He’s been called many names – “ice man”, “Mopar Monster”, and “Crazy Swede” are just a few; but after the third round of the inaugural Need For Speed Underground Formula Drift Championship in Sonoma, CA, July 11, you can call ice racer/stunt driver/driving instructor Samuel Hubinette… Champion. The driver of the Mopar Viper snaked his way through a field of 42 challengers and won his third straight event to all but clinch the first ever North American drift championship. (Ed. Note: Forsberg, Yoshihara, and Gushi all still have a shot if Hubinette doesn't make the Best 16 and either three take away the max points total of 108 from Irwindale)

With Sonoma’s famed Infineon Raceway facility as a host, thousands of Formula D faithful and new converts converged on the rolling hills of Northern California. And while most visiting Sonoma Valley check out the grape crushing wineries, the only thing that was being vinted at Infineon was pure adrenaline in the form of 500+ hp cars being thrown sideways at 80+ mph.

If the tasting of rubber being thrown in your face wasn’t enough, there was plenty of other sampling to be done in the manufacturers midway and car show area. While the Formula D Series obviously has given drifting hopefuls an event to develop and showoff their skills, its also given car show buffs a new, widely covered series to show their metal. Almost a hundred show cars were on hand to compete for Formula D car show trophies and prizes – including a $1,000 check for the Best of Show entry. Unfortunately for Nor Cal enthusiasts, Jay Laub has made it his mission to crisscross the country from his Florida base and dominate the show circuit. Laub and his orange RX-7 made the trek up to Sonoma straight from Hot Import Daze San Diego the previous day to claim the cash and trophy. Car show entries were of all favors as Formula D has proved that it’s drawing out a different group of people than the import drag racing crowd. Drift and rally-themed cars and anything RWD raised the most interest in the midways and car show ground - though, the Civic crowd is never to be left out and plenty were on hand. The Need For Speed Underground gaming stations drew long lines and for a pretty good reason – high scorers were given rides in the Japanese judges cars during their exhibition runs. The JC Whitney tent showed off a pair of drift ready Mazda RX-7’s, including the wide-bodied FD of Les Wong. Drifting tortures a catalog of parts on cars and companies that specialize in clutches, suspension, LSD’s (the mechanical kind), and tires stand to benefit the most. It was no wonder that the Exedy Clutch booth was a popular station to ask questions.

And with forty-three cars and only two rounds of the championship to go, the crowds were screaming for a challenge to the Mopar 2-event win streak. Number seven qualifier Dai Yoshihara and the Pacific Rim S13 Silvia were of the last man standing between Hubinette, who had qualified number one, and another champagne spray atop the podium. The final between Yoshihara and Hubinette didn’t even require a “one more time” though after Yoshihara looped his Silvia on his turn leading in the tandem run.

Underdog number 12 qualifier Calvin Wan joined Dai on the podium for the third place finish. Wan’s battle with Rhys Millen for third place was really the match up of the day. After breaking both axles in the burnout box at the start point, Wan jumped into the S13 of Vaughn Gittin for the match up and delivered one of his best performances of the series – keeping in step with Rhys’ Pontiac GTO enough for the crowd and the judges to demand a “one more time” rerun. So close was the battle that Rhys’ GTO had bumped Wan’s car out of a turn fighting for a pass. Despite one of his best performances to date, Rhys’ (qualified third) day ended after he spun the GTO on the first lap of the rerun.

