http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/8351220.htm

EXTREME SPORTS


You catch their drift?

Drifting, or 'car surfing,' has caught a wave of excitement, and more than 1,000 fans showed up for Friday night's event at Hialeah Speedway.

BY PETE PELEGRIN

ppelegrin@herald.com


Erik Jacobs was on his way.

He had just graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from Columbia University and landed a job with a prestigious company. He netted an excellent salary and was set for a bright future, but something was missing.

Jacobs always had a passion for motorsports. He had raced autocross for four years as a hobby and was the 2000 Southern Regional champion. A few years ago, his company decided to lay off a number of electrical engineers, one being Jacobs. He was disappointed, but at the same time a bit relieved.

While some tend to drift trying to decide what to do when they are unemployed, Jacobs decided to do another kind of ``drifting.''

Jacobs, with two partners, began DGTrials, a motorsports company that promotes the sport of drifting, in March of 2003.

`CONTROLLED SLIDING'

Drifting, which began in Japan, has been tabbed with different nicknames: ''car surfing,'' ''auto ballet'' or ``controlled sliding.''

What it is in essence is this: a driver accelerates in a rear-wheel-drive car to a comfortable speed and then presses the clutch, turns the steering wheel into a turn and pulls the hand brake to produce a sliding effect. During the sliding, the object is to try to control the car as much as possible.

Friday night in front of more than 1,000 fans at a chilly and smoky Hialeah Speedway, Jacobs and company presented ''Drift Miami,'' the first organized open drift competition in South Florida.

''We came down here three weeks ago to do an exhibition in the [Hialeah Speedway] parking lot and we got a pretty good response,'' said Jacobs, president and CEO of DGTrials. 'They were saying, `Thanks for finally bringing drifting to Miami.' We had about 130 people that were really interested in seeing what drifting was about, but to get more than 1,000 [Friday] is awesome."

Normally, the attendance for drift competitions has been lower, according to Jacobs, but the sight of Nissan 240s and Acuras doing fishtails and spinning every which way piqued the crowd's interest.

''The last time here, we had people stopping traffic and coming in to see what we were doing,'' said Secret Services Auto Company mechanic Kyle Campos, who helped build Jacobs' Nissan 240 SX. ``Drifting is really growing. People come from as far as California sometimes to participate.''

GROWING SUPPORT

Since Jacobs began promoting drifting last March, his largest crowd had been more than 400 spectators on a frigid November night in New Jersey, but the allure of the sport has been picking up steam.

''A culture already exists for the sport,'' said Jacobs, 23, an Aventura resident who did not drive in Friday's competition. ``I thought Miami was still into the whole Fast and the Furious thing, but I guess not. I think people like to see the challenge of a driver trying to control a car.''

Driver Blake Fuller first learned of the sport from a Japanese video and began drifting this year. Friday was Fuller's third time drifting and his first competition. On top of that, he drove an Acura he converted from front-wheel-drive to rear-wheel-drive.

''It [drifting] can be very humbling, because it's easy to embarrass yourself,'' said Fuller, who drove down from Sarasota to participate. ``It's freestyle. It gives you a chance to express yourself.''

Fuller expressed himself just fine, taking second place in Friday's competition.

Coral Springs resident and motorsports fan Anthony Jamie took in the event Friday. It was Jamie's first opportunity to see drifting live.

'When I first saw it on a DVD, I said, `Can a car really do that?,' '' Jamie said. ``It's a skill upon itself. It takes a lot of guts to do what these guys are doing.''

Since he began DGTrials to concentrate on drifting, Jacobs has been having a ball.

''In drifting, you can learn a lot about a car by pushing it to the extreme,'' said Jacobs, who took Japanese classes and spent six weeks in Japan so he might be able to read the majority of drifting magazines which are written in Japanese. ``I've been into cars forever and this is the most fun I've ever had.''

 

I love all the "positive" press. Gotta Love it!

Charles

 

shoulda interviewed me

lol im so greedy

 

"Drifting is really growing. People come from as far as California sometimes to participate.'' - Kyle Campos

haha, I wonder if he was referring to me? I hav a cali ID and I'm FROM cali, but I MOVED here!

 

you moved here just for the drift scene? thats awsome.

 

wow jeff the whole time i thought you was here cuz of your job or something.....