts and get paid for it,” said Denofa. “So it’s a big step in a direction that I think is really cool.

“Taking home another piece of hardware would be amazing. But you’ve got to finish the race to do that, so that’s where my goal is first.

“I think it benefits me because I can win in my group. It’s possible. But for me, the overall is what’s really going down on the track.

“I still am like, ‘Oh, I finished, I finished 13th overall,’ But it’s cool to get the trophy to come home and have that. I think it’s cool that there’s an opportunity for that. I think it’s something that I’m more sparked and excited to do than previously.”