One of the many Camaros on display at the 2009 SEMA Show is the Formula Drift Camaro SS. Sponsored by Hankook Tire and displayed prominently at the General Motors booth, the car was built by BR Racing, Luke Lonberger and Conrad Grunewald Racing and will compete in next year’s Formula D drift championship piloted by none other than Conrad Grunewald.

In race-prepped form, the Camaro gets a GM Performance LS-A suercharger along with an AEM Universal EMS to make in excess of 600-hp at the rear wheels. The heavy beast has also been put on a diet with a striped out interior and a full cabon fiber body made by Seibon Carbon.

The car will also sport a set of custom Forgeline three-piece wheels and will (obviously) run on Hankook tires  of the Ventus R-S3 variety.

GALLERY: Hankook Tire, Formula Drift Camaro SS

As a part of Chrysler’s restructuring plan it has announced that Mopar will cease its sponsorship of the NuFormz Racing team and driver Samuel Hübinette.

The writing has been on the wall for quite some time now as Chrysler has been seeking every area where it can cut costs. Additionally, a strong sign was when Hübinette took to the track during the first round of the Formula D series in Long Beach in a Dodge Viper – and not the Challenger (pictured above) that Mopar debuted at the 2008 SEMA Show.

“As a part of Chrysler’s comprehensive restructuring plan to revitalize our business and succeed as a stronger car company, we’re rigorously reviewing all expenditures and making tough business decisions,” said Mike Accavitti, Director of Brand Marketing and Strategy at Chrysler. “The decision to end Team Mopar’s sponsorship of NuFormz Racing was difficult because of our long-term relationship with the ream and all of the success we’ve enjoyed competing in Formula Drift.

Driving for Mopar, Hübinette won the first ever Formula D contest and holds the title of the most outright victories. He won the championship in 2004 and 2006 and was a runner up in ‘05 and ‘08.

“I had a great eight-year run as a member of the Team Mopar family and want to thank the company for all the great memories I’m taking away,” said NuFormz Racing team owner Shaun Carlson. “It’s a tough decision, but given the current economic environment inside and outside of racing, I certainly understand it.”

The sponsorship contract will be terminated after the next event in New Jersey on June 5/6.

Official release after the jump:

Recently we ran a story reporting that the Rhys Millen Racing Hyundai Genesis Coupe that competed in the first round of the Formula D series was actually powered by (ghasp!) a Nissan motor. That won’t be the case from now-on, however, as Rhys Millen himself has just confirmed that for the second race of the season, the Hyundai drift car will in fact be powered by Hyundai, with a turbocharged version of the company’s 3.8-liter Lamdba V6.

Currently the car is making 480hp at just 4500 rpm and 570 ft-ls of torque at 3800 rpm.

The reason for the initial run with the Nissan engine was due to a timeline that proved to be too tight. Rather than forfeit the race, Millen chose to run the car with whatever motor was available.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you see things) Millen and his Nissan-powered Hyundai did not perform well, and didn’t even make it past the first round.

We’ll be watching to see if he has better luck as round two of the Formula D series visits Road Atlanta this weekend.

[Source: Autoblog]

When Hyundai announced at the Chicago Auto Show that Rhys Millen Racing would run a new Genesis Coupe in the Formula D series, we didn’t know (nor did they it seems) that the car would be powered by Nissan.

Despite an official press release that stated the car would be powered by a 550hp stroked and turbocharged 4.1-liter version of the V6 found in the factory Genesis Coupe, the car ran the first event of the season at Long Beach, CA with a Nissan VQ35 3.5-liter V6 under the hood. (Formula D rules aren’t too picky about what engine powers a car).

Apparently the decision was a last minute one as the planned engine was not yet ready – something Hyundai USA PR boss Jim Trainor takes partial responsibility for as the company took Millen away from his regular duties to help with the launch of the factory Genesis Coupe.

Interestingly, however, Trainor had no idea of the situation as Rhys Millen Racing made the decision independently, opting to run the car in a less-than-ideal state rather than not run it at all.

As a result the car did get some exposure, although not in the actual competition as Millen and the Nissan-powered Genesis Coupe didn’t even make it through the first round.

The team is working to complete the Hyundai engine and should be ready to compete at either New Jersey on June 6th or Las Vegas on July 10th.

For move info on the Formula D series see here:

http://formulad.com/

[Source: Autoblog]

Chrysler’s global parts and service division, Mopar, will continue its successful drifting program in 2009 using the new dodge Challenger. The Challenger replaces the Charger used in years past by Dodge driver and two-time Formula D Champion Samuel Hübinette.

Significantly lighter than the factory car thanks to a stripped-down interior and a new carbon fiber body by NuFormz Racing, the shiny silver drift car is powered by a Mopar A8 engine built by Gary Stanton Racing Engines. With the addition of Mopar W9 ported heads and, no doubt, loads of other internal modifications, the Mopar Drift Challenger now makes 850 hp and 849 ft-lbs of torque.

Mopar also supplied the sway bars for the custom suspension.

For 2009 Mopar will continue its sponsorship agreement with BF Goodrich.

One interesting highlight is the use of rollerblade wheels on the rear quarter panels – a design intended to keep the big brute sliding across the concrete barriers (as is likely to happen) instead of bouncing off them.

The 2009 Formula D season is scheduled to begin April 10th at Long Beach.

Official press release after the jump: