I honestly can’t remember the last time I covered a drift competition. Sure, grassroots events have “competitions,” but I think most people don’t actually care who wins. Unsurprisingly, I was most excited for the Sunday portion of the Spec-D drift event, held July 9-11, 2021 in Mission, B.C. The Sunday event is aptly named the Pro BroDown as it allowed non-pro cars to drift with pro cars. It was a mix of the pro drifting that captured a young Ryan’s heart and the current shit I’m into.
What is my current shit? I’m glad you asked. You may or may not know that I adore drifting that favours aesthetics. What that means is low cars and cools wheels with solid fitment – often referred to as a rolling car show. At times, I may have been overzealous in my admiration for “pretty” drift cars. This became abundantly clear when I ran into my old pal Tony Koch of Yay Drifting, who’s also a Spec-D representative, at the Pro BroDown. A long time ago, Tony and I use to shoot together and there are few who are as committed to the Alberta drift scene as Tony.
Tony mentioned he was hoping this weekend would win me back over to pro-style drifting. I thought to myself, “What makes him think I dislike pro drifting?” Then I remembered things I’ve said and done over the past several years. Articles like “Did America really kill drifting?” probably didn’t help.
Allow me to clear the air and reiterate something I said years ago: Drifting has grown beyond being singularly defined by one type of event or style. It’s big enough for a multitude of different events. Drifting isn’t a one-size-fits-all; it’s more of a find-what’s-right-for-you.
There’s no denying that pro drift events have their place. They help grow talent and push drivers to their full potential, as competitions so often do. Also, your likelihood of capturing big angle and loads of smoke greatly improve at a Spec-D-level event.
Honestly, the spectacle of pro competition events is way broader and entertaining for the masses. There’s far less nuances to understand and the barrier of entry is much lower for spectators. Big angle, roaring engines and clouds of tire smoke is much easier to explain than wheel fitment and aero. It’s one of the easiest ways to get someone new into drifting.
Don’t get me wrong – my heart is fully into the rolling-car-show drift events. I’m probably going to promote that scene for some time, and I want to see it continue to grow. But just because I love one style of drifting doesn’t make me hate another. At the end of the day, my views on drifting are just one person’s thoughts, and there’s plenty of room in drifting for more of those. That helps make it so interesting.
I’m super grateful that Spec-D brought their show to Mission Raceway and even more grateful that they allowed me to shoot the event. It gave me a chance to revisit my roots and remember the world of drifting is vastly bigger than when I started out. To paraphrase Tony Koch: Anything that allows for more drifting is a good thing. So, thanks to Spec-D for being a good thing!
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