D1 Grand Prix Driver Search - The Search For America's Drifting Pro

The first exhibition pass was only in front of a small crowd of around one hundred before the main event, so there wasn't anybody to really impress at the time. By the time the main event was on it was time for the big exhibition. This time it was in front of a bleacher-packed crowd. Before the show started there were more signs of disrespect for the imports and to tell you the truth, I was getting tired of people relating these cars to the ones from The Fast & the Furious. It was time to show these hillbillies what these cars were made to do. Upon introduction, clapping was mild from a few fans that knew what was going on. As the cars took a few laps, the speed started to increase and then it was all out madness! Words can not describe how crazy these guys were getting. At one moment, it was heart-stopping insanity to watch Imamura stand on the roof of his 350Z while four other cars performed perfect drifting circles around him at less than two feet apart.

The exhibition was over and I was shocked to look out in a sea of spectators and see a standing ovation joined with whistles and cheers. Back in the pits it had changed from once-disgruntled onlookers to admirers of good entertainment. What started out with questions of sarcasm ended in head-scratching remarks of, "That was the craziest shit I've ever seen!" and even, "How the hell did they not hit each other going that fast?" Majority of the remarks came from the same people that were badmouthing the cars. The night ended with the feeling of pride in what our Jap crap can do.

SundayIt's 7:30 a.m. and the driver search was underway. A little over 50 state-side drivers were ready to battle it out for two entry spots. The schedule was to have practice sessions throughout the day and eventually pick semi finalists to battle it out. Judging was in the hands of Dai Inada, Keiichi "Drift King" Tsuchiya and Manabu Suzuki. Drivers from around the country came out not just to watch, but also to compete for the two open U.S. driver spots. You would think this would be a competition full of amateurs that admire drifting but professional drivers from different types of racing came out to show off their skills. Most interesting was the attendance from racing schools like Skip Barber, Bob Bondurant and Jim Russell. The Bob Bondurant representative was actually an instructor and even brought a few students that were entered in the event. Joining the festivities was Skip Barber's Rich Rutherford who shared his rental 350Z with Samuel Hubinette. Samuel is a Swedish ice-racing champion, giving him the advantage of car control. Alex Phiffier from Hawaii was one of the biggest underground heroes we had our eyes on. Alex was born to compete with the pros but unfortunately a broken tranny knocked him out of the competition. Fortunately, 5 Zigen had a car on display for Alex to borrow that was race ready but this eventually became a new learning process in a new power plant. Alex was still unable to make the cut due to the Nissan making to much top-end power. In the end, the judges realized there was a lot of potential with the U.S. drivers so they voted on eight finalists rather than two for the August 31st event. With 16 cars from Japan and eight cars from U.S., we are sure to see a battle for the best drifter state side.