Racer's Story

Pittsburg, PA -  The Beaverun Motorsports facility is home to a road course and two small kart tracks. On March 26 2004, the drifters from Drift and Gymkhana Trials (DGTrials) took over both kart tracks to practice their sliding arts for a whole day.

Participants ranged from heavily sponsored drivers such as JR Gitten to completely new drifters, namely yours truly. The paddock, wet and slick with the morning rain, was filled with drift cars ranging from stock to crazy modified.

Almost 60 cars showed up. Gitten’s blue and silver S13 sat at one end of the paddock, and an RB26DETT-powered 260Z sat at the other. In between were 2^nd-gen RX7s, 1985-1987 Corollas, the ubiquitous S13 and S14 240s, two Miatas, two Volvos, an E36 BMW, a Toyota Camry V6 Wagon, one Lexus SC300, and one Pontiac Firebird.

Yes, even a Firebird showed up to play, proudly shredding tires alongside the imported cars. The Camry wagon was drifted impressively, entering each turn with rear wheels locked and smoking, exiting slowly but smoothly.

            However, today was not one for many shredded tires. Few cars were able to stay on the tight, technical course for their entire run. The track itself was not much wider than about fifteen or twenty feet total. Many cars got stuck in the mud and needed to be towed out.

This led to much frustration as drivers had to wait for each car to be extracted from the sludgy mess, only to find that they themselves were uncontrollably sliding off the track.

Why? Each car, when removed from the mud, took with it enough wet dirt to spread over each corner of the track, making the course more slippery and unpredictable as the day wore on.

           The end result? Lots of frustration and little tire destruction.

           The run groups were divided into Aces (the most experienced drivers), advanced drivers, intermediate drivers, and beginners. Each run group got four chances at the tracks, with the exception of the beginners, who only got three. The amount of runs per session varied from three to six, depending on how much time was spent extracting cars from the mud and how many cars were in each group.

At the end of the day, there was a small competition to determine the best drifter of the day. Each car got three more runs on the main track before they were either eliminated or allowed to continue on to the final rounds.

The final rounds narrowed the field to 18, then to six cars. Gitten won the informal slide-off, proving his skill with early initiation to high-angle drifts which produced billows of thick white smoke. His consistently high performance and few off-course excursions allowed him to easily take the win.

What’s the bottom line here? I got 12 runs for $125. The track was very tight and the mud made it almost impossible to get back on track once you went off. It took about five to ten minutes for each car to be extracted, depending on where it was located and how long it took the car to be hooked up and dragged out. This led to long wait times in line and few runs during each session.

However, the DGTrials people were friendly and helpful. They gave advice on drift technique and told me how to set my shocks and tire pressures for the best results. The competition was well-run and fun to watch. Many interesting cars and people showed up, as well as various food vendors for the hungry drifter.

Final thought: this event was a lot of money for not a lot of drifting. Although the atmosphere was good and the organizers were helpful, the event itself was not very satisfying. The beginners felt as if they were cheated by not having as many sessions as the other drivers, and it seemed like the Aces got preferential treatment for time on-track.

The Scorecard:
Atmosphere: Good
Organization: Fair
Track Time: 12 runs in beginner group
Competition: Fun! To watch . . .
Cost: $125 (minus gas, tolls, and hotel stay)
Overall grade: C-