Drifting is the latest import from Japan, but it’s not a car or a truck. Drifting is a type of motorsport, and it’s arguably the most exciting form of motorsports around.

Ford Racing Performance Parts continues to be in on the action, entering its second season in drifting competition with driver Ken Gushi behind the wheel of a 2006 Mustang GT. And with the recent opening of "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" in theaters across the country, the sport is poised to explode in popularity. So what is drifting all about?

The name comes from the actual technique that is employed to make a car "drift" around the racecourse. To observers, drifting appears as if the rear end of the car is trying to swap ends with the front. The goal is for the driver to balance steering and throttle to control the car’s drift and direction in a four-wheeled slide.

Although racing drivers have been using controlled drifts as a technique since the 1930s, drifting as its own form of motorsport began in Japan more than 20 years ago. Drifting in the United States officially began in 1996 in California and has become extremely popular with younger fans here and in Europe and Australia.