Event Coverage | AutoCon 2011 (Pt. I)

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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How should I start this..I have so many things to say about this event, but need to keep it as simple as possible so that I don't lose fans and kill the excitement I've been gradually building up for the wait on this coverage.
First off, I want to give mad props to my guys Justin and Nate for their effort and time to create this amazing event. I don't even clearly remember when I met Justin, but as we were talking throughout the months, I realized he was a humble guy and had a clear mind of how he wanted the automotive scene to go. His huge success on hosting AutoCon last year continued on this year and as expected, it was overwhelming. The same props go to Nate as well. He's been an awesome guy since he approached me regarding a major event he was a part of last year, and consistently was a help with all the curiosities I had in the scene. Once again, great job by these two guys and if you do have some time to give some feedback, make sure to visit AutoCon's homepage and e-mail them. I'm sure they're expecting something from those who participated, so it would be great to give them more ideas about the event or just your overall experience.

Now, to talk about my experience at AutoCon this year, let's just say I have to place AutoCon in my Top 3 Car Shows of 2011. This event was more than a typical car show. It was not all about bringing your modified car, park, show it, and get an award if you won. Nor was it a time to only walk around and take photos of cars and models and leave like every other event, complaining about the parking and entrance fees, and the ridiculous food prices. The meaning of "AutoCon" pretty much explains everything; Automotive Connection. Actually, I have to say it was both an Automotive and Lifestyle event. AutoCon was created to bring the whole automotive community together at one place and enjoy what we all truly loved. It was about talking with your friends and family or even better, making new friends through cars. You also can't forget about the collaboration with Toys for Tots and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to help those who are in need. While covering the event and looking around like I always do at events, the vibe I felt at AutoCon was different and rather pleasing. I knew the whole purpose of AutoCon and I have to say that purpose was met. I usually see the same cars at every car show or the ones that were built to only show at major ones, but AutoCon brought out almost everything. Although there were ones that I've seen numerous times, some new ones and fully built cars such as the ones from Auto Concept Elite, Heavy Hitters, etc. came out to support this event. The photos I'm about to share with you guys will lead to a better a storyline than my words. Do know that this coverage will be separated in parts, so make sure to come back later on or read the updates I make through my fanpage.

Event Coverage | HIN 2011 (Pt. II)

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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Welcome back to Night Import! Hope you guys are visiting the blog often to catch up with my articles, because things are about to get serious! Just playing~ As long as I can entertain you guys while at work, home, in the bathroom, with your girlfriend, ... you get the point v(^-^)v
My last partly coverage on Hot Import Nights will be a good one because the photos I'm about to share with you guys came out pretty decent considering the short amount of time I had to cover the whole area when the lights were on during the award ceremony. By the way, congratulations to all the winners! It's always unpredictable to know who will win which category because judges aren't the same for every car show event. Each judge has a different perspective when it comes to certain makes & models, so hope no one was frustrated with the judging and stuff. It's all about having fun and enjoying the time spent with friends and family right? Let's get on with the cars and see what was up at different areas of the huge ass showcase lot. The cover photo for Part 2 is the well-known VIP team in SoCal, BP VIP. It's been a while since I got to know a few members in this team, and I was surprised to see some of their rides with a new look! Click on "Read More" at the bottom right to see their rides.

Random Nightlight | 3T Motorsports

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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Charles from 1UP informed all the 1UP members to show up at JDM Sport's HQ for a photoshoot today at 6pm. I'm not a member of 1UP, but always like to support their team and because these guys are like a family to me, I took some time to drop by and see what was going on.
Upon arrival, I spotted the guys from 3T Motorsports! If you never heard about this company, they specialize in selling high-end parts for European cars.
It was pretty awesome to find out 3T Motorsports is an official distributor for Auto Couture and Aimgain, both well-known aftermarket companies in Japan. I talked with the staffs about random stuff and had some kick-back time with my friends as well.

Event Coverage | Sideway Sundays (Oct. 23)

Night-Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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I'm having that feeling again while writing this coverage...dammit...and I say to myself, "Already a year?" I remember the days talking with the staffs of Sideway Sundays before the event was officially launched. There were a lot of things to discuss and few misunderstandings, but overall, I was satisfied and I'm sure it was the same for every company out there that contributed to this monthly event. To be honest with you guys, I was very disappointed with how this event started. Only those who knew about this event during early 2011 know what I'm talking about. The first Sideway Sundays was planned to be free for everyone except drifting participants, but what really screwed things up was the unpredictable weather. What should have been 'Rain or Shine' was cancelled because of a predicted rain weather forecast and everyone who planned to attend were either pissed or disappointed because on the day of the event, it was sunny! From then on, things went downhill. The actual first event was greeted by a thunderstorm, next event was way too hot, and it's been continuing on like that till yesterday. I'm not saying it’s someone’s fault and because a few staffs of my blog and I were a part of this event, there is really no one to blame. I'm just not satisfied with the overall turnout since the first event and hoped it was going to get better, but my expectations were not fulfilled. I tried my best and so did the others, so I guess this is how we conclude Sideway Sundays for this year. Don't worry if you didn't attend any of the events because it will continue on next year.
Anyways, let's get to the coverage on yesterday's final Sideway Sundays of 2011.

