I watch a lot of SPEED Network. Not by choice, but because my son is fascinated with cars of all types. Color me surprised when flipping through the channels today that SPEED Network has been airing D1 Grand Prix Drifting events.

I guess these have been airing since Sept of 2010, but this is the first episode I’ve watched and it is really great if you are a Japanophile. The concept of drifting actually bores me, but these one hour D1 Grand Prix shows are excellent.

We get the over-enthusiastic English voice over announcer. We also get the hilarious comments of the judges and racers subtitled in English. The races even come equipped with “battle screens” shooting the pictures of the racers on the tv screen in a typical video game-esque “prepare to fight” Player vs. Player screenshot. Also important are the reaction shots by the racing girls!

This is really  a great show with races taking place in Japan and over in America on many Nascar tracks. I’d say this is probably the coolest show to export out of Japan since Iron Chef. Check SPEED Network for remaining air dates.