The Champ? Hubinette has won three events in a row with a combination of skill and showmanship. Besides throwing a couple of trademark 360’s into his runs during practice and after his run with Yoshihara, Hubinette put on a stunt show that even had celebrity judge Tarzan Yamada thinking why he didn’t think of it – during driver introductions (where contestants are encouraged to make it “smoky and exciting”), Hubinette drifted his Viper to within a few feet of the standing paddock crowd; crawled out of the window; ran up and threw a few t-shirts into the crowd; chased his backward rolling Viper (was in neutral); ran up the hood and popped back into the driving seat “Bo Duke” style. “There was pressure but I was relaxed after the practice sessions,” said Hubinette after his third consecutive win. “There’s a lot of stuff going on coming into the first big sweeping turn into the pinched second turn and it took to get it right. You can never be cocky going into an event though and I’m very happy with the way things are going.” While Hubinette’s contract as a Mopar driver is only for a year; even if he is back with the big “M”, he predicted that Mopar would not be back with a Viper for next year. “It’ll most likely be something else”. Hubinette was also very quick to thank Yokohama Tires, Sparco, and his Lateral-G drift team teammates in addition to Mopar.

Crowd favorite Ken Gushi just has had no luck in the series so far. After dropping out of Formula D Atlanta in the first round because of a fireworks-related miscue, Gushi lost the Houston event in the final with a broken axle. At Sonoma, the third part of the bad luck chain happened after his Gushi Auto/Rotora S13 tapped the wall after a convincing first run against Benson Hsu in the Best 16 Round. The wall tap broke the car’s oil cooler and Gushi, who had qualified fourth, was forced to finish the match in Ernie Fixmer’s car. Despite a rerun, Gushi clearly wasn’t himself in the borrowed car and gave the round to Hsu, who was competing in a new KAAZ-sponsored S13.

Another crowd favorite, Chris Forsberg, also was forced to run in a borrowed car after his 350Z developed mechanical problems. Forsberg qualified high with the second seeding but could only manage drifting to the Best 16 Round in the MotoRex-sponsored S13 of Japanese pro drifter and series judge Ucchi Utsumi before losing to Team Toyo’s Tony Schulz. Alex Pfeiffer’s Battle Version AE86 got past surprising number six qualifier James Bondurant (drifting in a S13 borrowed from Hubert Young) in the Best 16 Round before falling to Rhys Millen in the quarterfinals.

The course at Infineon could be best described as similar to an “R” shape and if it favored anybody, it favored high horsepower cars. The run from the start to the first, large decreasing apex turn forced competitors to enter with a lot of speed (something the judges were looking for as well) if they were to pull it off it one smooth drift. On practice day, Dai Yoshihara was said to be the fastest entering the first turn, hitting 81 mph before he put his Silvia sideways. Horsepower mismatches in the tandem drift rounds were made obvious by the course too – in the Best 8 Round (quarterfinal) Hubinette had a couple of car lengths on Hiro Sumida by the time the Viper hit the first turn.

All-girl drift club Drifting Pretty’s Yoshie Sumida was one of a few girl drifters on the competitor list. Sumida drifted her supercharged AE86 Corolla better than many on the entry list but couldn’t break the Best 16 ranks. Former Team Toyo model Verena Mei also zipped up a driving suit for her first Formula D event in a naturally aspirated KA-powered S13. Another familiar face behind the wheel was FWD drag pioneer Stephan Papadakis. “Big Papa” said he was “drifting for fun” and was getting his S13 (painted yellow, of course) sideways pretty well for someone who had only been in the car four times. (The car was a family car donated by his mother and was used by Steph in high school as well.)

Every Formula D round brings out the drifting oddities that are becoming an inherent part of the series and Sonoma was no exception. Derrick “Bubba Drift” Rodgers debuted in the series at Houston and made the trip out to Sonoma in his El Camino – short block 350 drift machine. Unfortunately, despite a new sponsorship (appropriately from Goodyear Tires), “Bubba Drift” couldn’t get into the Best 16 Round. Brian Forster of Partridge Family notoriety brought out an IMSA-ready Mustang road racer, but couldn’t get the mean-sounding racecar to slide. Another race-prepped BMW 3-series also tried to get on the Best 16 balloting and got some cheers from the crowd after a couple successful tire smokers.

The Formula D Championship wraps up its inaugural season at Irwindale later this summer. And while Hubinette – barring he miss the race by some freak act of nature or a jealous competitor – has all but locked up the first place honors, the fight for runner up and third place are still open. Check out www.formulad.com for more details.