Hubinette & Millen to FD Hall of Fame

This is the Statt Mann Baby. Time to Scatt a little bit.

I was glad to see Formula Drift introduce a Hall of Fame at Long Beach a week ago.

And the first inductees, Sam Hubinette and Rhys Millen, were OGs in The Freak Nation as well. They were the first champions in Formula Drift.

Sam and Rhys were the sport’s backbone in those first years from 2004-2006. They brought professionalism to what could have been a motor racing rage-a-paloosa that few understood.

They set a standard that forced many to reach while establishing an industry. They brought Detroit automakers into the drift paddock.

Sam and Rhys were road racers who asked the judges what they wanted and they gave it to them. That was the groundwork for American drifting.

Chris Forsberg was the first non-road racer to win a drift championship and the series went on to change American motor sport.

I sat with a World Challenge team owner once and asked who he’d hire from the drift field. I thought he’d name two or three. He rattled off at least ten. He said their car control exceeded most sports car racing professionals.

Sam Hubinette and Rhys Millen were good shoulders to stand on. They’re Hall of Fame guys.

Peace.