Event Coverage | SoCal Summer Daze Car Show

Night-Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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This event hosted by Elite-AutoSports with the help from AJP Distributors and JDM Sport was one that I was excited to attend. All the staffs from the three companies are a very good friend of mine, and knowing these guys put so much effort into promoting an event, I knew this was going to be one of the biggest events for this year. What made me even more stoked was my family, Low N Slow, finally going out to an event as a team! I'll talk more about the cruise and meet-up later on, but back on subject, I want to take some time to talk about the three companies.

Elite-AutoSports is well known for hosting their monthly meets at Krispy Kreme in Burbank, CA. Out of all the meets here in SoCal, the one hosted by Elite is and was the biggest one. Few years ago, the Burbank meet was legendary because of thousands of cars attending and filling the whole plaza. After some incidents of immature drivers ruining the meet, it was closed down by cops and was thought to never happen again. However, Elite was patient and was waiting for the right time to host it once again. Last week was its final meet of the year and from what I've heard, it was massive! Once again, big ups to Elite-AutoSports for bringing the automotive community together.

JDM Sport and AJP Distributors are companies I've mentioned to you guys a few times throughout this year because of their activeness in the scene. I've never seen such a company participating at so many meets and events. I don't really remember how I met JDM Sport, but I do know head staff, Lee Ho, was an awesome guy to talk to from the beginning. He is a major supporter for my blog and always tries to bring up his supporters. Thumbs up!

Event Coverage | Sideway Sundays #5

Night-Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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I can't believe it's already been almost a year now since the launch of Sideway Sundays. There were ups and downs, but I have to say out of all the events here in SoCal, no event can beat the venue of this event. The reason being is because unlike other events, Sideway Sundays happens at the track were Formula Drift has its championship rounds; Irwindale Speedway. Taking this into consideration, it's a great opportunity for many drifters to try out the track for only $80 and for the Car Show participants, getting a feel of what it's like to display their rides on the track were famous drifters like JTP, Mike Essa, etc. drift on for only $10.
To be honest, I've been always disappointed with the turnout for the Car Show section because the event has so much potential. I dislike comparing events, but when I look at coverage contents on Import Alliance from Canibeat, Ivy League East, StanceWorks, etc., I'm amazed on how so many car owners take the advantage of showing their rides at a track area for a cheap price. I'm talking about more than 1000+ cars with tons of spectators.
It might sound as if I'm talking about money issues here, but it really isn't because I know most of you Car Show guys complain about registration prices and I'm trying to point out how cheap it is to show your car at an event with trophies. You can't also ignore the fact that the event is at Irwindale Speedway as well.
Now for the Drifting event, I have no clue on how things are organized, but do know compared to other drifting events, the price is a bit steep but worth it because of..once again..it's at Irwindale Speedway. I'll talk more about my random thoughts throughout this coverage so let's get to the photos and captions.

Special Coverage | In Loving Memory - Benefit Car Meet (Pt. II)

Night-Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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Continuing on with this special coverage, I want to give a shout out to our supporters JDM Sport for making this meet happen at their facility. It's more about people than the cars this company cares about, which is why they have a positive reputation in this community today. Once again, 'thank you' and make sure to check out their fanpage.

I left off by introducing Wright Wheels and a few show cars, so let's get back on track.

Special Coverage | In Loving Memory - Benefit Car Meet (Pt. I)

Night-Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

Being in the automotive scene for a year now, I've been through situations that were positive and negative. From seeing people acting immaturely to witnessing fist fights at meets and events every moment became memorable. One of the most depressing news though is to hear a close friend or someone you don't really know of too well but seen a few times at local meets, passing away from an incident.
A close friend of Tracy's from team Low N Slow, Aleron Castro rested in peace about a month ago because of a medical problem that wasn't announced. I've personally met Aleron a week or so before this happened and couldn't believe the news. He was an automotive enthusiast and had the passion for cars like all of us.

What's really appreciative about this scene is to see people collaborating to help out a cause and that's what happened last week for the meet put together by Tracy and his teammates Low N Slow for Aleron and his family.

Special Coverage | SILK Road Auto Show (Keskin Tuning Grand Opening)

Night-Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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A few meets/events were going on today and I was able to make it to two, one being Keskin Tuning's Grand Opening in Anaheim, CA. Keskin is a company pretty famous in the Euro scene with their line of wheels and has been in the automotive scene for quite a long time, originating from Europe and now branching out to the United States.

