The History of Drifting

Americans are always so behind when it comes to the hottest trends, music and fashion are great examples, but motor sports are no exception. Drifting is the hottest new car exhibition sport on the market, right? It just became popular in 2006 when "The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift" came out, right?

For the majority of Americans, these are true statements, but in reality they are very far from the truth. Drifting began in Japan in 1970 as a racing technique in the All Japan Touring Car Championship and by 1977 was a huge favorite among Japanese race crowds. The problem remained that it was still only considered a racing technique. Almost sixteen years after Kunimitsu Takahashi, the father of drifting, invented this unique racing skill, it was considered popular enough for Japanese race track owners to allow drifting competitions. Even though Japan held its first drifting competitions starting in the mid 80s, American was still several years behind.

The first official professional drifting competition in the U.S. was held in August of 1993, at Irwindale Speedway, and consequently is now hosted yearly by D1 Grand Prix. Other motor sports companies have followed suit by offering their own drifting competitions throughout America, such as Nopi Motorsports, but D1 Grand Prix is still the biggest, and the place that drifters yearn to get to.

Drifting has become so huge in the United States that would-be drifters can set up lessons with a trainer, similar to dance or music lessons. Drift clubs all over the country are rapidly gaining popularity with a wide array of drivers, from the younger generation that is looking to show off, to the older generations that are looking to find a new sport, not is fairly easy to break in to.

Possibly the biggest surprise of all is female drifters! In fact, Formula Drift currently has a Drifting Pretty Program, that is solely designed for women looking to learn all of the ins and outs of drifting. While this program is limited in scope, because of its location, knock off programs around the country are springing up, and by 2008 are expected to be big business.

Stay tuned for our drifting series of articles sponsored by Modified 240 [http://www.modified240.com]. We will be dealing with drifting parts and accessories, the most popular car to drift and more.