CMM’s Cook to Compete with Top Drifting Team

Indiana, PA March 23, 2007 -- Veteran driver Chris Cook, who has competed at nearly every level of auto racing in the United States, has accepted an offer to join the Mopar/NuFormz drifting team, and will compete in all seven Formula Drift Series events this year as well as a number of NOPI National drifting events.

Cook has spent the last few years racing in the NASCAR Busch and Nextel Cup Series for the Christine Marie Motorsports team, owned by Chris Evans, who also is majority owner of Shift Into Gear, Inc., the racing school for which Cook has excelled as an instructor for many top drifters.

By joining the Mopar/NuFormz team, Cook will team with Samuel Hubinette, the 2006 Formula Drift champion, to form one of the top tandems in the sport.

"This team is all about performance," Cook said of the Mopar/NuFormz team. "It’s really exciting for Chris Evans and I to be part of a winning tradition."

"The best part of it is that this team won the championship in ’04 and ’06, and was the runner-up in ’05," Evans said. "This is the premier team in drifting."

Cook will be behind the wheel of a 2007 Dodge Viper that he will use for each event. Using BF Goodrich tires, Cook will hope to give Hubinette a run for the top spot on the Formula Drift tour.

"I am thrilled," Cook said, "to be part of such a great team and to have the most incredible Mopar-backed Viper on the circuit and the most grip in the BF Goodrich tires."

Cook’s last venture into competitive drifting came last summer when Shift Into Gear hosted the "Drift vs. Grip" competition, feature some of the top drifters against some of NASCAR’s best in a charity event benefiting the Kasey Kahne Foundation.

The event was such a success that it has been scheduled again for this summer, on Aug. 30, in Fontana, Calif., while it also re-kindling Cook’s interest in full-time drifting. And when the Mopar/NuFormz team explored the idea of adding a second driver, Cook was the natural choice.

The Formula Drift Series kicks off its season on April 8 at Long Beach, Calif. From there, the tour has stops in Basselton, Ga.; Summit Point, W.Va.; Sonoma, Calif.; Seattle, Wash.; Wall, N.J. and Irwindale, Calif. On the NOPI tour, Cook will compete at least twice before the NOPI Nationals in Atlanta in September.

ESPN2 will broadcast seven one-hour shows with highlights from each Formula Drift event this season, with each show being broadcast in re-runs throughout the week, giving the series and its drivers a boost in publicity.

"We kind of took a left turn from where we were going, but things have been going phenomenal for us," said Evans. "It’s unbelievable how things have turned."

SHIFT INTO GEAR 2007 DRIFTING SCHEDULE

April 8	Formula Drift; Long Beach, Calif.
May 12	Formula Drift; Atlanta, Ga.
June 2	Formula Drift; Summit Point, W.Va.
June 30-July 1	NOPI; Los Angeles, Calif.
July 14	Formula Drift; Sears Point, Calif.
July 28-29	NOPI; Pittsburgh, Pa.
Aug. 11	Formula Drift; Seattle, Wa.
Aug. 25	Mike Hays Dodge; Atlanta, Ga.
Aug. 30	Kasey Kahne Foundation "Drift vs. Grip"; Fontana, Calif.
Sept. 8	Formula Drift; The Wall, N.J.
Sept. 15-16	NOPI Nationals; Atlanta, Ga.
Oct. 13	Formula Drift; Irwindale, Calif.

ABOUT CHRISTINE MARIE MOTORSPORTS:

Christine Marie Motorsports, Inc. was founded in 2004 by Chris Evans, a successful western Pennsylvania businessman and amateur racer. Evans met veteran driver Chris Cook while attending the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, where Cook was an instructor. The two developed a friendship and later a business relationship that led Evans to form Christine Marie Motorsports, which is named after Evans’ youngest daughter, for the purpose of competing in NASCAR with Chris Cook as the driver. The team is based in Indiana, Pa.

ABOUT SHIFT INTO GEAR:

Shift Into Gear, Inc., is a driving school created by veteran driver Chris Cook. After a number of years working with amateur and professional drivers, Cook teamed up with Christine Marie Motorsports owner Chris Evans to help Shift Into Gear flourish as one of the top driving schools in the country. Cook has worked extensively with many top NASCAR drivers through the years, and has also taught drivers of all skill levels the different styles used in drifting, oval track racing and stunt racing. The school is based outside Charlotte, N.C.

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