A few months ago, I was loading up my camera bag for some drifting and drag racing at a small local track. Like the drivers who had prepped their cars for the night, I was eager to head out with some friends and enjoy an evening of motorsport. But two days before the event, the track was shut down.

This wasn’t the first time Urban Racing had to find a new venue since its start in 2018. It’s seen a handful of locations in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in its quest to take racing off the streets and build a safe home for drivers who want to find their limits. Its new home was familiar though. Action was back on track at Texas Motor Speedway where it had hosted drift events earlier in its history.

Slide N’ Shine: The Finale was the second event back at the track. Much like the previous Slide N’ Shine, pro and grassroots drivers had a chance to push the limits on a high-speed drift course, or try their hand on a smaller scale track, or even in a rental drift car with a coach in the passenger seat.

If the track isn’t exactly your style, a burnout pit was added this time around. I feel like the photos can tell this part of the story better than any words can.

As the name implies, with the ‘slide’ comes the ‘shine’, and a show inside the facility makes for a perfect place to park up, grab a bite with friends, and let your machine sing in a rev battle – all with no chance of the police coming to shut down the meet.

A few cars found themselves in front of my lens there too, most notably a turbo Honda K-series-powered NSX behind a row of Toyota Supras, and a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ that I was lucky enough to get a few shots of before the crowd swarmed around it.

With this event capping off the season, Urban Racing is already focusing attention to next year. More sponsors, more vendors and more people, all with the goal of fostering a culture and building a community around the track for high-octane fun in a time when it is needed most.

Brian Barisa
Instagram: brianhasacanon

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