Justin “The Ruckus” Kikkawa’s AE86 1985 Toyota Corolla GTS with Budo aero kit and SSR Dori2 Mesh wheels. Having one of the nicer AE86’s in Hawaii, it was amazing to me that Justin brought his vehicle out to the Drift Session, but he stressed that he did not want to be one of those guys that just had a nice vehicle. Justin’s car took at beating at the Drift Session, eventually pretty much breaking in half, but Justin remains one of the most notable drivers in Hawaii with a high degree of skill.

Ed and Cara Kubo

Early competition group photo

Stanford “Handsome Stan” Lau

Kyle Arai was one of the few FWD drivers on the track, but he has been with the Drift Session from the very beginning and is definitely one of the leading figures in FWD drifting (there’s not many of them).

Stanford “Handsome Stan” Lau getting into his AE86 coupe.

Justin Kikkawa

Group photo of many of the hachi / Toyota guys. If you look at what everyone is wearing, that was actually acceptable driving attire back in 2001.

Jason Tam-Hoy, one of the only FWD drivers in his EK Honda Civic.

In November 2001 the drift session ran a joint event with the team from 808 Speed. Those were the guys that first started making underground street racing videos from the Hawaii car and motorcycle scene. You have to remember that this was back in the days before YouTube, maybe the year 2000 that the 808 speed team started producing videos and selling them on VHS cassette tapes. Keoni Payton, Daniel Rau, and I think Kenrick (sp?) were the 808 Speed guys I remember. The event brought out probably the largest spectator crowd that the drift session enjoyed in the early years. The event was a combined drifting and motorcycle stunt event, the first motorcycle stunt event ever held in Hawaii. One of the first motorcycle riders to do an exhibition on the far side of the track where we used to run the single high speed 180 degree corner went down at this event. Unfortunately for the rider he was trying to do a wheelie and used a little too much throttle, over rotating and causing him to fall off the back of his bike. His motorcycle cartwheeled down the track a few times before coming to a smashing halt. The rider was wearing a riding jacket, helmet, and gloves so his upper body wasn’t too banged up. However, the rider was wearing jeans and not full Leathers so his pants absorbed the brunt of his crash. When he stood up pretty much the entire back of his jeans was missing so it looked like he was wearing a pair of assless chaps, and there was quite a bit of road rash on that ass.

Stanford Lau’s wheels.

Edward Kubo changing tires on his AE86 Toyota Corolla GTS coupe. Ed’s vehicle also remained in relatively good shape throughout his time at the Drift Session. Some minor scrapes here and there, but no major collisions.

Chris Kam in his Chevy Camaro.

Ross Petty’s old 240sx. Ross would bring tons of spare tires with him to the track to change out after blowouts like this.

Bunch of girls from The Most Hated (motorcycle club?)

Sunisa Sims with someone’s Levin hatchback.

Brandon Hiroshige in his AE86 hatchback. Again, back in the early days of the Drift Session, we didn’t even require helmets on track.

Pedro “PRD” Dominon in his AE86 Toyota Corolla GTS coupe. Pedro went through a number of vehicles at the Drift Session, but this was his first.

Ross petty in his original blue 240sx coupe.

Wendy Huonker and Jamie Kunisaki at the Drift Session.

Back when we held the combined drifting and motorcycle stunt event with the guys from 808 Speed, the Most Hated motorcycle club brought a ton of girls with them. Drifting has never really been known for attracting women and it was even much less so back in the early days. I think this event made some of our drivers rethink their decision to drift and consider purchasing motorcycles instead. It definitely looked cooler to ride a brand-new motorcycle than a busted up Toyota Corolla with zip ties everywhere.

Aaron Kikkawa

Aaron Kikkawa in his naturally aspirated 240sx coupe. At one of the Drift Session’s larger nighttime events, Aaron went head-on with the guardrails on the quarter mile straightaway, totaling this vehicle.

Aaron Kikkawa

Royce Fujimoto’s AE86 hatchback

Aaron Kikkawa’s 240sx coupe with fresh tire marks all over the rear quarter panel. Aaron had finished drifting and at the end of the day decided to use up his tires in a long smoky burnout. Unfortunately for Aaron, when one of his tires exploded and shredded, he didn’t let off the throttle (since the other tire didn’t explode yet) and the shredded tire worked like a steel-belted flail, whipping the side of his car at full speed. This was an Aaron Kikkawa moment at its finest.

David “Bubs” Imada’s turbo AE86 coupe.

This photo comes from the very first Drift Session event; definitely the first drifting event in Hawaii and really one of the first drifting-centric events ever held outside of Japan. This took place at the start of 2001, maybe January or February and was the start of the Drift Session’s monthly series of drifting events (the first drifting series ever held outside of Japan). Here is Jupiter Kajiwara driving Wendel Yamada’s SR20 powered 240sx. This is back before most people knew what an SR20 was, but Wendel has been an OG guy in the sport compact world since the 90’s if not earlier. The rest of us were wondering why his car kept going “whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!”

