The Streets of Detroit pro-am drifting event is one of the only in the nation to be held on a street course. The venue, Roosevelt Park, allowed up-close spectating without the obstruction of concrete crash barriers.

A large portion of the crowd, estimated near 1,500 for the day, came from outside Metro Detroit, some auto enthusiasts who were in town for the Woodward Dream Cruise.

Shane Whalley, one of the few Metro Detroit drivers from Chesterfield, and his company Ice Nine Group, a Clinton Township-based auto parts retailer, were crucial participants in bringing the event to the streets of Detroit after the original plan to host the event at Belle Isle collapsed.

"Dude, it's gorgeous" says Harrison, who in a naval captain's hat smokes a cigarette between licks to his quick-melting ice cream cone. "The city really helped us out; they repaved sections of the course for us.

"We've been doing this for five years now. Nobody's ever done a street course except for the pros, so we said let's figure this out."

Among the 40-some competitors were drivers from as far as New Jersey and Los Angeles.

Whalley, 25, driving a blue-and-orange-painted no. 9 2006 Pontiac GTO, said he began drifting competitively about three years ago, but has been street racing since he could legally drive.

He daily drove his car for four years before converting it to a competitive car. The personalized plate on the front bumper reads "DTFSU," an acronym for, "Down to (expletive) (expletive) up."

He's totaled and rebuilt his Pontiac four times. "To where I am now, wrecks and repairs and everything, I'm probably up close to 60 grand deep in it," Whalley said.

Each event he burns about six to eight tires at a cost of $100 each and funds his hobby by working as a mechanic and metal fabricator.

Drivers took two individual passes at the course and judges determined the top 16 drivers — Whalley qualified second — to move on to the tandem event.

The tandem event involves two cars driving simultaneously with the goal of staying as close to the opposing car through the course. It's usually where the crashes happen. Most of the vehicles had paint rub and dents from previous collisions.

"I think there are as many if not more people here than at a normal event," Whalley said. "The whole backdrop, the whole street aspect of it, I mean, drifting started on the streets and now were doing competitions on the streets. So that's pretty cool."