Drifting started out as a racing technique popular in the All Japan Touring Car Championship races over 30 years ago. A legendary driver named Kunimitsu Takahashi was the foremost practitioner of drifting techniques in the 1970’s. Takahashi’s aggressive drifting skills — he was famous for hitting the apex (the point where the car is closest to the inside of a turn) at high speed and then drifting through the corner, preserving a high rate of speed — earned him several championships and a legion of fans who enjoyed the spectacle of burning tires and perilous speed.

A street racer named Keiichi Tsuchiya became particularly enthralled by Takahashi’s drift techniques. Tsuchiya began practicing his drifting skills on the streets, and quickly gained a reputation amongst the “hashiriya” or racing crowd. In 1977, several popular car magazines and tuning garages conspired to produce a video of Tsuchiya’s drifting skills on windy mountain roads. The video, called Pluspy, became a cult hit and inspired many of the professional drifting drivers on the circuits today.

 

Tsuchiya earned himself the nickname “Dorikin,” which means Drift King in Japanese. Tsuchiya was the head judge of the D1 Grand Prix USA. By 1986, drifting had gained enough popularity amongst racers to allow for the first drifting contests to be held at racetracks. Still, drifting was largely considered a successful racing technique, useful on the track, but not in and of itself a spectator sport. Nine years later, all that had changed. In the D1 Grand Prix USA souvenir program, Modified Mag’s Ken Ogawa explained the growth of drifting into a separate sport: “By 1995, drifting turned into a whole automotive subculture, with almost 10 years of street racing behind it. Drifting started evolving from a stoic driving technique to more of a showcase or spectacle. Naturally, the youth embraced the idea, because they wanted to get more attention. They wanted to drift in front of huge crowds!” Increased attention from younger racing crowds led Japanese car companies to try to cash in on the growing phenomenon. Nissan, Toyota, and Mazda began making lightweight, rear-wheel-drive models like the Nissan PS13 Silvia and the Toyota AE86 Trueno that became popular drift cars.

 

Aftermarket car parts manufacturers also entered the movement and began marketing products specialized for drifters like limited-slip differentials, coil-over shocks, large rear spoilers, and high-performance tires. Finally, in 2001 the Japanese company Video OPTION founded the D1 Professional Drifting League, which attracted local drifters and major drivers sponsored by the likes of HKS, BLITZ, A’PEXi, and TRUST. Although amateur drifting events are held in Europe, Australia, and now in the U.S., the D1 Grand Prix is the only professional drifting series in the world. The D1 Grand Prix USA Invitational at the Irwindale Speedway on August 31, 2003, was the first official drifting competition held outside of Japan.