Today’s top American professional drifters compete in thousand-horsepower Formula Drift competition machines, the most powerful stock chassis racing cars on any circuit in the world. In 2004, things were a little different.
Certainly, our days are inundated with a constant barrage of misery and disappointment. We are Indiana Joneses, escaping from our own crumbling temples filled with danger only to have our treasures snatched from our hands as we think we reach safety. But we do have our moments of glee, few more gleeful than this video…
There's not much history to drifting in America... yet. Here's a chance to get in on the ground floor of automobilia by purchasing Takahiro Ueno's D1GP USA-spec Toyota Soarer (aka Lexus SC 400). With no drifting series for 2008 there is suddenly a need to sell the drift machines, making it one of the fastest ways to…
Parked on the "concourse" right next to the RS200 was an other eye-catcher. In fact, the same dude owns both cars. That's right, it's a Toyota Starlet all hopped up on goodballs. And by goofballs we mean turbocharged/intercooled goofballs. Those in the know were slapping their collective heads, wondering how on earth…
As we mentioned, Team Orange and Nobushige Kumakubo won Saturday's international drift event at the D1 Grand Prix at Irwindale. They did so in an insanely hopped up Mitsubishi EVO IX. That cold intake pipe looks to be 4". Never mind what's happening on the hot side (i.e. bigger). We would just like to point out that…
[Las Vegas stringer Curtis Walker, who hasn't yet sublimated in the desert heat despite short odds to the contrary, brings us day two of the 2007 D1 Grand Prix.]. Narratively, we're always drawn to both underdogs and classic, rear-drive Japanese cars. So we caught up with John Russakoff to get the lowdown on his 1984…
Before we launch into the coming rant about how completely and utterly inane this potential decision to uphold a proposed ban on drifting at a race track is, we must state that the few times we ever went to Altamont Speedway in Altamont, California was for the Pumpkin Smash 400. The track was watered and soaped…
[Thanks to the Starlet obsessed at KP61.net for the tip]
NOPI Motorsports is taking the straight and sideways line together by combining its drag racing series with drift action. While the NOPI drift announcement was made last fall at SEMA, the reality starts this weekend with drift qualifying at the Texas Motorplex in Dallas. The Motorplex will host qualifying for the NOPI…
At the drivers' meeting before the D1GP All-Star event, Keiichi "Drift King" Tsuchiya calmly asked those gathered how many were driving hachi-rokus. Seven raised their hands. Drivers of the venerable high-winding AE86 Toyota Corollas were to receive special instructions. In a field increasingly filled with…
We would like to think that if Meatwad were to drive a race car of any kind it would be a drift machine. Perhaps an AE86, more likely a Starion. The truth is we desperately need more characters in motorsport - cartoon or not. The one place on four wheels where there is absolutely no shortage of characters is…
Drifting: Sideways from Japan to America [driftingbook.com]
Your friend and ours, the inimitable Starlet-hustling Starion lover, the enviable and thoroughly-mighty Bumbeck went and checked out the Drift vs. Grip event at Irwindale. Motorsports enthusiast and champion thrower of barbecues, Cole Coonce tagged along and summed it up thusly:
We swear, our brain is so muddled these days that we'd forgotten to mention that the D1GP boys take on the NASCAR guys in the Drift vs. Grip challenge tomorrow. When the D1GP hit Las Vegas over a month ago, Toshiki Yoshioka, driver of the driftastic Malcontent Bee AE86 took the win from a certain Kumokubo-san in a…
We love Toshiki Yoshioka. When other guys are out on the pro drifting circuit making anywhere from 300-500hp, Yoshioka still kicks it old-school Initial D-style in an AE86 literally held together with tape, zip-ties and Bondo. Coming out of Irwindale's bank during last winter's D1GP event, his wee car sounded like an…
We've gotta admit, we've been kind of skeptical on the whole drifting thing here in the US. Sure, we love sideways hoonage as much as the next guy. We've seen the demos at SEMA and the coverage on TV which kind of led us to believe it was big with the yoyo boys, but Bumbeck convinced us to come out and check out last…
