Team Mopar® Driver Samuel Hübinette Aims to Lengthen Points Lead at Formula Drift Round Six: Locked and Loaded
• Two events separate Hübinette from a third FD championship
• Formula Drift Round Six: Locked and Loaded
Center Line, Mich. — Two events separate Team Mopar® driver Samuel Hübinette – current 2008 Formula Drift (FD) points leader – from a third FD championship title. Behind the wheel of his Mopar NuFormz Racing Dodge Viper SRT10®, Hübinette wants to put some distance between his competitors at the Formula Drift Round Six: Locked and Loaded event. The penultimate 2008 FD calendar event is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 13 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.
“We’re aiming to maintain our No. 1 spot in the standings,” said Hübinette. “It would be great to have a larger lead and a little bit of breathing room heading into the last event at Irwindale in October.”
Owner of nine career FD wins – most of any driver on the series – Hübinette regards the Infineon Raceway drift course as one of the most challenging on the circuit.
“It’s a tough, interesting track,” said Hübinette. “There’s a huge e-brake initiation. It’s challenging in that you are initiating drift in the first corner going up to a huge wall. If you misjudge it, you’re going to hurt really bad. It’s no joke.”
The “Crazy Swede” has tasted victory at the Sonoma track, driving to a 2004 victory on his way to capturing the inaugural FD championship.
“We’ve had a victory there before, so we know we can be strong there,” said Hübinette. “I feel assured having NuFormz Racing team owner Shaun Carlson and his crew on my side. We’re just going to have to go as hard as we can to make sure we have a good chunk of points leaving Sonoma.”
Hübinette will return to the seat of his trusted Mopar Dodge Viper SRT10 after a one-time only engagement in the Mopar Dodge Charger SRT8® he campaigned last year in last month’s FD Mexico exhibition.
“It was great to hop back in the Charger and showcase the raw power of the V-8 Mopar HEMI® engine,” Hübinette said. “It’s an exciting car. But we’ve been extremely successful in the Mopar-powered Viper, so of course I’m glad to get back in the cockpit. With a smaller wheelbase and less weight than the Charger, the Viper is set up real well as a drift car. I’m really looking forward to next weekend.”
Formula Drift Round Six: Locked and Loaded
The Formula Drift Round Six: Locked and Loaded is scheduled for Sept. 13 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma. Media day and practice is Sept. 12. For ticket and event information, visit http://www.formuladrift.com.
70 Years of Mopar
When Chrysler bought Dodge in 1928, the need for a dedicated parts manufacturer, supplier and distribution system to support the growing enterprise led to the formation of the Chrysler Motor Parts Corporation (CMPC) in 1929.
Originally used in the 1920s, Mopar (a simple contraction of the words MOtor and PARts) was trademarked for a line of antifreeze products in 1937. It was also widely used as a moniker for the CMPC. The Mopar brand made its mark in the 1960s – the muscle car era. The Chrysler Corporation built race-ready Dodge and Plymouth “package cars” equipped with special high-performance parts. Mopar carried a line of “Special Parts” for super stock drag racers and developed its racing parts division called Mopar Performance Parts to enhance speed and handling for both road and racing use.
Today, Chrysler LLC’s Global Service & Parts division is responsible for the manufacturing and distribution of nearly 250,000 authentic Mopar replacement parts, components and accessories for Chrysler, Jeep® and Dodge vehicles sold around the world. To assure quality, reliability and durability, all Mopar parts and accessories are designed in strict adherence to Chrysler engineering standards