If Americans Get the Drift, It Could Succeed

The Japanese imported baseball from the United States and virtually made it their national pastime. Now, in the finest tradition of international politics, if not sports, they are hoping to export one of their favorite sports to our shores.

Sumo wrestling didn’t catch on, so now a motorized sport called “drifting” is the newest export.

“Drifting isn’t coming, it’s here,” says Todd Steen, motorsports manager for B.F. Goodrich, whose tire company sponsors a Japanese team in the growing U.S. market. “The phenomenon, like the import drag-racing business, is making its way across the country.”

Drifting has been described as figure skating on wheels at 50 mph, or synchronized swimming with cars sliding side-by-side inches apart. If that sounds like NASCAR racing, forget it. Drifters are in it for style, not speed.

Sixteen competitors from the D1 Grand Prix, the only sanctioned professional drifting circuit in the world, will be at Irwindale Speedway on Aug. 31 to compete in an exhibition with eight California drivers.

“Drifting started in Japan clandestinely on streets and highways, the way drag racing started in the United States,” said Oscar Pereda, also of BFG. “The first time I heard about it, a bunch of teenagers were hanging out under the Yokohama bridge about midnight, doing all sort of things with their cars. I noticed what tremendous car control they had, turning broadslides like sprint cars do on dirt into graceful transitions.”

Much as Wally Parks brought side-by-side racing off the streets and into a closed environment, so the D1 Grand Prix circuit did for drifting. Similar to figure skating and diving, there are compulsory and freestyle moves performed before a panel of judges.

Although any type of rear-wheel-drive car can be used for drifting, the icon of the sport is the 1984-87 Toyota Corolla

GTS. The tuners and drivers at the professional level are all Japanese.

California challengers at Irwindale were chosen from a qualifying series. They include Ken Gushi of San Gabriel, Ernie Fixmer of Diamond Bar, Daijiro Yoshihara of Pasadena, Hubert Wong of San Jose, Calvin Wan of San Francisco, Bryan Norris of Yorba Linda and the Lateral G Racing duo of Rich Rutherford of San Clemente and Samuel Hubinette of Newport Beach.

“Drifting offers something new for spectators, and it’s a legitimate challenge for drivers,” wrote Preston Lerner in Automobile magazine. “The novelty factor alone promises to put drifting on the American radar screen.”

In a 27-driver field of kart racers at Irwindale Speedway on Tuesday, there were 14 within a second of one another, but only three could be selected to advance in Danny Sullivan’s Red Bull Driver Search. The fortunate three are Dustin Courter, 19, of Englewood, Colo.; Billy Johnson, 16, of San Clemente; and Michael Mantel, 19, of Redondo Beach.

“This was a dramatic day,” said Sullivan. “It was anybody’s race right up to the finish. You could have thrown a blanket over the first half of the field, it was so close.”

The selected drivers will join 21 other qualifiers for the next round at Sebring, Fla. From that group, Sullivan and other members of a judging panel will select 10 to compete in the final event at the Estoril international circuit in Portugal.

The aim is to find an American driver to compete in Formula One.

Ventura and Perris

The fast-growing Ventura Racing Assn.’s 360cc sprint car series will hold its first national championship this weekend -- at Perris Auto Speedway.

More than 65 cars are expected for the Friday night-Saturday night program on Perris’ half-mile clay oval, including all of the VRA regulars who race at Ventura Raceway and Bakersfield Speedway, plus a number of Sprint Car Racing Assn. drivers who chose not to race in the Midwestern portion of the Non-Winged World Championship.

“Everyone wonders why we’re holding it at Perris,” said Jim Naylor, operator of Ventura Raceway. “For one, our place is too small, and two, our track is shut down because of the county fair. And Perris put up a good chunk of money.”

Both nights will offer a full program of heats, preliminaries and main events. Only the first six finishers tonight will automatically qualify for Saturday’s 40-lap finale. The winner will receive $5,000 from a $30,000 purse.

Riverside’s Josh Wise, who won the prestigious Belleville Midget Nationals two weeks ago in Kansas against J.J. Yeley and Jay Drake, has returned home to race the 360s. Wise, 20, is familiar with Perris, having won the SCRA main event on June 21 after posting a remarkable 16.7-second qualifying lap.

Among other favorites is SCRA veteran Mike Kirby, 39, who won his second consecutive VRA main event last Saturday night at Perris. The Torrance veteran, who won the California Racing Assn. sprint car championship in 1993, is as at home in the 360 VRA sprinters as he is in the 410cc SCRA cars.

The cars look the same, but there is a horsepower difference, about 800 for the 410s to 700 for the 360s.

Other SCRA regulars entered include Steve Ostling of Corona and Rickie Gaunt of Torrance, both of whom survived an 11-car pileup at the start of last week’s race. Ostling, whose car got upside down in the melee, came back to finish second.

Points leader Chris Wakim of Simi Valley, Tom Stansberry of Bakersfield and third-generation driver Clark Templeman III of Santa Clarita will attempt to uphold the honor of the VRA regulars.

Former SCRA champion Cory Kruseman, campaigning on the U.S. Auto Club circuit this year, is doing quite well in the Non-Winged championships, but only Troy Rutherford of the current SCRA drivers has found the winner’s circle. Rutherford won last Saturday at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Kan. Kruseman won twice, Monday at Highland, Ill., and Wednesday at Godfrey, Ill. USAC drivers Yeley and Tracy Hines won two other races.

What’s Going On Here?

Two weeks ago, Formula One schedule makers announced that the 2004 U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis would be on June 20, a date that Tony George and his Indianapolis Motor Speedway minions had to regret, it being only three weeks after the Indy 500. The date for four years has been in late September.

The reason given was that Bernie Ecclestone, the F1 czar, wanted to package the U.S. and Canadian GPs to save transportation expenses.

A week later, the 2004 Canadian Grand Prix was canceled.

Joe Heitzler, former president and chief executive officer of CART, who has been targeted by current CEO Chris Pook for many of the failing open-wheel organization’s problems, has “amicably resolved” all of his legal disputes with CART.

In a corporate release, Pook said, “CART looks forward to working with Heitzler ... in the future.”

Heitzler now, of course, is working for Jerry Forsythe, the principle figure in an investor group that Monday made an offer to buy out the remaining shares of CART and take it private.

In an unrelated move, team owner Derrick Walker resigned from the CART board of directors.