If your attending the 2010 SEMA Show you will want to visit the “Ford Out Front” booth. You can get several chances on Thursday and Friday to go drifting with them which is a once in a lifetime experience. Earlier in the week you can hop a ride with just the 2010 Formula Drift champion Vaughn Gittin Jr. during the posted hours above. Also, his new RTR-X Ford Mustang will be inside at the Ford Booth (#22200) for SEMA. Big thanks to Ford for bringing drifting back into SEMA in 2010!
If your gearing up for the 2010 SEMA show make sure you are currently free 2:30pm on Wednesday afternoon for the Formula Drift press conference. Normally they release a new schedule for the following year on top of other big news/announcements. I am sure we will get some more details on the United Arab Emirates drifting event in February taking place on the Formula 1 Yas Marina Circuit. In case you cannot attend the 2010 SEMA show we will have an updated post within a minute or two after the press conference is over so stay tuned.
Rhys Millen has been tasked to build a Hyundai Equus for SEMA 2010. This is a car tasked to take on the likes of Bentley and other high end European cars for a third of the price. Rhys Millen’s car looks like a two tone blue/carbon fiber setup on HRE wheels. I am interested to see what Rhys Millen has done with the interior of the Equus. It looks like quite a clean drawing concept which I cannot wait to see in person at SEMA 2010.
I have seen some buzz about this on a few sites like Deathmachines.net recently but now that the Wall Stadium website is updated it looks like the track might be closed for good? They closed the track previously in the winter but it was opened again by the start of the Formula Drift season. It should make for an interesting winter and a potential new venue location for drifting in New Jersey? I have heard some great whispering about Jersey Motorsports Park being a viable and prepped track for Formula Drift competition. Where would you northeast fans like to see drifting in 2011?
Need for Speed has built a 1969 Ford Mustang with Vaughn Gittin Jr. that they called a Ford Mustang RTR-X. It will be unveiled at the 2010 SEMA show and will be featured in some upcoming Need for Speed video games. Above are the renders of the RTR-X that will be on display at SEMA this year.
Vaughn Gittin Jr. has brought out his own Ford Mustang that is Ready to Rock literally in the RTR Ford Mustang. Check out this debut video we got our hands of featuring his Ford Mustang riding around Red Rock Canyon and other areas of Nevada. The car he has featured is looking fantastic in kona blue. The car should be visiting Ford dealerships pretty soon.
Watch the video: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/watchvideo/mustang-rtr-has-arrived-
Interview with Doug Van Den Brink at SEMA 2009
Ford Mustang drifter Doug Van Den Brink was grabbed by the Belltech team for a great interview on his racing career and performance in drifting. He talks about how his car is built, where he is going and his level of competition moving forward into the 2010 series. His SEMA revamp of the car looked fantastic with the two tone style paint job. His car was in a pristine location right by the media center for everyone at SEMA to check out.
Watch the video: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/watchvideo/interview-with-doug-van-den-brink-at-sema-200
Here are some photos of the Hankook Nissan GT-R that was unveiled at the Hankook Tires SEMA booth. Robbie Nishida has been confirmed as the driver for the car in 2010. Here is a closer look at it and sadly not a closer look at the Hankook Tire girls. They wanted nothing to do with us since clearly they are turned the wrong way. Lisa Kim Fleming and Ashley Sarto even threw plastic chickens at us when we were in the booth, I swear!
The Big 3 your thinking of are already sliding around in drifting but this is the new Big 3, the energy drink three. The biggest buzz at the 2009 SEMA show is the entry of the second largest energy drink into drifting. While they have no driver they have been taking lots of meetings. I would love to see them come on board next year with a team/driver and really bring the excitement level up in drift.
They need to join Redbull and Rockstar out in the drifting field for 2010. If they market and activate in drift like they do in power sports they will dominate the sport in no time. I met some staff on the Gumball 3000 and they were just great people. Now we just have to sit around and wait to see if it gets leaked to who will be driving for them in 2010.
Here is all the information from the 2009 SEMA Formula Drift Press Conference.
-15-20% fan growth at all tracks
-Irwindale 2009 Sellout was Largest even in track history and Formula D history
-200 to 300 million homes for International Television
-NOS Energy Drink will be the new official energy drink replacing Redbull
-Urbanracer is doing 2010 Fan Guide
-2010 Formula D Pro Am Finals will be at Irwindale in conjunction with Formula D event
-2010 will have a World Drifting Championship
-January 16th-17th – Panama Drifting Demo
Tentative 2010 Schedule:
-April 8th-9th: Long Beach, California
-May 7th-8th: Road Atlanta, Georgia
-June 4th-5th: Wall Speedway, New Jersey
-July 9th-10th: Evergreen Speedway, Washington
-August 20th-21st: Las Vegas Speedway, Nevada
-September (No day, my guess is waiting on IRL schedule): Infineon Raceway, California
-October 8th-9th: Irwindale Speedway, California