Shredded tires were the norm. Back in these days may drivers raided the throw away tire bins from various tire shops so tires didn’t last too long on the track.

Stanford “Handsome Stan” Lau driving Lance “LT” Tsubota’s AE86 Toyota Corolla GTS hatchback.

Royce Fujimoto back when his AE86 hatchback was metalflake blue.

Changing tires was an all day thing at the Drift Session. At first, guys started packing their trunks with spare wheels and tires raided from tire shop throwaway bins, but eventually drivers found used tires to have unreliable performance as their skills improved. Eventually, drivers began buying multiple sets of brand new tires, which lasted longer, but added to the expense of drifting.

In the early days of the Drift Session (2001), there was a pretty relaxed atmosphere at the track. You came in the front gate, found an area to set up camp with your friends, and then you lined up to make a pass. Back then, admission to the Drift Session was $5.00 and it was an extra $3.00 to drive. That’s right $8.00 to drift all day.

Casey and girlfriend.

This is one of the first drifting competitions ever held outside of Japan back in December 2001. The Drift Session probably held a few competitions before this one too, but this is probably the first group photo from a competition that we had on record.

When Shige Hirabayashi first starting coming to the Drift Session, he was in a very noticeable yellow Audi S4.

Ross Petty and friends.

The Most Hated at the 808 Xpedition drift / stunt event.

Justin “The Ruckus” Kikkawa driving his maroon AE86 with David “Bubs” Imada (turbo AE86 coupe) riding shotgun.

Justin Kikkawa at one of his first Drift Session events. You can tell this was an early event by the condition of his body kit and paint job.

Having one of the nicest vehicles on the racetrack Justin Kikkawa wasn’t foolish enough to risk damaging his expensive Budo aero bumper. A couple of snips to remove some zip ties and his bumper popped off easily allowing him to run his vehicle all day without risking smashing his bumper on a steel drum, rock, or raised curb, which could be found all around Hawaii Raceway Park.

Lance Tsubota’s AE86 hatchback

Cleaning the dirt off the track.

Guardrail scuff marks from someone’s vehicle.

Back in the early days of the Drift Session, there wasn’t much continuous lapping. In fact, racetrack insurance didn’t even cover “drifting” at the time so the Drift Session had to structure events to run within the available insurance parameters. That involved separating the track into multiple, short sections where cars could run more like autocross. This is a lineup of vehicles on the far side of Hawaii Motorsports Center (aka Hawaii Raceway Park). Vehicles would line up on the runoff area of the quarter mile strip and then drift through a 180 degree corner.

Back in the early days of the Drift Session, these two Oliberos brothers (Shane on the left and Steve on the right) both drove Nissan 300zx’s. Shane had a white Turbo and Steve drove a black NA 300zx.

Sunisa Sims with Justin Kikkawa’s AE86 hatchback

Stanford “Handsome Stan” Lau driving with Lance “LT” Tsubota riding shotgun. Stanford spent his entire time at the Drift Session with the same vehicle: a 1985 Toyota Corolla GTS coupe. A year or two after coming out to the Drift Session, Stanford decided to remake his car with suspension, wheels, aero parts, and a new paint job from Daniel “Monk” Shin (RIP).

Steve Oliberos leaning on his brother Shane’s 300zx turbo.

Shane Oliberos in an older Z.

Pedro Dominon in his AE86 coupe.

Shige Hirabayashi and his Audi S4.

Jason Tam-Hoy, one of the only FWD drivers in his EK Honda Civic.

Shane (left) and Steve (right) Oliberos.

Steve Oliberos in his naturally aspirated Nissan 300zx, throwing up a super shaka.

Tom Bryant driving his FC3S Mazda RX7. While it wasn’t in the best shape at the time this picture was taken, this was a pretty fast and cool vehicle. One day, the wastegate got stuck and horsepower was instantly boosted to what Tom estimated was over 300 HP. Instead of bringing the vehicle in to check things out, Tom ran the car at full speed around the track, enjoying the added horsepower, right up until the engine blew up. Definitely fun while it lasted and another classic example of the Drift Session driver mindset.

Driver’s meeting in the morning.

Girlfriends?

Not sure of all names here: Shige Hirabayashi in white shirt and Jason Tam-Hoy on the far right of the picture.

Justin Kikkawa, winner of this month’s drift competition. I think the prize back then was just a plaque with your name on it.

This is Denny Cabal, one of the winners of a Drift Session competition event in 2001. I believe I have seen Danny post a picture of that trophy on Instagram, over 20 years after this event. I think that is pretty cool. As adults, we don’t often win prizes that mean very much to us, other than getting a piece of paper that says we have worked for the same company for 20 years. I’m glad that we did purchase and give out small trophies at the time.

Justin Kikkawa entering the skid pad. Back before the Drift Session went to full track lapping, the active course consisted of a brief run through the off-camber area of the track and a lap around the skid pad. Eventually, the course was extended through the sweeper as drivers got better.