The internet is flooded with so many drifting videos that when you hear about a new drift event, it's easy to feel jaded, like you've seen it all. But let us assure you – Super D Matsuri is not an event you should pass on. After witnessing this drift celebration by Team Animal Style, Wolfreign Motors and Stacked, Inc., we felt a new sense of excitement and inspiration in the air.
Before we dive into the details of the event, here's some background.
A New Grassroots Movement
Lately, there’s been a movement in American drifting inspired by what some coin as Japan’s Golden Age of Drifting. Think of it as a drifting renaissance, a revival of the culture that spawned drifting in the United States during the late ‘90s, specifically Japanese car style, driving style and the friendly non-competitive nature of grassroots drifting.
Three years ago, Final Bout spearheaded the movement by holding an annual grassroots team drifting competition featuring some of the most beautiful drift cars in America. Team Animal Style, a prominent team from Final Bout, has also been highly influential in this movement. Their aggressive driving and all-red cars with matching sticker schemes scream Japanese style.
They also happen to be inspired by Super D Matsuri’s featured driver, Naoki Nakamura of Team Burst/Pink Style, notorious for his street drifting and aggressive driving at his home course of Meihan Sportsland, Japan. Search the internet for videos of Nakamura at Meihan; you won’t be disappointed.
On its Facebook event page, Super D Matsuri is described as "a festival promoting exciting drift style from some of North America's top drivers and grassroots teams."
Matsuri means "festival" in Japanese, and this event truly embodied this name, drawing a crowd of over 600 people from all over the world (from Chicago to Texas to the United Kingdom) to a small kart track called Grange Motor Circuit in Apple Valley, California.
Drivers transported their cars from afar as well; BLVCKMOON and Gold Star drove in from Northern California, Villains and Tandem of Die came from Portland and Team ShaDynasty made the trek from both Portland and Canada. There was such a positive vibe in the air as screen names were matched to faces, old friends were reunited and camaraderie was fostered – all in celebration of a common bond.
Nakamura Gonna Nakamura
Nakamura did not disappoint, drifting inches from a car’s door, then passing that car and doing the same with the next until he had drifted with every car in that group. He had no idea who these people were – some of them Formula Drift drivers – unfamiliar with their driving style and tendencies; yet he was still able to drive with them as if they had been driving together for years.
At any drifting competition, you hope to witness that one memorable moment where two drivers slide along that fine edge of tandem success and utter destruction. On that day, Nakamura did it over and over and over again with ease. He was a human highlight video.
Final Thoughts
Reflecting on the event, Super D Matsuri was a tribute to the good ol' days of drifting. A chance to reminisce on the early years of American drifting when 180sx legend Yoshinori Koguchi came and drove with us at a drift showoff in 2003. A reminder of when D1 Grand Prix brought drift pioneers Kumakubo, Taniguchi, Ueno, Ueo, Kazama and Imamura to drift against us at Irwindale Speedway.
These events were all important to American drifting, because every time Japan flaunted their skill over us, they also showed us what was possible. Yes, their drifting prowess may have obliterated us, but there was always something learned and inspiring in these humbling experiences.
That is exactly what Nakamura did at Super D Matsuri. Only time will tell, but he may have just added fuel to the flame of this latest drifting movement. The hope is that one day, Nakamura-level will be the norm at American grassroots events. When that happens, we’ll be able to say that we were there when Nakamura planted that seed.
See the legend himself and other legends-in-the-making in the gallery below.