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Formula Drift on Tour
In the sports world, the first week of April is commonly associated with the return of Major League Baseball. But car-racing enthusiasts have that timeframe marked on their calendars for a very different reason: the start of Formula Drift season.
Formula Drift is the leading international showcase of the auto-racing phenomenon known as drifting, where drivers intentionally oversteer their vehicles to make them slip and slide across the track in a thrilling display of controlled chaos. (Ever done donuts in your car in an empty parking lot? Now imagine trying to do that continually along a predetermined route without crashing into anything.)
Drifting originated in Japan in the 1970s before gaining traction in the U.S. in the '90s, culminating in the inaugural Formula Drift competition in 2004. Since its launch in Atlanta as a four-round, 16-car competition, Formula Drift has expanded into an eight-round, 32-car championship series, with racing sites spanning California to New Jersey.
In most car races, the winner is determined by one simple factor: who crosses the finish line first. Drifting, however, is actually closer in spirit to figure-skating than traditional racing, with competitors awarded leaderboard points according to three criteria: line, angle, and style. "Line" refers to the drivers' ability to follow a demarcated drift line established by the judges. "Angle" analyzes the drivers' control over their wheel alignment while mid-drift. "Style" essentially is a measure of drivers' fluidity and their willingness to careen as close as possible to the track wall without scraping it.
Formula Drift competitions are traditionally two-day events, beginning with the qualifying round, where drivers perform solo trial runs to accumulate points for a Top 32 placement on the leaderboard. On the second day, the qualifying drivers square off round-robin style in a pair of races where drivers take turns shadowing each other and are scored on their abilities to lead and follow. But even if you're not the sort to obsess over the nitty-gritty of scoring, Formula Drift can be enjoyed on a purely aesthetic level as the most artful and graceful form of professional auto racing.
First time & I took my son. Awesome event and definitely going to another. Drivers and their teams were awesome & interacting with fans. Drifting was amazing and all stands were nice and great food…
Although the driving, racing, and time inside the place was enjoyable. Waiting for an hour in a line that wraps a half mile is a tell-tell sign that the event is poorly organized. You would think that after 18 years they would know what they’re doing yet they failed miserably.
Formula Drift is by far one of the greatest car events you can go
Formula Drift put together a great drifting program, up close experiences, it ran on schedule, the energy in the crowd was amazing, altogether just a really great event!
The formula drift in long beach or anywhere else never disappoints! It’s an all day fun ! Loud cars everywhere, companies giving freebies to everyone and not to mention great drivers putting it all on the line for a spectacular drift show ! On top of that there was a car show where contestants had a chance to be featured on a magazine !
My son said this was "the best day of his life". He had a blast getting autographs, pictures with his favorite drivers and watching the event. Overall an amazing time.
I loved it was amazing so fun the drivers are amazing and so nice and cool best experience ever !!!
We purchased reserved seating but once at the event we were told by staff that it's on a "first come first serve" basis. We showed the tickets with our reservations and staff said we would need to wait until somebody leaves and that there was nothing they could do about it. In terms of the tickets, the barcodes were scanned quickly and we were let in right way but our reservations were not honored.
Great time my wife and 12 year old enjoyed every minute of it.
It’s obvious that the judge is not correct. Time in and time again. This is the demise of Formula Drift. Can’t play favorites, we’re paying attention
The event was really cool. It was our first time going. The seating was crazy! The guy checking the tickets at the seats told everyone we can sit anywhere. We managed to sit in our assigned seats the whole time however most people were not in their right seats. I was confused because there were aisle and seat numbers. All in all great event but poor seating organization.
Had a wonderful time with my family and friends. One of the best tracks of formula drift. Open pits allow you to speak to the drivers and see all the hard work they put in to compete in the race. Top notch precision driving.
For as much as we paid for the event, there was no shade, over priceding of the tickets, and all of the food and drinks. Lunch areas were packed, not going back next year.
I have been going to Formula Drift for about 7 yrs now. I never miss an event.
I paid for 2 seats but when I got to the event too many people were sitting in my row so there was only room for 1 of us. I went to security to let them know there were people taking up one of my seats and they said that they couldn’t do anything about it. I ended up having to leave the event and wasted the whole day driving there and then coming back home.
It was on my Bucket list ..... but some ppl were sitting in our seats and would not move. created a big problem; to where my son got pissed off the rest of the day... and just wanted to leave... some ppl are just Rude... at Events
I had a blast and always do,been going to the same event for the last 10 years!!!Dont want to give up all the secrets but all I can say is that it is very memeorable:)Using Ticketmaster made it so much easy and safe:)
This experience was really fun, the best part was that the security actually helped out a lot when it came to seats a party kept trying to sit in ours, besides that I’ll be back
Thank you formula D for such an amazing event. Top automotive venders at the show great deals. Event food needed a little work, but overall it’s a great experience.
The seating at this event was a disorganized disaster. Also when I bought tickets based off the map and have to sit in another section with a bad view it’s disappointing, especially since I bought tickets early.