First of all, I would like to apologize for the time it took for me to edit these photos. I had to meet a stringent application deadline. The write up to such an event would be much better if I wrote it immediately after it had happened. Nonetheless, it was an awesome experience! I’ve never been that close up to the action! Although some details are hazy, the sound of tire-squeal, the screaming crowd, the smell of the tire-smoke, and the debris hitting my face remains vivid in my memory. Northwest Nissans really know how to throw events! A free-admission drifting showcase is unheard of but these guys pulled it off!
It was my first time being so close to the action and I didn’t know exactly what I was supposed to photograph. Tried many techniques but it was all pretty panicky at the time. As the day progressed, I managed to calm down and be more selective of my shots. Thanks to Gaelen Norman for giving us the media passes! Here are the results of the day:
After we checked out some of the cars at the car show, we proceeded to the media meeting at the Northwest Nissans booth. Now originally it was only me that applied for media pass online for Richard and I. We found out later that we were supposed to apply for a media pass seperately. The media pass gives us access to the track for photos as well as a pit pass. So after I grabbed my pass, Richard stood nervously on the side to see if there were any extra to be given out. Luckily Gaelen from Big Boy Media had extras. So with a sigh or relief we headed to the track with our friends from Dodologic. I would personally thank Gaelen for the media passes and giving us access to photograph a great event.
We walked out to the sidelines of the track and found out from track workers that we were allowed to shoot from the two center columns in the middle of the track. Of course when we heard this there was a mad dash from us and other photographers to camp out our spots. Richard and I have been to Evergreen Speedway last year for Formula D but we shot from the stands (click here to see the coverage from Formula D). This event however would be the first one where we’ve been on the track and the experience was great! No fence to get in the way and having a car slide across in front of you made for some great photo opportunities. Something that we should of taken advantage more was we should of moved around the track more to get more point of views around the track. The sound of the screeching tires and powerful engines was deafening, the smell of burnt rubber was poisoning, and the dust in our eyes were blinding. That didn’t matter, cause Richard and I would do it again in a heartbeeat. Thanks again to Northwest Nissans for putting on a great event! Be sure to check out Part One here!
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I’ve always loved having access to the pit area, you get a closer look at the cars. This gives you access to the cars without the fear of them crashing into you :). Like being on the track, it gives you a different perspective of the event than you would get from the grandstands.
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The drift cars seemed so docile when they were parked. Until the driver starts up the engine, then the beast under the hood roars to life. I thought it was interesting that while some of these cars were stripped out, there were a few where the interior wasn’t completely torn apart. Some even still had stereos still intact!
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We headed out of Vancouver at 7am to Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, WA to cover Nissan Fest. We flew by our friends in the border lineup and took the 2 hour drive down south. We arrived just after 9am and after getting our pit passes, we checked out the car show before heading to the media meeting. What surprised me was that the car show weren’t all just Nissans, not that I’m complaining. I’m open and eager to anything. Here are my shots from the show.
Stay tuned for Richard’s show photos soon! Also the drift photos will be coming this week!
Here’s some more video footage of the Revscene 2012 Spring Meet from our friend Mike Szmigielski. We start off with his original video:
This video captures the mood of the meet. Chilling out and hanging with good friends and checking out sweet cars. The way a meet should be. Meeting new friends and hanging with old ones over a mutual love of cars. I’ve saved my favorite video for last. Thanks Mike for these videos.
For our readers that aren’t from the Greater Vancouver area. First, you might be asking yourself, what is Revscene? Revscene is the biggest car and lifestyle forum in the Pacific Northwest with over 60,000 members. They annually hold a Spring and Summer meet that brings out some of the best cars the lower mainland has to offer.
Today we went to the 2012 Revscene Spring Meet at the location that started it all, Spanish Banks. One day a year at the start of spring, the parking lots by the beach are taken over by car enthusiasts across the lower mainland and beyond. I don’t have a final count of the amount of cars at this years meet..but using my natural Asian math skills…I’ll guestimate…eleventy billion cars showed up. Give or take a few billion. Nonetheless the Revscene Spring meet is the push we need to wash our cars, swap the summer wheels back on, insure the cars, and get ourselves ready for better weather and more car meets to lie ahead.
