In the preliminary hours of a drift event, burnt rubber, race fuel, and the chatter among drivers, are all sights, sounds, and smells familiar to a seasoned grassroots drifter. Pair that with the sound of wrenching through their last-minute prep on their low, loud, and heavily-stickered Japanese rides with mountainous terrain and cramped paddocks, you'd think you were at a race track in Japan. However, last week, I was nowhere near Japan. In fact, I was over 6,700 miles away in the mountains of Shenandoah, Virginia. But for many, myself included, it would've been tough to tell the difference.
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