Lock City Drift: Fueling Your Passion for Drifting, Part One

Motorsports is a wide and varied genre that has attracted thrill seeking human beings since the first tire rolled down a strip of roadway in the early days of the automobile. As soon as a human’s need for speed began to overwhelm their senses and feed their desire to push the possibilities, automobile drivers have found ways to go against the norm, change the rules, develop new driving techniques, and make their cars go faster, discover more challenges, and find more exciting ways to move steel and power down the road. Over the past century the automotive industry has introduced more innovation in technology, design, and safety than any other industry on the planet. With all this innovation and ingenuity comes a new sense of vision, creativity, and expression which is fed by the human need for excitement, fun, and that wonderful rush of adrenaline. In the early days of motorsports, it was impossible for those adventurers to imagine the accomplishments, achievements, and statistics that are recorded in an average day in the motorsports world. It would have been easier to explain space travel, alien visitation, and not- so-wild tales of science fiction than convincing the primitive car driver of the fact that a four wheel vehicle called a Bugatti will reach speeds exceeding 300 miles per hour by 2024. Moreover, it would have been a taller tale to spin explaining how someday cars will be wrangled and ridden like common horses. They will be creatively maneuvered, intelligently controlled as their power bands are smartly manipulated to challenge the very laws of physics that the average person just a century ago was just beginning to understand.

By the 1950’s, motorsports and its varied levels of artistic expression would accelerate beyond what the timid minds of the public could construct. This acceleration would lead to a huge movement that became a conduit to cultural change that even a non-enthusiast will accept as a normal part of the modern world. Historical records indicate that the first competitive race between automobiles took place almost 130 years ago in France between 1894 and 1895. At that time, this could have been seen as science fiction come to life, even though the first race only covered a distance of 50 miles with vehicle speeds reaching a staggering 10 miles per hour. Can you imagine the overwhelming emotions felt by those very drivers and pioneers of that day as they accomplished something that was never experienced before? Unknown to them, this would lead to a future unimagined by the most prolific scientist. Imagine them viewing the distant future to 1949 and seeing the Jaguar XK120 take a test lap at a frightening 125 miles per hour, see Sammy Miller ’s rocket funny car run the quarter mile in 1979 at under 4 seconds, witness Tapio Laukkanen win the British Rally Championship in 1999, or watch Chris Forsberg win his first Formula Drift championship in 2009. It is an amazing thought and even more thrilling to think about how far we have come up to today. Examining all the forms of motorsports we can agree that all are incredible partnerships between man and machine that have been fed year after year by the increasing talent, creativity, and innovation of drivers, engineers, and enthusiasts whose goals are the same as the early pioneers. One genre of motorsports has proven itself to be a mixture of speed, agility, technique, and poetic expression allowing the driver to move over the earth in a graceful dance while harnessing pure power in the same moment.

Many car enthusiasts might refer to Drifting as a beautiful slice of the most expressive performance art ever unleashed for the human eye to ingest. Beyond the other factions of motorsports, Drifting has truly developed into a cultural phenomenon since its debated origins in Europe before the start of the 1950s. Crediting early drivers from Italian Tazio Nuvolari to British Stirling Moss to the most famous Japanese innovator and technique perfecter of the 1970s, Kunimitsu Takahashi , have populated exciting conversations around the globe and inspired enthusiasts to explore and live inside this art form over the past half century. The 1980s launched a new rocket into the motorsports atmosphere when a new innovator, Keiichi "Drift King '' Tsuchiya began studying, streamlining, and applying Takahashi's techniques to his own driving which quickly brought him to public awe and admiration. Between his early drift video called " Pluspy ", his exposure through magazines, events, and his advocacy of this amazing style, Tsuchiya continued to inspire drivers for decades to come. By the mid-1990s, drifting climbed up from the Japanese subculture into the view of the global automotive mainstream when the first official Drift Competition was hosted in California at Willow Springs Raceway and supported by a number of magazines, auto industry icons, and a group of respected Japanese drivers, including Tsuchiya, and a few new adopters of the sport at the time, Rhys Millen and Bryan Norris . After this event, many will agree that drifting spread like an exciting wave of inspiration taking the sport to North America, Australia, Asia and Europe and therefore taking motorsports to another expressive and futuristic level. The competitive element of the sport now sits at the big table with international organizations and empowers the everyday enthusiast at the grassroots level.

