Drift Invasion

Ueo later recalled his perfect pass. "Taniguchi's car is really fast. He pulls away on the straights. His line is fast, but because of that, he tends to stay on the outside of the corner. I was actually aiming for the door of his car, to get right next to it, but because Taniguchi was a little wide, I was able to go right through."

Everyone knew what Taniguchi had to do on the final lap. At a very fast sweeper in front of the judges' table, Taniguchi attacked on the outside, but there was no room and he smacked the wall even harder than that one umbrella girl hit Russ. On this day, it seemed that there was someone better than No One Better.

"I knew Taniguchi was going to try to pass, so I purposely stayed in the middle so he could not pass," Ueo told us. "The match was already decided when I passed Taniguchi in the first lap. The only way he could win was to pass me. If I had not passed Taniguchi on the first lap, the match would not have been decided so easily. It might have gone on and on."

If it had gone on and on, we're sure that would have been fine with everyone, including the drivers, many of whom were visibly emotional in response to the fervent crowd at the awards ceremony. Jonny cried too, but only because that kid kicked him "really, really hard." Even though it had to end, the D1GP USA will be remembered as one of the most thrilling events of the year. Who knows, this drifting thing just might take off.