Moody, AL - The folks at U-Drift put on an exhibition tonight at its location on U.S. 411. Drifting is a style of racing where the driver intentionally oversteers causing the vehicle to seemingly drift. It can get pretty noisy at times depending on the driver's level of skill, and the noise level has been a main concern in Moody.

We asked U-Drift owner Chris Nunnely to describe drifting.

 

"You're sliding your car. You're spinning your tires, and having a good time," he says.

But a rather noisy sneak preview last month was met with numerous complaints from nearby neighbors.

"There was calls going into central dispatch," says Moody's Mayor Joe Lee, "so I made the decision personally to shut him down that night."

Since then, Nunneley, has spent thousands of dollars trying to make noise coming from the track less offensive.. even adding 487 bales of hay to dampen the sound.

"Alabama law is that you have to be at 78 decibels or below when you're on a neighbor's property that hears you. We're coming in at 66. So we are well below that now that we've added the new sound barriers."

Nunneley invited the mayor, the city council and U-Drift's neighbors out to the track Monday to see first hand what the drivers are up to. The drivers go around the "track" one at a time, drifting the cars as they come to certain points marked by barrels and cones. The track is actually the old back parking lot of Alabama Auto Auctions on U.S. 411. And, yes, it is still a little noisy for some...

"The squealing tires are still clearly heard over the background noise of 411," says Bob Nelson, president of the Windsor Village Neighborhood Association.

But it's not nearly as loud as it was before.

"I thought it'd be louder," said Councilor Phillip Deason.

Moody Police set up four listening posts during the demonstration. Out of 19 runs, the officers reported 13 that were accompanied by a high level of high-pitched sounds. Only one person called to complain. The officer giving the report to the Council said it wasn't "as bad as last time."

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