The world’s top drifting talent will converge on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Aug. 20-21 for the third annual Formula DRIFT event. The Las Vegas competition is the fifth event on the 2010 Formula DRIFT (www.formulad.com) schedule.
Tokyo’s Daijiro Yoshihara (Discount Tire Falken Nissan S13) has won 50% of this year’s events and currently is in third place in the point standings.
“The Formula DRIFT 2010 season has been pretty good for me so far,” said the 30-year-old Yoshihara, whose personal website is www.ILoveDaijiro.com. “I’m standing in third place now and we have another three rounds to go. The difference between the top five drivers in the standings is very small. Six drivers are very close within points, so we all have a chance to win the championship. It’s going to be a very challenging event in Las Vegas and a victory there can determine the championship. I can’t wait to fight for the championship.”
Sweden’s Samuel Hubinette is a two-time drifting champion and a Hollywood stunt driver. Nicknamed “The Crazy Swede,” Hubinette will pilot the new Challenger in Las Vegas for Dodge Motorsports.
“I’m exited to return to Las Vegas again,” Samuel said. “This year it will be with my own organization – Samuel Hubinette Racing – and a new sponsor in Dodge Motorsports. We have been back working on the performance of the SHR-Dodge-BFG Challenger and it is ready to perform. It will be another tough competition in the extreme heat in Vegas this time of year, but I have no doubt that the Challenger – and the Viper of my teammate, Andrew Comrie-Picard, will take it well again.”
New Hampshire’s Ryan Tuerck likes Las Vegas, the fastest track on the Formula DRIFT circuit. “Formula DRIFT Las Vegas is an awesome show. The track is super fast with walls everywhere. Tandem runs are insane and make for a very entertaining competition for the fans to watch. I’ll be driving the Mobil1 Pontiac Solstice all out to try and gain some points and move up in the standings.”
The Aug. 20-21 event, dubbed the Back-to-School Bash, is a doubleheader. While Formula DRIFT competes on the specially-prepared course in pit area, drag racing, Monster Trucks and Jet Cars will thrill the fans on The Strip’s quarter mile.
Tanner Foust won last year’s Formula DRIFT Las Vegas event in his Rockstar/Hankook Scion Racing tC. Foust also won the series’ most recent event, July 10 at Monroe, Wash., over Ireland’s Dan McNamara.
The drifting event also includes the ever-popular Bikini Jam, a car show and manufacturers’ midway. The Monster Truck show at the drag strip is headlined by the legendary Bigfoot.
Current 2010 Formula DRIFT Professional Championship point standings:
1. Vaughn Gittin (Joppa, Maryland), Mustang 357
2. Tanner Foust (Laguna Beach, Calif.), Scion 331
3. Daijiro Yoshihara (Tokyo, Japan), Nissan 326
4. Ryan Tuerck (Derry, N.H.), Pontiac 305
5. Darren McNamara (Cork, Ireland), Saturn 286
6. Chris Forsberg (Doylestown, Pa.), Nissan 266
7. Rhys Millen (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.), Hyundai 237.5
8. Samuel Hubinette (Jokkmokk, Sweden), Dodge 231
9. Michihiro Takitori (Kyoto, Japan), Nissan 212.5
10. Justin Pawlak (Long Beach, Calif.), Mustang 211.5
For more information, please call LVMS at (702) 644-4444 or visit www.LVMS.com. Follow LVMS on Facebook and Twitter.
