BFGoodrich KDW Challenge Rips It Up at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway 

Photos & Article by: Chris Rawlins

Residents of the Las Vegas area were treated to a series of ride-alongs with professional racecar drivers at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s Proving Grounds for BFGoodrich’s KDW Shotgun Challenge on July 12, 2009 and I was there to witness the mayhem. The event was hosted by BFGoodrich, who held the KDW Shotgun Challenge to introduce their new g-Force™ T/A® KDW tires to everyday drivers. The 25 participants were chosen through a series of auditions and interviews and did not receive the final call back until two days before the event. The experiences of the participants were recorded throughout the day, including their reactions following their rides with the professional drivers. One participant even lost his breakfast the hard way, twice.

BFGoodrich brought out a series of BFGoodrich sponsored cars for the event, some of which were already in town for Formula Drift’s Round 4. The cars for the day included the Nuformz Mopar/BFG SRT 10 Dodge Viper, driven by Samuel Hubinette; the WORKS Motorsports Mitsubishi Evo X GSR, driven by David Brown; a 500+ hp drifting Honda Element, driven by Formula Drift licensed driver James Robinson; two OPAK Spoon Sports Honda Civics, driven by Gaby De La Merced and Jeff Lepper, who will be competing in the 2009 Western Endurance Racing Challenge Series sanctioned by NASA Pro Racing; and the Drift Emporium sponsored drivers and their drift machines.

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I was fortunate enough to ride in the WORKS Motorsports Mitsubishi Evo X GSR, driven by David Brown; Brown drives his 500+ hp Evo X GSR with true precision, hugging the turns and letting it loose on the track’s straightaway. This was Brown’s first official event in the car with its new trim, which included newly installed carbon fiber bodywork. Samuel “The Crazy Swede” Hubinette was the true showman and did not hold back one bit during his runs. Participants who rode with Hubinette, a two-time Formula Drift Champion and Hollywood stunt car driver, were introduced to his infamous 360 degree spin on the track’s wide straightaway. All-in-all, it was a great event and BFGoodrich definitely developed a great way to introduce the durability of their tires to the everyday motorist. Check out http://www.kdwchallenge.com/ for more information.