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Moto Miwa's Full Interview from our previous Irwindale Speedway Tribute Episode
Moto Miwa is the founder of Club4AG, co-founder of Drift Association. He's the man behind providing instruction to some of America's first drifting events in the early 2000s as well as providing track support for some of the earliest Option Video and D1GP events in the USA.
00:17 Moto intro
00:37 Creation, function of Drift Association
02:50 U.S. Drift scene before Irwindale Speedway
04:59 Choosing Irwindale Speedway to host drifting events
06:52 Why D1 chose Irwindale Speedway to host events
08:31 The first D1 events held at Irwindale
10:05 The creation of the first drift course in a banked oval
13:16 Watching the first drifting along the walls of Irwindale Speedway
15:15 His favorite D1 memory (Watching Nomuken drift around the newly designed course)
17:27 How Irwindale Speedway’s amphitheater structure creates a sound like no other
19:30 Explaining how drifting’s uniqueness caters to the Irwindale Speedway layout
22:37 Thoughts on Irwindale’s closing
25:16 Moto’s experiences at Irwindale Speedway are collectively special
26:00 Transitioning from running D1 events to Formula D events
27:55 How drivers/vendors in Japan all miss Irwindale tremendously
30:04 How American fans cheered D1 so enthusiastically compared to Japanese fans
31:12 Moto displays his pit shirts from the years
#driftinghistory #drifting #driftingpodcast #podcast #irwindale #irwindalespeedway #tribute #d1gp #d1grandprix #formulad #formuladrift #drift #motop #motomiwa #motohidemiwa #miwamotohide
Doug Stokes's Full Interview from our previous Irwindale Speedway Tribute EpisodeDoug Stokes is Irwindale Speedway's 2nd employee and retired after 20 years as the VP of Communications. He was instrumental in planning and building the track, and was often seen at the major events and early practice events. Fun fact: Doug can be seen in Option Video when Keiichi thought he was the track owner.00:14 Doug intro02:19 Doug’s start with the company that built the speedway and tenure with various owners05:56 The decision to build a racetrack at Irwindale07:49 What was at the property before the speedway was built10:27 Planning the construction of the track itself16:23 The decision to construct the drag strip19:59 Non-racing events held at the speedway23:03 More non- racing events25:49 The first meeting to host drift events at the speedway26:59 Falken Drift Showoff, spectator gets injured but would rather stay and watch the drifting29:49 Moving drift events from the parking lot to the actual track31:04 Memories from the first D1 event32:57 Learning the demographic of drift fans by looking at the cars in the parking lot33:46 How crowded the D1 events were35:59 What made Irwindale special39:26 Irwindale Speedway’s mailbox story42:36 Dealing with a fatality at the track on opening night45:57 Doug will miss the people most from Irwindale Speedway, co-workers and racers.#driftinghistory #drifting #driftingpodcast #podcast #irwindale #irwindalespeedway #tribute #d1gp #d1grandprix #formulad #formuladrift #drift #dougstokes
Ken Gushi's Full Interview from our previous Irwindale Speedway Tribute Episode
Ken Gushi is a Formula D/Formula D Japan/D1 Grand Prix veteran and Toyota sponsored driver. In this uncut interview, he shares some memories from Irwindale Speedway and thoughts on how the famous track has helped shaped modern day drifting culture.
https://www.youtube.com/kengushimotorsports
#driftinghistory #drifting #driftingpodcast #podcast #irwindale #irwindalespeedway #tribute #d1gp #d1grandprix #formulad #formuladrift #drift #kengushi #kenshirogushi
Dai Yoshihara's Full Interview from our previous Irwindale Speedway Tribute Episode.Dai Yoshihara, a Formula D veteran and champion, tells us that Irwindale Speedway is the first place he drifted in the USA and considers it his home track. In this full interview, he shares some of his highs and lows at Irwindale Speedway, and walks us through an ideal lap at the infamous House of Drift that no longer exists.https://www.youtube.com/daiyoshihara#driftinghistory #drifting #driftingpodcast #podcast #irwindale #irwindalespeedway #tribute #d1gp #d1grandprix #formulad #formuladrift #drift #daiyoshihara
Teddy Danh's Full Interview from our previous Irwindale Speedway Tribute Episode.
