DeNofa began drifting competitively at the age of 15, first competing at a drift event in Miami which his mother had driven him to. He later completed schooling in
road racing and
stunt driving, eventually earning an SCCA Pro Racing license to begin competing in racing events. Beginning in 2007, he raced in professional drift competitions such as D1 Grand Prix USA, NOPI Drift, and Xtreme Drift Circuit (XDC), frequently driving his personal
BMW M3 (E36). In XDC, he won his first championship in 2010, and followed it with a consecutive championship win in 2011.
Formula Drift With two back-to-back championship titles in XDC, DeNofa was granted the pro license to race in Formula Drift in 2012. He improved to 13th place in the
2013 season, driving a
BMW M3 (E46) for his own Chelsea DeNofa Motorsports team once again. The season included a 4th place finish at the season opener in
Long Beach. The
2014 season resulted in DeNofa finishing in 17th place, and finishing the
2015 season in 16th place. 2015 also marked the first year where DeNofa joined sponsor
GT Radial Tires after multiple years with Nitto Tire. DeNofa improved to record his first Formula D win at the season opener in
2016. However, after less success in later rounds, he finished in 17th place for the season. In
2017, DeNofa announced he would be joining the
RTR Motorsports team as its first second driver, alongside
Vaughn Gittin Jr. This also marked a return to sponsor Nitto Tire, as well as a continuation of his longtime BC Racing sponsorship. This also marked the departure from the BMW M3 platforms he had driven for the majority of his career, to the Ford Mustang RTR. The season resulted in a 13th place finish with a season best 5th place round finish in
Texas. DeNofa improved to an 8th place finish in the
2018 season, recording two podium finishes in the updated Ford Mustang RTR. He finished again in 8th place in the
2019 season, recording a win at Round 7 in Texas and one podium finish. This was also the first season where he recorded a first place qualification position, at the season finale round in
Irwindale. The
2020 season resulted in a then-best Formula Drift career finish of 2nd place, after DeNofa scored three podium finishes and one race win during Round 2 at
World Wide Technology Raceway. His teammate Gittin Jr. went on to win the championship, resulting in one-two season finish for RTR Motorsports. DeNofa recorded a career-best three wins in the
2021 season. This included qualifying in first at the second round, while recording a win at the same event. He again qualified in first for the following third round. After his third win in Round 5, he took the championship lead, but ultimately finished the season in 4th place. For the 2022 season, DeNofa recorded two podium finishes and a win at Round 6 at
Evergreen Speedway. He also qualified in first at Round 4 at
Englishtown Raceway Park. He matched the season prior and finished at 4th place in the final standings. DeNofa won the
2023 Formula Drift Championship, after matching his career-best of three round wins and establishing a 53-point lead heading into the final round. DeNofa announced his retirement from Formula Drift two days before the season final, with the championship not yet clinched.
Mustang Challenge As a longtime Ford Mustang driver and brand ambassador in Formula Drift, DeNofa was invited to the
IMSA Ford Mustang Challenge in 2025. This also marked a return to road racing for DeNofa, as he had initially participated in during his years before drifting. DeNofa entered driving a
one-design Mustang Dark Horse R for the series, which features a livery matching his personal
Porsche 718 Cayman and twin-turbo
BMW M5 drift cars. This series includes the Mustang Challenge Le Mans Invitational, a support race for the
24 Hours of Le Mans. To prepare for the Le Mans Invitational, DeNofa recorded a pair of rounds at
Sebring International Raceway, where he finished seventh overall in the top Dark Horse class. At the Le Mans Invitational across two races for the event, he won first place in the Dark Horse Stars class, and recorded a 13th place finish overall. == Personal life ==