Drift Indy Street League event coming to Corbin Friday

If you are a racing fan and you would like to check a different form of racing than what you are probably used to, then you might want to turn out at The Corbin Arena Friday afternoon or go to downtown Corbin Friday evening for a Drift Indy Street League event.

“Drifting, from what I can gather, is steering an automobile so that it makes a controlled skid sideways through a turn so that the front wheels are pointed in a direction opposite to the turn,” explained Corbin Tourism Director Maggy Monhollen.

“Street league drifting is a way for motorsport enthusiasts to be able to do what they love without having to go into the pro-am series. They put a lot of investment into the cars. They would be like almost traditional hotrods, but are souped up. Drifting is really about the steering wheel and using aerodynamics to make their way around the course.”

The Drift Indy Street League isn’t holding a race in Corbin, but they will be having a practice at The Corbin Arena during the day Friday followed by the City of Corbin Drift Cruise-In in downtown Corbin Friday evening.

There is an entry fee for the activities at The Corbin Arena during the day, but the cruise-in Friday evening is free of charge, and Monhollen is encouraging the public to come down, welcome the racers, and check out their vehicles.

“We encourage people, who are curious, to come check out the cars and give these folks a warm Corbin welcome,” Monhollen said.

On Friday, there will be driver’s meeting at 10:30 a.m. at The Corbin Arena, and practice will start at 11 a.m.

Spectator gates will open at noon and practice will continue until 6 p.m. when pits will be cleaned up.

There will be a $20 entry fee at the gate for spectators at The Corbin Arena. Children ages 10 and under will be admitted for free. Military members will receive 50 percent off the cost of admission, but must present their military identification to receive the discount.

Friday evening event

Starting at 7 p.m. Friday, Main Street will be closed to traffic and the Corbin Police Department and Corbin Public Works will begin clearing cars from Main Street.

About 7:30 p.m. Friday, there will be a drift car cruise in that will take place from The Corbin Arena to downtown Corbin.

Monhollen said that there are 60-75 drift cars, which are expected to take part in the car show on Main Street.

The cars are expected to arrive via a police escort about 8 p.m. for the car show, which is free and open to the public.

While the public is enjoying the car show, a few hundred drivers and crew members will be enjoying Corbin restaurants and entertainment venues in downtown, Monhollen said.

Monhollen noted that the cruise-in serves two purposes.

The first is that it enables the city to do a proper welcome for drivers from all over the United States to our community, and it allows them to experience downtown Corbin.

The second is that it allows the public to come out and check out the cars and speak to the drivers and find out more about what a drift car is.

“Any motorhead is going to enjoy checking them out,” Monhollen added.

Monhollen said that the tour making a stop in Corbin is a result of the town’s connection to the Back Roads of Appalachia, which is a tourism group that promotes eastern Kentucky as a motorsports destination.

After the vehicles leave Corbin, they will travel to Jackson County for a competition Saturday in McKee.

Monhollen noted this is the first ever Drift Indy Street League event held in eastern Kentucky.

“We are super excited that Drift Indy chose us as the first kind of venue off I-75 in Kentucky. We are really looking forward to having that experience,” she added.