Hankook Tire Drifting Series continues Friday, May 21 at LVMS;

Nine-event Hankook Tire Drifting Series is first of its kind in U.S.

            The second event of the 2004 Hankook Tire Drifting Series America Corp. will take place tomorrow evening at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.  The Hankook Tire Drifting Series began April 16 and consists of nine events.

The second Hankook Tire Drifting Series event will be held at The Strip¿s Drift Arena, located near the dirt track.  Drifting competition takes place from 6 p.m.-Midnight.

Drifting consists of racing on a specially-designed road course while trying to maintain a controlled slide. Racers are judged on their lap times and sliding ability.  The sport of drifting has attracted huge followings in Japan and Hawaii and is rapidly gaining popularity in the U.S.   Several venues in southern California have hosted independent drifting events but none have created a regular point-based program.  The events are sanctioned and officiated by the North American Drifting Association.

¿The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is committed to staying on the cutting edge of sport compact motorsports,¿ said Chris Blair, LVMS¿ senior director of drag racing operations.  ¿We¿re excited that Hankook Tires shares our enthusiasm for this incredible new sport and look forward to delivering the first ever local drifting series in the United States .¿

 ¿Drifting is one of the fastest-growing automotive competitive events in the world,¿ said Hankook Tire Marketing Director Bill Bainbridge.  ¿Holding this series in the entertainment capital of the world, Las Vegas, adds significant value to the series.  We expect great things from our participation in terms of brand awareness and showcasing the performance of our Ventus line of ultra-high performance tires.¿ 

¿Sport Compact enthusiasts in the U.S. discovered drifting through Japanese automotive magazines and videos and it caught on in Hawaii,¿ Blair continued.  ¿That interest fueled a demand for

magazines, DVDs, videos and websites documenting these events.  We now have local drifting fans who

are using area parking lots for late-night drift rallies.  We want to approach drifting just as we did our Midnight Mayhem street racing program by providing a safe place for these enthusiasts to conduct drifting activity.¿

            Hankook Tire is a technology-focused, market-driven company with manufacturing facilities around the world and research and development on three continents.  Hankook Tire manufactures and markets a full range of passenger, high performance, ultra-high performance, light and medium truck, winter radial, original equipment and truck and bus radial tires.

            Hankook tires are available in the Las Vegas area at Firebird Tire Service (www.firebirdtire.com), Purcell¿s Western States Tire (www.purcelltire.com), Silver State Tire, American Tire Distributor and Valley Service Center ( Logandale, Nev.).

            Additional information on Hankook Tire America Corp. may be found at www.hankooktireusa.com.