I was looking today at the video of Vaughn giving the guys over at Jalopnik a ride in his Mustang. On their page they have a link to an article they did on drifting. Apparently there was an enormous response from people that frequent their site claiming that drifting was not a sport and it ends with a question and the ability to vote. The specific question is "Is Drifting a Sport". You would think that was a silly question to ask because it is absolutely a motor sport. A sport is defined by Wikipedia as "Sports is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. Sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determiner of the outcome (winning or losing), but the term is also used to include activities such as mind sports (a common name for some card games and board games with little to no element of chance) and motor sports where mental acuity or equipment quality are major factors."

Now it would have been a little trickier if they asked if drifting was a race in which we all know that it is not a race because it is not timed and there is no longer passing allowed in the professional series after 2005. Of course it was more exciting to watch the cars getting passed in mid drift and in that case whoever got passed usually lost unless there was contact or the new leader spun. Those were the days, LOL.

Anyways, my point is that I voted yes to the question of "Is Drifting a Sport". To my surprise only 49% of people at the time I voted had said Yes! At this time there were 513 votes for Yes and 535 for No which obviously gave No 51%!!!!!!!!!

Have people become so afraid of new things that they refuse to accept it as a reality or treat it as less that the sports than they are used to? I have read and heard many interviews with drivers from other sports that didn't believe drifting was as difficult as it actually is until they got behind the wheel of a drift car or had a ride along with a professional driver. Their attitudes quickly changed after they realized how difficult it is to control a car that is out of control. It went against everything that most drivers tried to do which was control the car and avoid oversteer as much as possible. Also some people have such a hard time accepting anything foreign, literally.

On The Hotrod Homepage Geoffrey posted some pictures of the Mustang that was used in The Fast And Furious Tokyo Drift back in 2005 and the forum exploded! For those that haven't seen the movie yet it has a RB26 in it from the Nissan Skyline. People were at each other's throats almost instantly and people have continued to post on the forum to this day. There are around 800 comments! I obviously have a Fox Body Mustang and love good old American cars and tons of V8 powered burnouts but I am still open minded enough to respect something as creative as the Nissan engine in the Mustang. It also worked with the plot of the movie to show a domestic car in a move that would have been dominated by JDM vehicles. If anything the clowns on The Hot Rod Homepage should be grateful for that. Note: there has not been a single F&F movie that has not had a muscle car in it why would this one be any different.

I wish people were more open minded in their views on such trivial things as drifting and engine swaps. There are more important things in life.

On my blog on Windows Spaces I have a blog post devoted to providing information to beginners that are interested in drifting. It is geared to someone who has almost no knowledge of the sport. On this post I have two videos I found on YouTube. One is of a 240 with a 5.0 engine in it and the next video is of the FF3 Mustang with the RB26 (A Nissan with a Ford engine and a Ford with a Nissan engine). I encourage those reading the post to think outside the box and be creative. I am so sick of seeing 240's, LOL. Here is the link. DRIFTING INFORMATION . My opinion is that creativity is what allows us to stand apart from others and express our individuality. We should not all think, dress, and walk the same way. I believe it is unfair to criticize some one for doing something different even if it makes no sense or is a bad idea. It's their way of showing you that they are different.

What is your opinion? Is drifting a sport? Is a Nissan motor in a Ford or a Ford motor in a Nissan such a terrible and ungodly thing to do? Is it absurd to allow people to think outside the box and not walk with the herd or should we all follow the mainstream?