 Bill Elliot and Kasey Kahne share some driving tips. |
Different or not, Elliot came off the high bank with the V-6 engine of a Nissan 350Z rapping up against the rev limiter and executed a near perfect collection of sideways lines with the rear tires nearly on fire. A mechanical gremlin of some sort put him on the sidelines for the rest of the evening, but Mr. Elliot's work was finished with style.
While Elliot took the driving in stride and evidently had no issue whatsoever merging together the two worlds of motorsport, the two worlds of fans saw things a bit differently. From the stands the mixed crowd reacted differently than the usual fans at D1GP events. Stalwart recorder of culture as it meets motorsport, Cole Coonce, was there, and observed a more lopsided reaction to the events unfolding on the track.
 Hemi needs no translation in any language. |
“The grandstands were packed tighter than the crotch of Ricky Bobby's firesuit, but it was a different crowd that what the D1 draws here... although there were many kids who know drifting, in general this crowd was older, portlier, drunker and definitely more 909-ish.,” Coonce said. “A big chunk seemed to be NASCAR fans who maybe couldn't afford a ticket to Sunday's coming 500-miler at Fontana and saw this as an opportunity to see their favorite hotshot drivers turn a wheel -- even if it meant turning right and braking too much .
“These pockets of the crowd were largely and loudly partisan and decidedly pro-American, and would whoop and holler for the exploits of their favorite stock car racers, even though it was apparent that the NASCAR superstars were under-rehearsed at the art of drifting and out of their element,” Coonce continued, “ as they were out driven and out-drifted by an ad hoc squadron of imported, jet-lagged Japanese majordomos of drifting, who flew in that day from Japan to finesse the high banks of Irwindale with grace and panache and a heavy pair of feet. “
“Besides the Japanese, the stalwart scrotum-tightening exploits of even Kiwi drift-king Rhys Millen seemed beside the point to the assembled, who were appreciative only of names they recognized -- Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Bill Elliott, Greg Biffle, Robby Gordon, Casey Mears -- from the races broadcast on Fox TV,” Coonce explained.
Coonce’s view from among the fans showed the difference between the reactions of the NASCAR fans and the drifting cognoscente. “Those who knew drifting were underwhelmed by the exhibition, particularly while watching the Americans fail to smoke the tires and spin out of control, when not clumsily fishtailing the cars. Those who knew NASCAR were underwhelmed by the sophistication of the real D1 drifters, oblivious to the concept of style points, and seemed puzzled as to all the braking and turning and why a lap around the circuit took so long.
“It was like pouring ketchup on mochi ice cream,” Coonce summed up.
