Auto Racing Daily, DODGE MOTORSPORTS - - In what will amount to a tire-smoking, sideways battle between drivers from two vastly different motorsports disciplines, Team Mopar‘s Samuel Hubinette, along with some of the hottest names in the D1 Professional Drift Grand Prix Series, including Yasuyuki Kazama and Ken Nomura, will take on Dodge Motorsports’ Kasey Kahne, Bill Elliott and several of their NASCAR friends in the “Mopar D1 All-Star Duel presented by ShiftIntoGear.” The event is the first-ever exhibition pitting drifting and NASCAR stars in head-to-head battle.
The “Mopar D1 All-Star Duel presented by ShiftIntoGear” is slated for August 31 at California‘s Irwindale Speedway, known as the “House of Drift,” and the site of the first U.S. D1 drift event in 2003. The exhibition event pits eight headliners from America‘s most recognized form of racing, the Nextel Cup stock car series, against an equal number of pro drifters. Proceeds from the event, a natural lead-in to that weekend‘s NASCAR Nextel Cup race at the nearby California Speedway in Fontana, will benefit the Kasey Kahne Foundation, which raises and donates funds to charitable organizations that care for chronically ill children and their families.
“Drifting is really starting to take its place in the mainstream,” said Kevin Miller, Senior Manager, Mopar Brand, Performance & Motorsports. “Mopar was there at the ground level, helping to grow the sport, and we‘re proud to help continue that growth by sponsoring this ground-breaking event and teaming up with NASCAR stars such as Kasey Kahne.”
ShiftIntoGear, Inc., is one of the world‘s premier personal training and coaching resources for established racing professionals and young, up-and-coming development drivers alike. The company is jointly owned by Pennsylvania businessman Chris Evans and longtime driving instructor and professional racer Chris Cook, who carried the “Mopar D1 All-Star Duel presented by ShiftIntoGear” logo on his No. 43 Dodge while competing in the NASCAR Busch Series race at Kentucky Speedway over the weekend. Cook will also be training the NASCAR drivers in drifting technique prior to the event.
