The early years of drifting; the Japanese influence meant it was about teams, driving extremely close, and cars that looked super rad (well in my eyes anyway). Big graphics, low stance, and cool wheels — it was as much about how the car looked as it was about how the car drove. As the years have progressed, the professional side of the sport has taken centre stage, especially in America, home of the corporate-sponsorship dollar. This has seen the separation between grass-roots and pro-level cars and style extend to being as wide as the Grand Canyon itself, which is fine, but it’s great to know that traditional passion, style, and flavour is making a comeback with super kickass events like Final Bout.
The Final Bout event’s held on a kart track in Wisconsin, USA — a tight, twisting circuit similar to those drift tracks found in Japan. The kind of track that lends itself well to door-to-door teams drifting in what are considered these days to be low-powered cars. As more and more people seem to grow disillusioned with the top-level/competition side of the sport, I think events like Final Bout will only continue to grow. Do you agree?