You saw the import and domestic cars whiz by— three times — from the “Fast and the Furious.” Your classmate might have gushed about working at the Anime Expo this past summer. Your brother battled all night with the neighborhood guys on the Xbox. Your boyfriend has a poster of an import model in the living room.

Such is the world of urban youth culture — specifically Asian American urban youth culture. What once seemed hidden in an underground subculture is now as mainstream as the term “rice rockets.”

Is that a good thing or a bad thing? It depends on who you’re asking but so far it’s been a boost for Live Sockets Entertainment. The Downey, Calif.  company, which produces documentaries mostly about the tuner car culture as well as anime and hip hop culture, was the first of its kind to sign major distribution deals with stores such as Best Buy and Tower Records four years ago. Nguoi Viet 2 approached co-founder and producer Th?y Ð?ng to learn more about the racing rollercoaster he captures on camera.

NV2: What is Live Sockets Entertainment?
Ð?ng: Live Sockets Entertainment was created as a studio to develop young emerging talents in the urban entertainment and youth market niche. We produce movies and products focused on urban or youth subcultures ranging from high performance racing to underground hip hop and action sports. In 2002, the Live Sockets title hit number 10 on the Billboard Recreational Sports DVD sales chart. In 2006, Live Sockets signed a worldwide distribution deal with Destroy Entertainment and Warner Strategic Marketing. You can view videos and galleries at www.livesockets.com.

NV2: How did you get started?
Ð?ng: I actually started Live Sockets with a co-worker, Erick Louie, while we were at another entertainment company in 2000. That company acquired his Web site, one of the first that focused on the Asian American youth market. At the time it was the only way for our community to connect.

NV2: By now everyone should be familiar with the concept of drifting after the release of “Tokyo Drift” from “The Fast and the Furious” series. Who’s better at it — the Japanese or the Americans?
Ð?ng: Over 15 years ago the sport of drifting originated in the mountains of Japan when drivers would race in the “touge” or mountain passes trying to slide their car sideways through turns while maintaining speed and control of the vehicle. For example, when a car is turning left the front wheels are turned in the other direction — right. Drifting is judged on style and technique — not time — and the underground sport has spawned a Japanese professional series and media coverage from all over the world. Now the sport is exploding here in the States. In the past year alone,  drifting has become an exciting new form of automotive exhibition and competition in the US.

The Japanese drivers are still better than the U.S. drivers since they have been drifting much longer than over there, but the level of progression on the U.S. side has gone up exponentially. This past year an American actually won a D1 Grand Prix event here in the U.S. This is the premiere Professional Japanese Drifting Series. This win is unheard of since drifting on the U.S. side really only exploded three to four years ago.

NV2: Where’s a good track for a beginner to learn?
Ð?ng: There are drifting schools and clinics at various tracks around the country. A lot of beginner programs are conducted in parking lots so drivers don’t feel intimidated learning on an actual track. Around this area in California there’s Willow Springs Raceway in Rosamond and California Speedway in Fontana.

NV2: How large can the prize purses get?
Ð?ng: Purses vary by series and events; it could be anywhere from $2,000 per event to $50,000 depending on who is organizing and/or sponsoring the events. The sport is still in its infancy here in the U.S. so you don’t see the kind of money in this motor sport as you do in traditional, mainstream motor sports like NASCAR yet.

NV2: What are the main big events of the year you cover?
Ð?ng: We cover the Formula Drift and D1GP drifting series in the U.S. and some of the car shows like Hot Import Nights and Showoff. We are now also focusing more on producing original content for this genre as well as branching out to other fields.

NV2: How do you film from inside the car?
Ð?ng: We have on-car camera rigs that we use to film racing sequences.

NV2: What’s canyon racing? What’s the difference between circuit racing and rally racing?
Ð?ng: Canyon racing refers to the “spirited” driving that goes on in the mountains and hills all over the world. Drivers push their cars and driving abilities to the limit in these regions where the roads are particularly winding, somewhat dangerous and a thrill to drive. Circuit is on an actual track and rally is what you see on the X games — on a public dirt road.

NV2: How much money does it take to get into racing and customizing your car?
Ð?ng: Most kids in the sports compact or import market buy $2,000 to $5,000 cars and can spend up to $50,000 customizing their cars. The sky’s the limit on modifying cars these days. Race programs are very expensive and could cost anywhere from $10,000 to $1 million and more depending on the series and region. Most racers must find corporate sponsors to cover their costs.

NV2: Do you see any fads dying out in the States? What’s more popular overseas?
Ð?ng: Trends in this niche do move very fast. Import drag racing used to be very popular and now it’s taking a back seat to drifting. However, it’s more of these elements evolving into something else. Racing and motor sports in this market has evolved from drag racing into drifting and is now starting to connect with rally and circuit racing.

A lot of the trends that you see in the import tuner market here in the U.S. originated in Japan. Europe has been traditionally into all forms of motor sports: rally, road and circuit racing, etc. We are starting to see a lot of American and Japanese influences over there.

NV2: What affects speed? What can you do to make your car faster?
Ð?ng: Lots of factors affect speed. It ultimately comes down to how much an enthusiast is willing to spend to make his car faster. You can always get suspensions, upgrade the turbo kit, upgrade the motor or get a new motor. The kids without money will actually go to a junk yard and use parts from there.

NV2: Are there any notable females in this sport?
Ð?ng: There are actually a lot of crews out there like Drifting Pretty or Verena Mei of Star Girl Racing. Mei is an import model turned racer recently seen in a cameo on “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.”

NV2: Do you see any Vietnamese American racers and enthusiasts out there?
Ð?ng: A lot were drag racing back in the day and now there’s a couple guys coming up there. It’s neat how this is a progression of the hot rods to kids with Civics and Nissan 240s.

NV2: Where did the term rice rocket come from?
Ð?ng: It was actually from an old community web portal; the name just stuck. Back then, that’s how we kept connected and how Live Sockets came about, including the name.

NV2: Recently Live Sockets also covered the Anime Expo. This 15th year, attendance hit a record of over 41,000.
Ð?ng: Yeah, that genre has really blown up within the last four to five years. Before, we used to see just hard core fans. Now there are kids of all ages; it’s mainstream. In Japan, like how animation is here in America, there are many different types from manga, the comic books, and anime, the animated stuff. And it’s not just for children.

NV2: Live Sockets also covers underground music. Have you ever interviewed anyone who went mainstream?
Ð?ng: We’ve covered Beat Junkies, a DJ. crew, and a collaborator from Fort Minor.