http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMbCs7oJP4A

I just don't get this drifting thing? Is it a race? Is it a loud smoky show for spectators? Are you penalized for NOT being sideways? How sideways do you have to be to qualify? Am I too old to understand? OK, no need to answer that last one.

My boy's over at lucky7 have 2 passes for me if I want them

Yes.

Ok - I am 59, so old school too, and when my son first started playing with his hi pitched imports and started watching the drifting/action movies, I poo-pooed it all too. I took him to the local drags and exposed him the roar of a real V-8 as it shot down the 1/4 mile and he in turn, took me to the first National Drift "Event" at Sonoma Raceway.
We have been back to Sonoma each year (until they stopped having it there) Because it is a lot of Fun for us. No, it is not a race, but definitely a show of skill, excitement, and Fan involvement. At Sonoma, the pits are completely open and fans were expected to come in and talk to the drivers, watch the cars being worked on, poke their noses into the heart of the engine bay to see what was there, as well as participate in various directed activities. But the excitement is in watching them perform. Shooting down a straight stretch at 100 mph and throwing their car into a full fledged slide at the beginning of an "S" curve, then putting the pedal to the medal with 5 - 700+ hp burning your rear tires thru the rest of the course, AND WITH another car inches from your tail, doing the same.
Yeah, I found it exciting, to watch
Steve