Top Drivers Are Getting the Drift

What happens when you taking the increasingly popular sport of “drifting” and mix it with the huge appeal of NASCAR?

The answer will emerge Aug. 31 at Irwindale Speedway, when some of NASCAR’s top drivers join leading U.S. and Japanese drivers from the D1 Grand Prix drifting series.

“I’m a big fan” of drifting, said Nextel Cup driver Kasey Kahne, who is scheduled to appear with Greg Biffle, Robby Gordon, Casey Mears and Bill Elliott. They’ll be in Southern California that weekend for the Sony HD 500 Cup race at the California Speedway.

None has drifted before -- at least not in organized drifting events, Kahne said with a grin while preparing for last week’s Cup race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“We’re going to do some practicing before we go, maybe one day, and then just go and kind of get thrown in with the wolves,” he said.

Drifting involves race cars that slide sideways, or drift, through the corners of a twisty course and the drifters usually compete in pairs. They’re judged on accuracy, grace, speed and how closely they stay together.

The result is a racing version of a ballet, accompanied by screeching brakes and plumes of tire smoke.

Developed in Japan, drifting has now been embraced in the U.S. and Irwindale is perhaps drifting’s most popular U.S. track. Past drifting events there have been sellouts, with 10,000 spectators.

Scheduled to join the NASCAR drivers will be such drifting stars as former D1 Grand Prix champion Samuel Hubinette, Rhys Millen, Tanner Foust, Vaughn Gitten, Yasuyuki Kazama and Ken Nomura.

Proceeds for the Mopar NASCAR D1 All-Star Drifting Duel will go to the Kasey Kahne Foundation, which helps underprivileged and chronically ill children.

The event was developed by Kahne, Jacob Agajanian of Motorsports Management International and Bob DeFazio, Irwindale Speedway’s general manager. Hideo Tomitaka, director of U.S. operations for the D1 GP drifting series, is providing cars and other support.

Gordon, a Cup owner/driver from Orange who also has vast off-road racing experience, said, “It should be a lot of fun.” Asked if he had ever drifted, Gordon said: “I do it every weekend. Seriously, I’ve never drifted before but I have done controlled skids for Chevrolet.”

Biffle too said he has “seen stuff about it, I’ve read about it and I can’t wait to get an opportunity to do it.”

IRL’s Tight Race

With three races left, the points race to win the Indy Racing League’s top series is one of the closest in years.

After 11 of the IndyCar Series’ 14 races, Helio Castroneves has an eight-point lead over Sam Hornish Jr., his Marlboro Team Penske teammate and two-time series champion.

Castroneves won the IRL’s most recent race, the Firestone Indy 400 at Michigan International Speedway on July 30, and Hornish won the Indianapolis 500 in May.

Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon, teammates at Target Chip Ganassi Racing, are third and fourth in the standings, only 17 and 31 points behind Castroneves.

They’ll race Sunday at the Kentucky Speedway, then move to Infineon Raceway in Sonoma on Aug. 27 before ending the season Sept. 10 at Chicagoland Speedway.

Last Laps

* The Southwest series of NASCAR’s AutoZone Elite Division headlines a four-race schedule Saturday night at Irwindale Speedway. Rip Michaels of San Fernando holds a five-point lead in the series over Eddy McKean of Jerome, Idaho.

* Formula One driver Mark Webber will move to Red Bull Racing from the Williams team next year, joining David Coulthard. Webber will replace Christian Klein at Red Bull.

Former Formula One champion Jacques Villeneuve also parted ways with the BMW Sauber team amid speculation he might try to jump to NASCAR’s Nextel Cup series.

* Late-model racing returns to Perris Auto Speedway on Saturday night after a month’s hiatus. The program also includes super stocks and three other divisional races.

* Champ Car driver Cristiano da Matta continued to make “steady progress” after suffering a serious head injury Aug. 3 when his car hit a deer that ran onto the track at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., Da Matta’s RuSport team said.

* IRL drivers Danica Patrick and Buddy Rice are scheduled to visit Camp Heartland, a program for children affected by AIDS and HIV, near Malibu on Wednesday.