Major Announcements

Sam Hubinette Racing along with Sam Hubinette have finally retired from Formula Drift just before the 2012 season. An insider told us that they had a serious lack of sponsorship interest in the program (which shouldn’t be shocking since the car failed to work at several events and he wound up MIA to run TORC at some other events). BFGoodrich pulled the plug on his program coming into 2012 and are no longer participating in Formula Drift. They do mention him coming to an event or two in 2012 but his focus and chance at a championship for this year are long out the window it sounds like. Enjoy the PR below.

 ”The 2-time Formula DRIFT champion, Samuel Hübinette has announced today that he will not be returning for the full 2012 Formula DRIFT pro championship season.

After 8 seasons with the Series, Hübinette will not be competing in the full Formula DRIFT schedule due to sponsors’ changing interest. Team Samuel Hübinette Racing will continue to participate in Formula DRIFT international demos and is still working on participating in some Pro Championship events. Hübinette will concentrate on other racing opportunities for 2012.

“Two of our main sponsors changed their marketing direction, so we decided that the best thing to do with the Dodge Challenger SHR drift car is to focus on doing demos. For competition, we’re pursuing opportunities in rallycross and off-road truck. We hope to run a round or two of the Formula DRIFT competitions for 2012, but won’t know for sure until things settle down,” said Samuel Hübinette, professional driver and team owner of SHR. “It has been such a good time to be part of the Formula DRIFT Series from day one and to be the inaugural Series champion means a lot to me. Drifting and Formula DRIFT has given me many opportunities in my career including stunt driving in movies and car commercials. “

In 2011, Hübinette drove in both Formula DRIFT and the Traxxas TORC Series ending up with a few conflicts that resulted in missing a couple rounds in Formula DRIFT. The highlight of the season was gaining a first qualifier spot in the Samuel Hübinette Racing Dodge Challenger at the — round. With 2 championships and 9 event victories, Hübinette maintains the record for most Formula DRIFT victories.

“We will miss having a competitor like Samuel this season,” said Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “We know that when the funding and sponsorship re-align, Samuel will be able to return to the Series and continue to be a competitive driver.”

Posted in Dean Kearney, Formula D, Major Announcements, Sam Hubinette | 22 Comments »

The Dominican Republic champion Jnonnattan Castro is coming to Formula Drift in 2012 to compete. Rumor has it he will be driving the City Tire 350z that was driven by Carl Rydquist in 2009. While it doesn’t sound like Castro will be running the full season he will be around for some events (we guess the West Coast) running this 350z as a Dominican Republic champion. Another international star is heading to America to compete in Formula Drift.

Posted in Formula D, International, Major Announcements, Rumors/Gossip | 21 Comments »

The biggest rumor of the 2012 season floating around is that Patrick Mordaunt has signed a deal with a top four gun company to sponsor his car (which we think is the old APEX’i Lexus SC430). They have kept a pretty good wrap on his new program but once the big announcement comes out we think you will have guns, luxury, and a new tire sponsor. Patrick is a few steps into becoming a third world country warlord at this rate. He just needs to secure some rare resources and more weapons partnerships. All kidding aside we cannot wait to see which of the big gun companies he has brought on board for 2012. Any guesses as to which gun company is stepping up to team up with Patrick for 2012?

Posted in Formula D, Major Announcements, Patrick Mordaunt, Rumors/Gossip | 14 Comments »

Ryan Kado signed a deal with Forged Racing to support him as a title sponsor in his second year running with Formula Drift. Ryan Kado did have some early on mechanical issues with the 350z but got things flowing later on in the season. We cannot wait to see how the 350z is going to look this year with his new sponsorship deal. This comes after a successful partnership with Forged Racing in 2011, we are excited to continue using the new Forged Racing 4 row radiator, as well as products from Forged Racing’s partner companies Ultra Racing and DNA Motoring.

Posted in Formula D, Major Announcements | 5 Comments »

Formula DRIFT has announced that they will continue their partnership with NOS® Energy Drink as the Official Energy Drink of Formula DRIFT for the 2012 Pro Championship Series.

“Formula D embodies exactly what NOS stands for –high performance energy, unwavering mental focus, and aggressive determination,” said Eric Helms, Director of Marketing for NOS Energy Drink. “Through our partnership the past two years, both NOS and Formula D have continued to fortify motorsports credibility and attract new fans. We’re excited for more of the same in 2012.”

This will be the third consecutive year that NOS will be an official sponsor of the Series. NOS will continue to support former Formula DRIFT champion Chris Forsberg into the 2012 season.

“We are excited to have NOS back on board again this yea, “said Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “Over the last 2 seasons the NOS team has been a great sponsor but also proactive promotional partner. Their presence at each event adds to the festivities for the fans and their promotional support is one of the factors to our continuous spectator growth. Everyone at Formula DRIFT is looking forward to working with the NOS team again this season.”

Posted in Chris Forsberg, Formula D, Major Announcements | 10 Comments »

The Falken Tire Cup was established to give Formula D privateer drivers and teams an opportunity to earn significant contingency funds by awarding $5,000 to the highest finishing driver participating in the program.

