Touge.US Races Onto The Scene

Nestled in one of many valleys in the Appalachian mountains the sound of race prepped grip cars fills the air. A familiar experience for the locals at this point, but today is different from prior weekends, this is the inaugural Touge.US event. Inspired by the greats from the past like Hot Version or Initial D, the cat and mouse format means anybody can compete against anybody and have a good shot at pulling out the W. For the beta event, technically everyone wins, but that doesn’t stop drivers from checking the totally official unofficial results sheet after everybody has finished their runs.

The concept is simple and a familiar format. Two drivers pull up to the start line and are spaced 30 feet apart. At the end of the run if the lead driver can increase the distance or the chase driver can close the gap, a winner is declared. The tight and twisting course ensures this isn’t a drag race to the end with wild matchups being surprisingly competitive. That’s the beauty of the Touge.US format, as the machines on the entry list were as diverse as the drivers to pilot them. From an FB and FD RX7 to Nissan Zs to a MK2 Jetta, anyone who had the goods could show up and put down some heater runs. 

The drivers, hand selected by the same staff that created the groundbreaking Drift Appalachia touge drifting events, come from driving backgrounds as varied as their rides. Most are SCCA/NASA affiliated, competing in hill climbs, time attack, or autocross. “The Dereks” aka Derek King and Derek Bianski come from drifting with Bianski making the necessary setup changes to his FD RX7 drift car. Unsurprisingly, The Dereks were some of the quicker ones amongst the entrants having clocked multiple weekends in Appalachian Mountains through Drift Appalachia. Most however have only experienced pure touge driving through ...less than legal means, with hill climb participants having the closest experience. 

That’s the beauty of events such as Touge.US and Drift Appalachia. Partnering with the Backroads of Appalachia, the 100% legal aspect means that safety is among top concerns for all staff. Road closures, corner marshals, roll cages, and onsite police/EMT support are just some of the precautions that are taken to provide an environment that allows participants the opportunity to push their cars and skills to the limit. Events held on public roads offer little to nothing in terms of margin of error with runoffs consisting of trees, guard rails, or hill sides, and keeping it on track becomes paramount concern for anyone running the course.

While the driving is why people from all walks of life, disciplines, and locations from all over North America came to Touge.US, the community is why they come back. Drift Appalachia is locally renowned for their cruise in events and their first Touge.US event proved no different with local West Virginians flooding downtown Beckley to see the race cars going to battle in the mountains the following day. While the block party was a similar scene, the locals were treated to a different spectacle with the grip cars taking center stage instead of the drift cars. It offered a unique perspective on touge driving, showing that anybody and everybody can enjoy the incredible terrain and welcoming community.

With their very first event under their belt, the staff of Touge.US has big aspirations for the future of the concept. Faster, longer courses and a proper competition are front of mind looking to 2026. If their success and determination with Drift Appalachia is anything to go off of, the success and expansion of Touge.US is almost guaranteed. Gearheads across the world have dreamed of channeling their inner Takumi and now Touge.US is providing that platform for those with the mental toughness and razor sharp reflexes to determine who is the true King of The Mountains.

For more images from Touge.US, check out the Gallery.