Teddy Phu-Thanh-Danh is the founder of drift team Auto Factory Realize, was there for opening night of Irwindale Speedway in 1999, and champion of early 2000s Japanese style drift cars.
https://www.youtube.com/@AutoFactoryREALIZE
#driftinghistory #drifting #driftingpodcast #podcast #irwindale #irwindalespeedway #tribute #d1gp #d1grandprix #formulad #formuladrift #drift
Our beloved Irwindale Speedway had its last event and closed its gates for good in December of 2024. It was a very important place for many people's careers and passions, and it was especially important for the sport of drifting in the USA.
In this episode, we provide some history about the track, and we share some details about the sale that lead to its closing.
We also interview several notable people, each with different perspectives, about the closing of the infamous House of Drift.
Interviews:
Teddy Phu-Thanh-Danh - Founder of drift team Auto Factory Realize, was there for opening night of Irwindale Speedway in 1999, and champion of early 2000s Japanese style drift cars.
https://www.youtube.com/@AutoFactoryREALIZE
Daijiro Yoshihara - Formula D Champion from Japan, had many memorable battles at Irwindale Speedway, and considers Irwindale Speedway his home track
https://www.youtube.com/@DaiYoshihara
Kenshiro Gushi - Drifting OG from the San Gabriel Valley and Formula D veteran who had his first sanctioned drift event experience at Irwindale Speedway
https://www.youtube.com/@KenGushiMotorsports
Moto Miwa - Founder of Club4AG and Co-Founder of Drift Association, who hosted the first sanctioned drift event at Irwindale Speedway in 2002 and provided track support for D1GP and Formula Drift
Sabine Hsu - Benson and Nadine's daughter, who saw drifting in person for the first time at Irwindale Speedway
Doug Stokes - VP of Communications at Irwindale Speedway for 20 years, involved in the planning and construction of Irwindale Speedway
Manabu Orido - Drifting legend from Japan, former D1GP judge, former D1GP competitor, JGTC/Super GT/Super Taikyu Champion
Vaughn Gittin Jr. - Multiple time Formula D champion, winner of the D1GP USA vs Japan competition in 2005 at Irwindale Speedway
https://www.youtube.com/@VaughnGittinJr
Be on the lookout in the following days, as we release longer longer length interviews for some of our guests!
00:00:45 Episode Start
00:07:10 History of Irwindale Speedway
00:11:07 Details on Irwindale Speedway being sold
00:17:06 Teddy Phu-Tanh-Danh interview
00:23:26 Staff's favorite memories at Irwindale Speedway
00:31:25 Daijiro Yoshihara Irwindale Speedway
00:37:16 Staff's feeling about Irwindale Speedway closing
00:41:14 Ken Gushi interview
00:49:09 Moto Miwa interview
00:58:00 Sabine Hsu shares her memories
01:01:10 Doug Stokes interview
01:14:19 Manabu Orido interview
01:17:36 Vaughn Gittin Jr. interview
01:20:35 Callista Hsu's essay
01:22:40 Benson's closing thoughts
01:25:00 We will be releasing full length interviews
#driftinghistory #drifting #driftingpodcast #podcast #irwindale #irwindalespeedway #tribute #d1gp #d1grandprix #formulad #formuladrift #drift
Hiroshi Takahashi aka Kaicho is an AE86/hachiroku drifting legend from Tokyo, Japan. He started drifting in 1989 and is a self-proclaimed 2nd generation drifter.
In this episode, Kaicho gives us a history lesson and describes the drifting scene in Japan in the 80s and 90s, and some of the people who inspired him.
He tells us about joining team RUNNING FREE, and shares some stories about teammate Kouichi Yamashita and team leader Shingo Murao as young men in the early 90s.
Make sure to stay tuned for part 2 of this interview, dropping 6/11/2024!
https://sileightymania.square.site/product/runningfree86-x-smp-duck-off-sticker/17?cs=true&cst=custom
Follow Kaicho on IG:
https://www.instagram.com/runningfree86
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https://www.instagram.com/sileightymania
#drifting #driftinghistory #driftingpodcast #ae86 #hachiroku #japandrifting #runningfree #hiroshitakahashi #kaicho #runningfree86
#drifting #driftingpodcast #driftinghistory #jonwong #jonathanwong #jdmwong #superstreet #jdm #jdmhonda #jdmhondas #honda #hondacivic #hondaef #efcivic #jdmcivic #sgv #sangabrielvalley #importracing #importracinghistory
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