“Falken Tire has been a proud supporter of Formula Drift since its inception, and our Azenis RT615k tire is an important part of our back-to-back championships,” noted Jonathon Bradford, Team Falken’s Drift Supervisor. “Privateer teams are the backbone of our sport and Falken Tire is fortunate to be in a position where our brand can reward their success in such a competitive series.”

Participants in the Falken Tire Cup will also be able to take advantage of a special Falken Tire discount purchase program. Additional requirements for involvement in the Falken Tire Cup include:

• To be eligible for the Falken Tire Cup, drivers will be required to run Falken Tires on all four positions of their vehicle at all Formula D events. The minimum signage requirements include a one 20-inch Falken Tire decal on the front bumper or hood position as well as at least one 24-inch decal on both sides of the vehicle. Falken Tire Cup drivers must also wear a Falken Tire patch (or embroidery) on their driver suit as well as a Falken Tire banner in their team’s pit space.
• Teams must participate in at least four rounds of the 2012 Formula D championship series.

Round 1 of the 2012 Formula Drift Championship begins on the streets of Long Beach as teams will again compete on the Long Beach Grand Prix course, April 6-7.

For more information on the Falken Tire Cup, or to register, drivers and teams should contact: drifting@falkentire.com

Posted in Formula D, Major Announcements, Walker Wilkerson | 33 Comments »

The boys at RS*R are back again in 2012 with a S15 Silvia and D1GP star Toshiki Yoshioka. He is the only Japanese star to win a Formula Drift event and we can imagine his team is counting on that type of performance in 2012. Yoshioka was partnered with in Yokohama Tire in years past but for 2012 the RS*R team has optioned to go with Nitto Tire for the new year. What does everyone think of this new team in 2012?

Posted in D1GP, Formula D, Major Announcements | 23 Comments »

The 2012 season will be adding another Ford Mustang in the drift world with the help of BMI Racing. Due to Mazda retiring the Rx-8 they have put the car away and focused on this Mustang build. The Mustang will have a 5.0L coyote motor with a 2.9L Whipple supercharger. Sarah Burgess will be back driving the car  in 2012 but the PR they issued doesn’t make a mention of where they will be competing with the new Mustang. They do have some notable partners such as Ford Racing, Aeromotive Fuel Systems, and SPEC Clutch.

Posted in Formula D, Major Announcements, XDC | 22 Comments »

A quick visit to the Formula Drift website and the sponsors tab will show off Yokohama Tire who hasn’t been around since securing some championships in the series what seems like decades ago. We also fired up a rumormill post that Maxxis Tire is coming back to drifting in 2012 but nothing confirmed with Formula Drift. Yokohama raises a good question of who will be running the tire this season but we imagine every driver or wannabe driver without a tire this late in the game is going to put in some due dillegence this weekend and make a phone call to the tire powerhouse on Monday looking for some sponsorship. Also a worthy mention is the addition of Electric Sunglasses which happens to be listed under MAJOR sponsors of the series for 2012.

Source: http://www.formulad.com/sponsors/

Posted in Formula D, Major Announcements | 12 Comments »

The track owners have now spoken up and confirmed that we were right and the mainstream media just reposted crap they found in an old IRC channel. That probably isn’t entirely true but here are some facts the track OWNERS (not managers) released about the future of Irwindale.

STATEMENT FROM NU-WAY INDUSTRIES, INC.

There have been numerous rumors regarding Irwindale Speedway. Please permit
this statement to provide clarification:

1) THE PERMANENT TRACK GRANDSTANDS ARE NOT (NOR ARE THEY IN ANY DANGER OF) BEING TORN DOWN.  There was a report that the portable, temporary bleachers
outside the first turn were being dismantled. That is correct.  Those
temporary stands were rented and the company that owned them was simply
removing their property.

2) THE TRACK WAS NOT BUILT OVER A POTENTIAL MINING SITE, IT WAS A SAND AND
GRAVEL MINING SITE, AND AFTER MATERIALS EXTRACTION, BECAME A MINING
RECLAMATION PROJECT.  THE SITE CANNOT BE MINED.  There are a set of very
strict rules about the use and development of this sort of property, which
are being carefully followed.  In 1993, the City of Irwindale approved the
site to be used as a Swap Meet, and in 1997, approved its use as Irwindale
Speedway.

3)  NU-WAY INDUSTRIES, INC. OWNS THE LAND, THE RACE TRACK, AND THE EQUIPMENT TO OPERATE THE TRACK.  An entity called Irwindale Speedway, LLC. leased the
facility from Nu-Way Industries, Inc.  On February 13, 2012, Irwindale
Speedway, LLC filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 7 of the
bankruptcy code.

4) BECAUSE OF THE CHAPTER 7 BANKRUPTCY FILING BY  IRWINDALE SPEEDWAY LLC,
THE COURT IS IN CONTROL OF THE PROPERTY AT THIS POINT.  HOWEVER, NU-WAY
INDUSTRIES, INC. IS ACTIVELY SEEKING A POTENTIAL BUYER FOR THE COMPLETE
FACILITY.  A hearing will be held soon in order to return the facility to
Nu-Way Industries, Inc. control.

Posted in Formula D, Major Announcements, XDC | 10 Comments »