There is a good reason why the NOPI Nationals Motorsports Supershow is the final destination of The Tour. Like so many others, we are drawn to this spectacle like moths to a flame, as this show is enticing, intoxicating, and highly addictive.
But is NOPI the best show out there? That depends on your point of view as the influx of mini trucks and mildly modified cars are anathema to our school of thought. More than a few cars on display featured little more than "Powered by..." graphics and lowering springs, although in an overcrowded field of car shows, the NOPI Nationals is still the boldest and the brightest. It struts around with absolutely no pretense or false promise. In short, the NOPI Nationals is the most delicious of guilty pleasures. It is that special magazine you keep under your mattress, that gallon of Ben & Jerry's after dinner, that stoplight drag race with the suit in the SUV on your drive home, and that Shakira dance you do while watching MTV alone at home in your underwear.
Amidst all of the madness stand Mark and Michael Meyers, the two brothers responsible for all of this. The Meyers boys are part P.T. Barnum and part Vince McMahon as they hold court over the show with something for everyone. Name your poison-the car show featured seven divisions with more than 300 classes; for those who wanted to sound off, rev up, burnout, or jump around, NOPI also featured the dB drags, dyno and burnout contests, and hydraulic jump-off; for the gamers, the Xbox Odyssey was in the house with more than 50 game stations; Planet NOPI contained a vendor pavilion which showcased the hottest products; and for the admirers of the female form, there was the highly-anticipated finals of the NOPI Swimsuit Nationals.
A Quarter-Mile At A TimeThere were enough pro racers at the NOPI show to stage an NDRA event. Some of the big names included: Stephan Papadakis and his AEM Drag Civic; Jojo Callos and the Castrol Syntec Integra; Christian Rado's DriverFX/World Racing Celica; Lance Ho Lung's HP Racing Civic; the rear-wheel-drive Focus racers from Nelson Hoyos Racing and APC/AEBS; Mike Crawford's Dodge Neon; Gary Gardella's Ecko Unlimited/DC Sports Civic; Angela Proudfoot and her Civic Coupe; and two new Civic racers-one from John Brown Racing and the other wearing Arospeed colors.
The Best Of The RestIn addition to the racers, the NOPI Show also flossed some very serious street cars. At the top of our list was this month's cover car-the record-breaking HKS Lancer Evo VII track-attack car. Signal's ber Silvia S15 was spotted in the Volk Racing booth. Nitrous Express also debuted a fierce looking S15. There were even two of the upcoming Scion bbX cars at NOPI. The original gun-metal gray show car was in the Toyo area while Pioneer displayed a black right-hand-drive version. Another RHD in the Pioneer booth was the RO_JA R33 Skyline. A'PEXi went one step further with its tuned R34 GT-R. Other notables included Wings West's supercharged widebody MP3 and Next Level's squeezed and turbo'd S2000. Kaminari's silver WRX was just one of the industry stars on the West Leg of our Tour. The luxury sedan segment was also represented with two radically-built GS300s from Chuck Puttman and Ali Farzad. People who visited the BFGoodrich booth had the opportunity to register to win our VeilSide widebody MR2 Spyder as the grand prize in the Heat the Streets sweepstakes.