Sashidaran Gunathevan
The screech of tyres cuts through the air. Smoke curls against concrete walls. Engines growl and echo in a way that rattles your chest. You’d swear you had been teleported into the basement carpark chase from The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.
But this isn’t Tokyo. This is Seri Kembangan.
Drift Underground 2026 took place at the B2 carpark of the Mines International Exhibition and Convention Centre. The dates were 24 to 26 April. It drew over 10,000 visitors across three days of controlled, choreographed motorsport. Nobody quite saw that coming.
From 2,000 to 10,000 visitors in one year
This was the third edition of Drift Underground, organised by Cargasm. The Motorsports Association of Malaysia sanctioned the event. The first two editions in 2024 and 2025 each drew between 1,000 and 2,000 visitors.
Moreover, those earlier editions ran as part of larger automotive showcases. This year, however, Drift Underground stood alone as an independently organised event for the first time. The result was remarkable.
Over 10,000 people walked through the doors. Furthermore, fans flew in from Australia, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. That is no longer a niche event. That is a movement.
This year also added something new to the mix. Cargasm teamed up with CLUBLANDKL to bring in live DJ sets. Together, they turned the B2 carpark into a motorsport arena and music festival combined. Drift shows ran from 11am. DJ sets kept the crowd until 11pm. The energy never dropped.
The man behind cargasm
Cargasm cofounders Chen Wing Hong and Beysshwen Dasnamurthy launched the platform in 2021. Chen, known as Wing in drift circles, got into the sport through Dasnamurthy.
Together, they started with content before gradually expanding into events, training, and community building.
The growth has surprised even them. Previously, drifting attracted a very specific crowd. Now, however, it draws everyone.
Chen told Bernama: “It used to be a very niche scene. Now we’re seeing couples, families, travellers and teenagers joining. One time, we even had a grandfather, father and son learning drifting together — three generations in one class.”
The Drift Taxi: Shotgun with a Pro
The breakout attraction of the weekend was the drift taxi. Members of the public paid to ride shotgun with a professional drifter during a live run.
About 2,000 drift taxi tickets sold across three days. Chen called the response extraordinary when speaking to Malay Mail recently.
“The drifters were very happy too,” he said. “Some of them made enough money from this one weekend to cover their costs.”
Maintaining a competition-spec drift car is expensive. Tyres, repairs, fuel, modifications — the costs add up fast. Consequently, a single weekend generating between RM3,000 and RM5,000 in ride-along income meaningfully changes the economics of staying in the sport.
For riders, it offered pure legal adrenaline. No public road, no risk to other motorists, no brushes with the law. Just a helmet, a bucket seat, and a driver who knows exactly what they’re doing.
Getting it off the streets
Drifting in Malaysia has long carried a complicated reputation. The skill is real. The culture is genuine. Yet for years, illegal street-racing defined its image — viral videos of cars sliding through highway corners at 2am, endangering pedestrians and other road users.
Cargasm’s approach is deliberately different. Chen said all content they produce highlights drifting in controlled environments, not as an informal road activity.
Meanwhile, MAM oversight gives Drift Underground its official sanctioning. Safety barriers separate the crowd from the action. Marshals stay present throughout.
The message is simple. The skill does not need the street to be impressive. In fact, it is more impressive when you can see exactly how precise it is, up close, without the chaos.
Where did drifting come from?
Drifting traces its origins to Japanese mountain roads. Drivers in the 1970s and 80s began experimenting with controlled oversteer on touge passes to carry speed through corners.
The Drift King, Keiichi Tsuchiya, brought the technique to wider attention. Later, the D1 Grand Prix turned it into a spectator sport. Formula Drift then gave it a North American platform.
In 2006, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift introduced drifting’s visual language to a global audience. The smoke, the angle, the precision threading through tight spaces — it created a cultural mythology that endures twenty years later. Whether or not the film was technically accurate is beside the point.
In Malaysia, grassroots drifting communities exist across the Klang Valley and Penang. Additionally, Chen notes the scene is growing well beyond its original geography. Cargasm is part of that growth. Drift Underground is its most visible expression.
A Word on Road Safety
The popularity of events like Drift Underground carries an important flip side. Some people leave wanting to try what they just watched. Don’t.
What you watch at MIECC results from years of training. The cars carry significant safety modifications. The venue is designed specifically for this purpose.
Furthermore, the same technique that looks effortless in a carpark has killed people on public roads — where there are no barriers, no marshals, and no warning for bystanders. Never attempt it outside a controlled environment.
The growth of legitimate drift events is, in part, a road safety story. It gives the community a proper outlet. Drivers develop and demonstrate skills without putting lives at risk. Spectators experience the thrill without anyone getting hurt.
Cargasm’s Drift Academy has trained over 400 students in two years. Students from 12 to 75 years old have joined since 2024. They come regardless of whether they drive manual or not.
Instructors are semi-professional and professional drifters. Each one guides students from their starting point to actually drifting a car.
If Drift Underground 2026 has lit something in you, Drift Academy is the right next step — not the highway on-ramp at midnight.
With 10,000 attendees and international visitors making the trip, a fourth edition seems inevitable. Drift Underground has outgrown its underground origins in every sense except the name.
For updates on future Drift Underground dates and Drift Academy sessions, follow Cargasm at cargasm.media.
The tyres have spoken.
Citizens Journal Malaysia covers grassroots community stories, culture, and the people shaping Malaysian life. Have a story? Email [email protected]
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