After two days of road raging travel, the Tour ended at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, which is not only home to some of the country's biggest racing competitions but also the epicenter of the largest car show in North America, the NOPI Nationals. Even before the festivities began, those who came along with us for the ride got a few victory laps around the track, which allowed you to emulate your favorite NASCAR driver, an almost certain longtime dream of yours next to sleeping with any of the Super Street editors. But for one weekend, trapped amidst a collection of the worst Philly cheese steak and turkey leg vendors is a gathering of two- and four-wheeled money pits. Some hop and look ridiculous while doing so, others sit and look pretty, and then there are those we wonder why were even allowed to be displayed in public. If you live somewhere on the East Coast and modify your car to any extent, this is essentially the one place you have to be, especially if you want to win a trophy or get a sunburn.
Though there were noticeably less competitors and parts vendors this year, the crowds still came in droves. NOPI does a great job of making sure you're entertained, as there was a low rider hopping contest, a ladies Jell-O wrestling fight, and the always third-leg-raising bikini contest. If that wasn't enough, there were at least a few thousand cars scattered throughout the Speedway that could've easily taken you 2 days to look at. If you wanted a deal on parts, the vendor area was stocked with companies ready at decent prices. Naturally, we also had our Tour Zone set up within the vendor arena, which was a prime location to follow the sound of an annoying voice in the hopes that you'd pick up a free Tour goodie bag with the purchase of a Tour T-shirt.
Along the outer perimeter of the Speedway in the main parking lot, BFGoodrich had its Take Control ride-and-drive promotion, where you could test out a variety of tires on a number of popular tuner vehicles by thrashing on a makeshift road course. Signal Auto also performed drift exhibitions with the twin Sil-15 and Fairlady Z drift cars, driven by Kazuya "Chunky" Bai and Signal's newest driver, Tsukasa Kamiya, who is also the president of Show Up Area from Tokyo, Japan. Along with Chunky, Tsukasa will be entering future drift competitions in the States.
On Saturday night, we threw our final party, sponsored by XMODS. We're sure you know those toys, not only because we've been working with them on getting the name out there, but also because of the buildup of a real NSX that was featured in recent issues of Super Street and was then given away at the NOPI Nationals (see sidebar). Here, we got down like it was nobody's business. Jonny Wong threw down a quick DJ set in between giveaways and raffles, while a pair of local hip hop DJs spun most of the music for the evening. Though it sounded like the same song for a grand total of 30 minutes, we salute JDM Dong for getting up there and working those CDJs. But things seemed to go downhill from that point on. As the night came to an end, everyone began to lose their minds (and for Jonny, his shirt), battling on the dance floor and performing impromptu rap sessions on stage. It was definitely one of those had-to-be-there-to-see-it moments, as it was a chance to see us in our most embarrassing moments. Even Signal Auto came up at one point to show us just how bad Japanese drifters dance, as exhibited by Chunky Bai and Mad K. Celebrity sightings included pro drag racers Ara Arslanian and Marty Ladwig, both of whom we appreciate for keeping their clothes on.
It's safe to say that this year's Tour, NOPI Nationals, and our final party were a blast. If you missed out, get ready for the next one-and make your travel plans now!