Fast X, the 10th installment of the Fast and Furious series, has just lost Justin Lin as its director. Though this could be disastrous for both the movie and its sequel, as development and pre-production have already been completed for both of them, it’s undoubtedly going to have the biggest stunts of the series. However, some fans would love nothing more than to see the franchise go back to its roots and become more race-oriented again.
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The movie is full of petrol-headed characters, and Redditors have their own opinions on who is the best racer of the entire Fast family. Between a couple of obvious answers, a couple of deep cuts, and some characters that fans have definitely forgotten about, Redditors have some strong arguments for each of them.
Leon
![Leon drives across the desert in The Fast and the Furious](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Fast-Furious-2001-Johnny-Strong-Leon.jpg)
It might be hard for fans to place Leon, as, unlike most of the original cast, he hasn’t returned to the series, except for his teenage vision of him, which can be found in a flashback in F9. Nevertheless, Nitewing86 thinks the laidback member of the family is still the best racer.
The Redditor hilariously quotes one of Leon’s most memorable lines, “road’s closed, pizza boy,” when his job in the very first race of the series was to keep vehicles away from the strip and watch out for the feds. So his racing abilities weren’t exactly on show in the movie, and audiences didn’t even get to see him perform at Race Wars. However, he does get to briefly show his skills when trying to save Vince at the end of the original movie.
Han Seoul-Oh
Han might not make a great fighter, as he has the worst combat skills of any of the Fast family, and his driving skills are questionable too. Audiences haven’t seen him drive or race much, and the only thing that even slightly resembles any kind of driving skill is when he pulls donuts to get a woman’s phone number in Tokyo Drift. All he ever does is eat way too many potato chips. But 0degreesk thinks Han is a dark horse when it comes to racing.
The Redditor posits, “Han gives the impression that he’s holding back a lot. He’s just so chill.” Given that Han has come back from the dead in the series not once but twice, he’s seemingly capable of anything. And at this point, revealing that he’s the best racer on the planet is the least surprising thing that could happen in Fast X.
Brian O’Connor
The Fast & Furious series showcased Brian’s trajectory as a racer well, as he was practicing his skills as a street racer the very first moment audiences saw him… and he wasn’t very good. But by Furious 7, he had become arguably the best racer in the series, even better than Dom, and nobody believes that more than Ok-Violinist_2938. The Redditor thinks that he proved that he was the best driver even earlier than that, noting, “Brian has done some crazy maneuvers. And let’s not forget Dom cheated on one of the races because he knew Brian would’ve beat him.”
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One of the most impressive stunts in the entire high-octane action series isn’t the jumping between skyscrapers or blowing up the airplane, but the “stare and drive.” In 2 Fast 2 Furious, Brian speeds in a Mitsubishi Lancer while staring at Monica, not once looking at the road, and he comes to a screeching halt at a stoplight. It’s one of the most impressive pieces of driving in the franchise.
Tej Parker
JohnnySpark reckons the competition for best racer comes down to two players, noting, “Tej is the best driver, second is Roman” While Roman has become the clown of the series, there have actually been times when Rome was smarter than Tej, and that includes being way more cautious too. So he probably wouldn’t perform as well as his BFF in a one-on-one drag race.
Though Tej himself said at the very beginning of 2 Fast 2 Furious that he doesn’t race, that doesn’t mean he isn’t good at it. He knows his way around cars and is a professional mechanic, so he could likely be keeping his biggest skill hidden. Being an organizer of illegal races, it’s way easier for him to make money that way instead of risking his life every night.
Johnny Tran
Johnny Tran is a deep cut from Double_Range, and though the character doesn’t get all that much fanfare, especially as The Fast and the Furious is a much smaller movie compared to what followed, the Redditor is on the money. The user reminds fans, “Wasn’t Johnny Tran supposed to be like a racer just as feared as Dom?” Tran was the main antagonist of the first movie, and every time audiences saw him driving, he was at the top of his game.
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Tran beat Jesse, the genius of the Fast family, in a one-on-one drag race during Race Wars, and Brian seemed pretty intimidated by what was underneath the hood of his car too. Not only that, but Tran was an incredible driver with not just cars, but bikes too, a mode of transport that only Letty is an expert at driving in the family.
Dominic Toretto
Dom would be a horrible roommate but he’d at least get his flatmates to where they need to be on time. A deleted user reckons that Dom is the best racer in the entire series. The character did win the very first race when audiences were introduced to him, but at the same time, he also lost the very last race. However, the Redditor argues, “Dom has beaten Brian many times over in legit races, and has even been known to let Brian win.”
The Redditor is referring to something that is often hotly debated by the Fast fan community. In Fast Five, Dom, Brian, Tej, and Rome steal cop cars for the heist, and for old time’s sake, they bet a million dollars each on who will win a quarter-mile race. Brian technically won, but there’s speculation that Dom pulled back and let him win.
Letty Ortiz
Letty would make a strong Hunger Games contender, and it’s her braveness, stubbornness, and drive that makes her a great racer too. In fairness, Letty is the only character to have never actually lost a race. She beat her opponent easily in Race Wars in the first movie, and as another deleted user explains, “Letty is the only one to beat Dom in a race.”
Letty beat Dom in a race in Fast and Furious 6, and as she also knows how to ride motorbikes better than any other member of the crew, she’s arguably the best racer in more ways than one. And with each consecutive release in the series, Letty is becoming more of a hero than Dom too.
Sean Boswell
When asked who the best Fast & Furious driver is, Richterman111 doesn’t hesitate, responding, “Simple, it’s Sean.” Given that Sean is the youngest character in the series, as he’s just 17 years old in Tokyo Drift, he doesn’t have half as much experience as the other characters. However, from the very beginning of the 2006 movie, it shows just how brave and fearless the adolescent is.
Tokyo Drift begins with Sean destroying a whole construction site in order to win a race against a Dodge Viper. And once he is sent to Tokyo, he spends all day and night learning how to drift, and through some trials and tribulations, he becomes the best racer and is crowned “Drift King.”
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