Samuel Hubinette
2-time Formula DRIFT Champion and Hollywood Stunt Driver. This crazy Swede has the most wins in Formula DRIFT history. Hübinette began working as a test driver for Volvo Cars at the age of 23. During that period, he acted as stunt driver for all new Volvo commercials. He also began competing in Touring Car Racing for Team TDR. Hübinette worked at Volvo for nine years, then set his sights on America. He traveled to Newport Beach, Calif., in 1998 to "hang out" for a year. While in California he attended a BMW driving event, where his skills behind the wheel caught the attention of the event's instructors. Hübinette hoped to catch on as driving instructor with Skip Barber; however, without a green card, he was forced to return to Sweden, hoping one day to make it back to Newport Beach. Some would call it luck, others would call it God's blessing, but shortly thereafter Samuel won the green card lottery! He soon jumped on the next flight to the U.S. After a few years working as a driving instructor with Skip Barber and many driving/racing gigs, including forming his own racing school, Hübinette landed his dream job—drifting a Dodge Viper for Mopar in the FD Series. Hübinette went on to win the inaugural FD competition at Road Atlanta, and captured three of four events that season, along with the inaugural FD championship. Hübinette added another championship in 2006 and his nine career FD wins are a series high. Hübinette is a member of LAMotorsports, a premier stunt team. He works regularly as a stunt driver in car commercials and in Hollywood films, including the last two installments of the "Fast and the Furious" franchise, "Crank 2," and "Knight and Day." • Finished fourth overall in the FD standings, despite losing primary sponsor Mopar midway through the season. • Finished second in the season-opening Streets of Long Beach event. • Mourned the loss of NuFormz Racing team owner Shaun Carlson, who tragically passed away in October 2009. 2008 • Finished second overall in the FD standings. • Scored three podium finishes in seven events. 2007 • Earned a historic win in his 392 HEMI®-powered Mopar Dodge Charger SRT8 drift vehicle at the FD event at Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia. The victory was the first in a professional racing series by a race car based directly on a Chrysler LX platform vehicle. • Finished fifth in the final FD standings. • Captured his ninth career FD victory, the most of any driver competing in the series. • Captured a Team Drift win along with friends Tanner Foust and Rhys Millen at the Streets of Long Beach FD event in April. • Was featured in a nationwide television ad campaign by sponsor BFGoodrich Tires. 2006 • Reclaimed the FD championship in 2006, giving him two championships in the first three years of the series. • Added three more wins (Long Beach, Chicago, New Jersey) to his career total, giving him eight FD victories. His three wins were the most of the series in 2006. • Scored podium finishes in five of seven events. • Competed in the historic Mopar D1 All Star Duel at Irwindale Speedway, the first-ever meeting between drifters and NASCAR Nextel Cup stars. NASCAR drivers, including Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth and Bill Elliott, drifted with Hubinette and others in the event, which benefited the Kasey Kahne Foundation. 2005 • Scored a runner-up finish in the 2005 FD standings, contending for the title up to the very last event, and finishing only 40 points out of the top spot. • Wheeled his way to two wins in 2005, at Road Atlanta and the inaugural Drift Chicago event. • Became the FD Series’ first repeat winner at a venue with his win at Road Atlanta. • Advanced to at least the Elite 8 round of eliminations in five of the six FD events in 2005. • Won 6 out of 6 Viper Racing league events with a competition coupe Viper. 2004 • Won the inaugural FD championship in 2004. • Swept three of four series events in 2004 (Atlanta, Houston and Sonoma). • Finished first among U.S. drivers and in the top-10 overall at the 2004 D1 Grand Prix at Irwindale Speedway. HIGHLIGHTS & FUN FACTS • Won the first three Formula DRIFT (FD) events (Atlanta, Houston, Sonoma) and claimed the first-ever FD championship in 2004, the series’ inaugural season. • Captured the 2006 FD championship, his second championship in three years. • Scored a runner-up finish in the FD standings in 2005 and 2008. • Has won a FD Series-best nine events during his career. • Has finished no worse than fifth in the final point standings in his six-year FD career. • Will debut his own team for the 2010 season, Samuel Hübinette Racing, and will field a second car, a Dodge Viper SRT10®, driven by Andrew Comrie-Picard. • Hübinette also works as a stunt driver and has driven in numerous car commercials as well as for major Hollywood films such as The Fast and The Furious franchise, Knight and Day and Crank 2. He is part of LA Motorsports stunt team. • Developed his taste for speed in his native Sweden, pushing snowmobiles, motorcycles and cars to their limits. • Became a Specialist Reserved Officer with the LAPD last year. • Samuel is active in his church, Rock Harbor in Costa Mesa, Calif.,
and has taken part in missionary trips to Mexico.
Headline: Samuel Hübinette is a two-time Champion and has most victories in
FD's history.
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