4/25/2009 was the grand opening of a new drift venue and organization: Inland Drift. Located at the Lake Perris fairgrounds, this brand new venue was open to all. I was invited to attend by Mark Sanchez, one of the event organizers and former AE86 drifter extraordinaire!I've been attending drift events and open track events for years, but this was the first time I was faced with a new challenge: drifting with walls. The first initiation point was basically facing a wall, and it did not sit too well with me in the morning. During my first few laps I struggled as I tried to initiate early to avoid the wall. My runs were definitely not good. Luckily one of my teachers and friends Mr. Taka Aono was there to give me the verbal kick in the ass and told me to go faster and initiate like a man (message delivered via Colin Frost, thank you Colin). After finally building up enough confidence, I did as told. Boy did it make a world of difference. Before I knew it, the course all came together, and I was running right up next to the wall, going flat out. What felt really good was looking over toward the crowd, mid drift, and seeing Taka and my friends cheering me on. The wall might be a small obstacle for some, but a big hurdle for me to overcome!
Needless to say I had a great time, and Inland Drift is definitely going to be a venue I'm going to enjoy for a long time! Thank you to Mark and everybody at Inland Drift!
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