The racing was awesome but the day did start out a bit slow.  The D1GP event organizers did what seemed like a smart thing by selling tickets online, but then you had to go to will call to pick up your tickets at the track.  That probably wouldn’t have been too much of a problem except there were not many will call lines open.  However the line to buy tickets at the track was considerably shorter.  The event started a bit late due to the organizers wanting to let all those waiting in line get in to see the festivities.  I think it was a classy thing to do.

Well the warm ups were a blast to watch.  There was smoke every where and the sound of the turbos spooling up, and the cars going sideways, kept the fans cheering and clapping for their favorite drivers.

With the warm-ups being over, the opening ceremonies began.  The national anthem was played and then we watched a video of the drivers and some history of drifting.  Now normally, I would say that this is a cool thing to do, but the large screen display was set so far in the infield of the track it make it hard to see.  Also the sound was not very loud so even the announcer had a hard time getting the fans to react.

With the racing now getting under way, we saw a lot of talented drivers such as Takahiro Ueno, Youichi Imamura, and the American Rhys Millen in his V8 powered Pontiac GTO.  I just love watching the faster cars starting their drift on the bank of the oval then the rear end of the car gets as close to the wall as you can get.  Now we’re not talking close like you see in NASCAR, we’re talking close like the back of the bumper is almost touching the wall as the tires are screaming and the car is at almost a 45 degree angle.

Then there was the lunch break and a chance for EVERYONE to go into the pits and see the cars up close.  There were plenty of vendors giving away free stuff as well as umbrella girls galore to take your picture with.  We met a lot of great vendors who really support the racers and saw a lot of people carrying off busted off bumpers, pieces of wings and air dams, and plenty of used tires being rolled home by the fans.  I asked one guy who had a tire, “What are you going to do with that thing?” and he said, “I’m making a book shelf out of it!”  Well…O.K. buddy.  Sounds like a bad episode of Monster House.

Now we are back for the tandem drifting.  This was totally insane.  Two cars going 70+ mph drifting sideways through the banking, into the turns, left, then right, then left, then right again!  And I didn’t seen any contact between the cars.  These are some very talented drivers.

When the finals came, it was down to Youichi Imamura and Yasuyuki Kazama.  In the end Kazama was able to pass Imamura in the final corner and edged out Imamura for the overall championship.

If you haven’t been to a drifting event, GO!  You wont be disappointed.