Mary Goldstein, of Massapequa, N.Y., eats Pringles as Brian Quit, of Huntington, N.Y., sleeps on the bed of his truck during a Lock City Drift event at Canaan Motor Club, in Canaan, N.H., on July 22, 2017. Quit said that a five-hour drive from Long Island turned into a seven-hour drive when his friend's truck broke down on the way to Canaan Motor Club, leaving Quit exhausted. (Valley News - Charles Hatcher) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
Mary Goldstein, of Massapequa, N.Y., eats Pringles as Brian Quit, of Huntington, N.Y., sleeps on the bed of his truck during a Lock City Drift event at Canaan Motor Club, in Canaan, N.H., on July 22, 2017. Quit said that a five-hour drive from Long Island turned into a seven-hour drive when his friend's truck broke down on the way to Canaan Motor Club, leaving Quit exhausted. (Valley News - Charles Hatcher) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.

Canaan — Catch their drift?

About 70 drivers and 300 fans did on a recent Saturday at the Canaan Motor Club’s twisting and turning 1.3-mile paved road course.

Known as SpecialStage New England and organized by New England car clubs including Drift Faction and Lock City Drift, the event highlights a relatively new competitive sport called drifting in which drivers throw their speedy little rear-wheel-drive hot rods into turns with such brio that the cars slide sideways — or drift — for long stretches while sending up plumes of smoke from their scorching tires.

Popularized in America by the 2006 film The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, the third film in The Fast and the Furious franchise, drifting has its roots in Japan and, with the renovation of the Canaan track surface several years ago, is becoming popular here. Lock City Drift has been hosting drifting events every other month or so at the Canaan Motor Club since the beginning of last year. On this Saturday, drivers came from all over the region, including New York, Maine, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

“People here put countless hours and dollars into their cars,” said Michael Lynch, an organizer and official of the drifting event. “It’s definitely not a hobby. It’s a lifestyle.”