D1 Worldwide Entertainment, (http://www.d1gp.com), the official organizers of automotive entertainment’s premier drifting events in the United States announced today the 2010 USA D1 Grand Prix event line-up will be delayed to the 2011 Season. D1 Corporation, Japan initiated conversations with American organizers last week to discuss the U.S. events and their late season start.  It was determined that potentially the quality of the events would be compromised and therefore the D1 brand would be better served by pushing the organization of these events into the to-be-determined 2011 D1 Grand Prix season.

SPEED™ and D1 Worldwide Entertainment, (http://www.d1gp.com, http://www.d1we.com), the official organizers of automotive entertainment’s premier drifting events in the United States announced today the 2010 USA D1 Grand Prix event line-up and that each event, plus the D1 Grand Prix Japan events will be covered by one-hour television broadcasts to be carried on SPEED™ throughout the entire drifting season. The first SPEED broadcast is scheduled for September 4 at 6:30 p.m. ET from Tokyo, with the second event premiering September 12th at 6 p.m. ET from Oita, Japan.

It took fourteen months for the ROUSH® 2010 Mustang to go from design sketches to the dealer showroom floor, but you can see the entire process in one hour. SPEED will premier a special behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of the fifth generation ROUSH Mustang on July 20 at 8 p.m. (Eastern). The show, titled “2010 ROUSH Mustang: The Art of Performance Engineering” will take viewers through the countless steps and hundreds of thousands of hours necessary to turn a car from a concept sketch into one of the finest high-performance vehicles on the market.

Blending the famed Cannonball Runs of the early ‘70s with the quintessential American road trip, the AKA Rally is an all-inclusive, high-adrenaline vacation for true car enthusiast. SPEED has reached a deal with AKA Rally, LLC to air six 30-minute High-Def programs covering the high-speed, street-legal cross country rally, with the premiere planned for this fall. “This agreement is the result of conversations that actually began several years ago,” said SPEED’s Programming VP and Executive Producer Robert Ecker. “As is often the case, the timing never quite worked out, so we are extremely pleased that the stars have finally aligned and we look forward to welcoming AKA to SPEED later this year.”

COOPER TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY (NYSE: CTB) announced a partnership with Formula DRIFT for the fifth consecutive year for the entire seven round 2008 Formula DRIFT Pro Championship Series, a fully sanctioned national premier drifting event competition. The series got underway in Long Beach, Calif., April 12 and continued into Braselton, Ga., May 9-10. Many exciting events are slated for the coming months:

Eric Curran and his Whelen Engineering SCCA SPEED World Challenge GT team had marked round three at the Miller Motorsports Park track in Tooele, Utah, as the event to turn their season around. While that plan had been working to perfection in practice and qualifying, Curran would leave Utah with his sights set on round four to jumpstart his 2008 championship efforts. “I was very excited going in the Miller weekend,” Curran said. “I was back in my main Corvette--the one that was damaged at Sebring. The car was working great and I was in the top three in practice and qualified fourth. The # 30 Whelen Corvette was perfect.”

This time last year, Curran was celebrating his second consecutive victory, taking a thrilling win from round two at Long Beach. In 2008, Curran’s had to display the poise and temperament of a veteran driver whose 2008 driver’s championship bid has gotten off to a rough start.

“Tough races happen sometimes, I just wish it wouldn’t have been two in a row.” noted Curran. “My Whelen Engineering team has worked incredibly hard in the off season and deserve better than the results of Sebring and Long Beach, but we’re not discouraged and we are not giving up on our goal of a driver’s championship, or leading the charge to help deliver a manufacturer’s championship for Chevrolet.”

Grand AM Koni Challenge ST driver James Hunt makes his pro racing deute tonight at 8 pm EST on SPEED, participating in the Fresh From Florida 200 held at The Daytona International Speedway last weekend.

“Becoming a professional racecar driver has been my dream since childhood. I was able to see my dream come true last weekend on the high banks at Daytona during the Rolex 24 Hour weekend activities. I cannot wait to get back out on the track again.”

Throughout Mexican-American communities from East Los Angeles to El Paso, Texas, cruisers have been dropping Chevys to a sidewalk-scraping stance since the late 1930s. By the 1970s, Los Angeles and other cities in the Southwest had combined the cars with lifestyle and fashion, and the lowrider scene was born.

“I’m excited that SPEED is taking a chance on a Latin-based lifestyle program,” said producer Bud Brutsman, creator of several successful automotive-themed reality shows, including Payback, Overhaulin’ and Rides. “We’ve wanted to do a lowrider show for years … there is an entire culture built around the craftsmanship and respect for automotive art. The entire community embraces the car culture.”

A miniature camera, known as the ‘VINdicator,’ will make its first full-time appearance at the Scottsdale (Ariz.) Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event, as part of SPEED’s 39 hours of live coverage starting Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

The computer operated camera is very small, measuring a little more than two and a half inches length, and will be used in some of auction block reporter Steve Magnante’s presentations. This device allows Magnante to maneuver into crevices and ‘hard-to-reach’ places, retrieving bits of information that haven’t been translated back to the viewer in the past.