When the subject of a customer conversation at Subimods turns to Drifting, our team is always inspired to illuminate one organization in our region who is bringing the sport, the techniques, the spirit of community, and the importance of safety to anyone who wishes to level up the excitement of driving in their life.  Lock City Drift of Somers, CT has developed beyond more than a group of experienced drift drivers who want to share their love for the sport and hang out on the weekends. Mike Lynch, head of the Lock City Drift team, works hard to spread his intense passion for motorsports while educating and supporting those enthusiasts who want to learn and succeed. Lynch and the experienced Lock City Drift crew understand what it is like to be active, engaged enthusiasts who just want to drive, perform, and feel the reward given freely from the vehicle's extreme ability. Their love for cars and motorsports was the needed fuel to launch Lock City Drift and keep the dream and feelings of victory alive. "As I have always been into cars, I had founded a car club", Lynch said. "I hosted a few car meets which evolved into hosting car shows eventually", he added. "When I got into drifting as a sport, I wanted to get more seat time without having to travel super far or worry about getting into trouble." Lynch explained. "I took what I knew about renting facilities for shows and applied it to renting out a parking lot I knew - and renting to autocross groups. It worked! April 19th 2012, Lock City Drift held their first event in Hartford CT. It was a really cool event." Lynch said with pride.

The mission statement on the Lock City Drift website sets a strong and positive note of purpose which makes any hungry enthusiast anxious to begin a new adventure. Their mission statement proudly states, “Lock City Drift is a community-driven grassroots drifting organization dedicated to fueling the passion for drifting in the North East. Founded on the principles of grassroots motorsports, driving skills, and a love for burning tires, Lock City Drift has evolved from a group of dedicated friends into a vibrant hub for drifters of all skill levels and backgrounds. What sets Lock City Drift apart is our dedication to inclusivity and driver education.” A very powerful group of words to propel the Lock City Drift goal to encourage and inspire a community while setting a tone of support, experience, and camaraderie through the activities they design. Lynch continues to explain how valuable Lock City Drift events are to enthusiasts who want to get behind the wheel and bring their level of understanding, experience, and interest to a new level. “Seat time, community and direction”, Lynch proclaims as he shows what things are most valuable to the interested enthusiast. “With the way our events are run, Lock City Drift caps the group levels so everyone will get ample seat time and know what they are getting every time", he confirms. “The community takes care of itself. Drivers are always helping out other drivers - from borrowing miscellaneous nuts and bolts throughout the day, helping with installing an axle, to cheering each other on. That is one of my favorite parts of the event”, Lynch said proudly. “What I mean about direction is, the Lock City Drift staff, and the community help people move in the right direction when it comes to technique or car setup” he said, ”to maximize your seat time without over building your cars or buying parts for certain modifications when other items could help learn the sport first.” 

Our team at Subimods has been fortunate to spend time with the Lock City Drift crew while driving our car, the 2022 Subaru BRZ, and learning the craft in one of their informative and detailed drift sessions. The Lock City Drift sessions are held exclusively at the historic Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park in Thompson Connecticut to serve the most experienced drift veterans who need to sharpen their skills, perfect their technique and prepare for competition and train inexperienced drift drivers needing to learn from the more seasoned enthusiasts and ensure that safety and proper execution is the primary target as they take a new journey in motorsports. Lynch and the Lock City Drift team are firm believers that with hard work, determination, endurance, and patience comes satisfaction, and continued progress. This belief is proven by how their team has evolved and positively affected a community through the ongoing work they do to inspire enthusiasts from all walks of life. When asked about the most important facet within the existence of Lock City Drift, Lynch said "I think the story itself", while reflecting on landmarks occurring throughout their exciting history. "From starting in a random parking lot, to a partnership with Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park where they have paved us a drift circuit" he said with gratitude. "This gave us a place to open our own drift school and an opportunity to host some pretty awesome events."

As enthusiasts we know that the best, most powerful performance comes from the amount of quality, intelligence, and effort put into the engine or mechanism behind the moving vehicle. Lock City Drift is a motivated and focused vehicle - a group of individuals who see through the same lens that all motorsports lovers use to view the world. Lock City Drift understands both the passion behind the driver and the reward they receive each time they get behind the wheel. Proudly carrying the torch for drifting fits perfectly into the Lock City Drift brand and their culture as an organization. Asking Lynch about what he likes most about drifting and motorsports is like asking the sun what it likes most about fire. The undeniable love that Lynch and the Lock City Drift team has for the sport comes loud and clear through his answer. "The speed, adrenaline and art of being able to have a notable ‘driving style’ that the community can see, and appreciate. Then you sit around for hours afterwards just talking about the day." Lynch and the Lock City Drift team pound the drum so loudly and proudly we can guarantee the amazing impact they will bring to the region with their culture building and education. The Subimods team has learned a lot under the instruction and expertise of the Lock City Drift team. We are excited to watch Lock City Drift broaden the public’s view of the sport and look forward to contributing more to their ongoing story - by getting back out on the track! Stay tuned.

Learn more about Lock City Drift by watching the “Mastering The Slide - Lock City Drift Clinic, Part 1” video (below), where you can see an informative overview commentary provided by Subimods CEO Nick Nazzaro.