Special Coverage | Infestforum 'The Commencement'

Night-Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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I'm still sore from all the walking and squatting last Saturday at Hellaflush VIII and It's JDM yO!'s 1 yr. Anniversary meet, but still, nothing stopped me from doing coverage for other meets and events. I always schedule out which ones to go to before a week or so, and the priority goes to the ones that support us online or offline. Last Sunday, our supporters Infest had their first meet for Infiniti and Nissans, but opened to other makes and models as well.

Special Coverage: So-Cal Import Nights @ JDM Sport

Night-Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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It's been a pretty busy week for me going to meets and doing interviews with a few companies here in Southern California. Surprisingly, no meets/events happened on Saturday that were close by, so it was a day to rest and edit some photos from previous coverages. At the same time, I was excited about JDM Sport's first meet and greet at AJP Distributor's HQ, the West Coast HQ/Distributors for JDM Sport, that happened yesterday. As most of you guys know by now, I go to meets almost every weekend or even 3 times a week depending on what goes on, and every time when I walk around doing my thing, I bump into Lee Ho, marketing/PR director of JDM Sport. This guy has been active than any other friend/company staff I've known since he officially announced the opening of JDM Sport. Knowing his activeness and relationships with other people in the automotive industry, I knew this meet was going to have a huge turnout and as expected, more than 200 cars showed up!
Claim Ho from Firm400 brought out the entertainers and Johnny Ho called up the famous food trucks, Dos Chinos and DogZilla, to participate to sell their insanely good food.

Exclusive Interview: Professional Drifter, Aurimas Odi Bakchis

Night-Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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Drifting is one of the biggest automotive sports and still growing amongst many automotive enthusiasts. A once unknown and unpopular sport is now becoming generalized to the public and seeing the stands of a track filled with audiences is not an uncommon scene anymore.

Going to many drifting events and keeping up-to-date with videos and stories, I've noticed the constant massive attention to already well known drifters. There's nothing wrong with it, but I realized one crucial component that was lacking the most in the sport of Drifting; Recognition. There are tons of grassroots trying to achieve the status of current professional drifters and even when placing on the podium, it's that one moment that becomes a spotlight to the driver and no attention is placed after.
Today, I want to share a story of a professional drifter, a talent of speed that was passed down through generations and with that talent, became a professional drifter in a matter of time. Let me introduce you to Aurimas Odi Bakchis.

Event Coverage: Sideway Sundays (Pt. II)

Night-Import: Photography by William Lee & Andy Nguyen

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We are back with our coverage on Sideway Sundays and it's none other than our drifting photographer Andy Nguyen who took over the drifting area.
Andy came down from NorCal (again!) to support Night-Import and to practice/attempt drifting shots in the rain. The weather was freezing, raining, and windy but we all managed to make it through the whole event.
Despite the horrible weather condition for the photographers, car show participants, and spectators, it was actually a good sign for drifters because they didn't have to worry about tire wear; however, many of the participants were oversteering because of the slippery track, but I'm pretty sure the 1 1/2 hours was worth their time.
($80 = 3 sessions, each session is 1 1/2 hours).

Event Coverage: Sideway Sundays (Pt. I)

Night-Import: Photography by William Lee & Andy Nguyen

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One of the events many enthusiasts were looking forward to was Sideway Sundays @ Irwindale Speedway, which Night-Import were the first ones to announce on major forums & facebook. We were definitely stoked about this event and so were many others, but unfortunately, the first event that was supposed to be held on February 27th got postponed because of the 'expected' rainy weather condition. It actually didn't rain on that day and as many of those that were disappointed about the decision, we were feeling the same as well.
The organization decided to move the event on March 20th, 2011, which was yesterday, and when we were all thinking the weather was going to be sunny, it was the opposite.
There were many questions being asked on forums and through messages on facebook, so let me clarify a few points:

1. We are updating nearly 40+ forums with this event. Most of the updated infos will be 'replied' or updated on the original post, so even though you guys hate reading, please understand that we have to go through tons of forums and let's make it easier for both of us by reading the 'entire' information posted.
2. The reason why our logo is not on the flyer is because of the technical difficulties the organization had in the past. We are 100% supporting and promoting this event.
3. Night-Import is the head of the Media. If you have the proper credentials to register for media, please contact us. Also, we are now limiting 4 people from each site for media. You CANNOT ask if a friend can come along just because media registrants get a free pass and you personally know any of Night-Import staffs.

I hope this clarified most of your questions. Questions regarding the event can be asked on our Sideway Sundays event page on facebook or your forum (if the event is not on your forum, please contact us).
Now let's start the coverage on the first Sideway Sundays!