Flippy, just curious. Why do you suggest that it's only Fast and the Furious that made drifting popular? It's been done for ages, and it was a rallying technique to get the right corner entry... and in Japan it was done to block and take tight corners quicker than they could by inducing oversteer.
Now given, it wasn't used for flashiness in a race, but it was likely a nice crowd pleaser. So for the sake of it all, can we all shaddup now?