Drifters converge for 4th annual Montana Drift Bash
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PABLO — Vehicles boasting high-output, high-torque turbo-charged engines converged at the old Pablo Plum Creek sawmill for the annual Montana Drift Bash hosted by Highland Drift last weekend.
“We were way beyond excited when 12 drivers showed up to our first event,” said co-organizer Nicole Whiting. “For this event, I have counted 52 drivers from around Montana, Idaho and Washington. It’s slowly getting bigger and bigger.”
Now in its fourth season, Montana Drift Bash was initially organized to bring the thrill of drifting to the community and provide local drivers an event to compete in.
“There were no drifting events in Northwestern Montana at the time,” said Whiting. “So, instead of sitting and complaining about it, we decided to do something about it.”
Drifting originated in Japan and was made famous in “The Fast and Furious” film franchise and is now one of the fastest growing forms of motorsport in the world. It is a driving technique in which the driver intentionally oversteers the vehicle around corners resulting in an intentional loss of traction in the rear wheels. The driver then attempts to maintain control and drive the vehicle through the entirety of the corner.
Most drifting events are held on a specially designed course away from public roadways with multiple corners and turns that provide a safe environment for drivers to get behind the wheel, smoke the tires and slide around sideways.
Chuck Matheson, a drift racer from Worley, Idaho, got hooked on the sport about three years ago after watching “The Fast and Furious” movies and attending a local event. He said the track in Pablo has character.
“It doesn’t seem like much but this track has a lot of little dips and bumps in it,” said Matheson. “Each little dip adds an extra little challenge to the track that a driver has to watch out for. I travel all around the Pacific Northwest, and compared to other flat tracks, this track is fun to drive on.”