The morning started at 10am for Artofstance when we met up with “cool cats” where we rolled in together as a group. As with every year, the Spring meet brings some of the best cars out from the Greater Vancouver area and this year was no exception. We got to meet up with some old friends and check out some sweet new cars. The weather held up pretty good in the morning and early afternoon, overcast with a light sprinkle of rain.
Unfortunately with these types of meets, there’s always a few bad apples that feel the need to ruin a good time for others. The car community is always fighting the Fast and Furious stereotype of car enthusiasts. Revscene has always promoted respectful behaviour at the official AND unofficial Revscene meets. I also agree with this because its in our favor as car enthusiasts that public opinion doesn’t look at us like a bunch of street racing kids. When you’re doing burnouts, revving your engine loudly, speeding down the road where there are the families with children, you’re not impressing anyone. You’re just reinforcing the stereotype that car enthusiasts are just a bunch of immature, disrespectful a-holes. So if you’re at a car meet (not just in Vancouver, anywhere!), please be respectful of the public and obey your driving laws. Thankfully most car enthusiasts from the lower mainland frown on this type of behaviour.
Well enough about that, lets see some photos from the Spring Meet already!
Yesterday, we drove down to check out the NW-Built and Stancewars Golden Gardens meet in Seattle Washington. Here are some of the photos I took at the event. It reminded me of the Revscene Spring meet but a lot smaller.
Waterwerks NW hosted a TSD Rally where 18 teams took part in Washington State. Our starting point was at 425 Motorsports in Bellevue and our destination was The Old Spaghetti Factory in Tukwila. If you’re not familiar with what a Time, Speed, Distance (TSD) rally is, here’s a brief explanation from Wikipedia.
“The object of these rallies is to maintain precise times and precise average speeds on various segments of a predefined route. Each team usually consists of an amateur driver and navigator. Teams usually start a regularity rally at fixed intervals creating a field that is spread along the route.”
We participated in the rally ourselves driving a Mazda 3 and our friends helped represent the 604 in their Integra GSR.
Teams were given instructions one minute prior to starting and started their runs at one minute intervals after each other. Our rally would take us over two hours to complete and would cover 83 miles in a state that was unfamiliar to us Canucks. The team cars were varied, from widebody Audi RS4 to a BMW E39 M5 to a VW truck. There was some really slick rides!
The rally took us on some nice windy roads as well as the freeway. This rally wasn’t about which team could get to the destination the fastest, but which team could come closest to the time that the boys at Waterwerks NW had set. The following trophies were given out during our dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory:
Stage Green Road Rally winners:
Team Clueless with a time difference of 51 secs off the target time. Great job guys!
Best Rally Team Name: Team Milf & Cookies
Best Rally Team Costumes: Team German Hearted
Our team placed fifth overall with a time of 6:48 off the target time. Not too bad considering it was our first road rally in another country! We like to give a shout out to Waterwerks NW for putting on a great event and all the other teams that participated in the fun! We’ll definately be back next year in full force!
From our guest photographer and writer, Lawrence Liang: Every year the UBC Sports Car Club caps off their summer event series with their Team Enduro autocross. Taking place on the skidpad at the BC Driving Centre, the Team Enduro has drivers making their usual runs in the morning followed by the team event in the afternoon when each team member gets a shot at an extended lap of the autocross course, hence “Enduro”. Each team consists of 4 drivers and, at the end of the day, the team with the lowest combined time is crowned the UBCSCC Team Enduro champions.
It was the annual Revscene summer meet on August 21st, 2011 at Adesa Auto Auction in Richmond. The Speed Syndicate, Blackmarkers, Rise Auto Salon, Open Road Scion, BJ Autohaus, Autowest BMW…Art of Stance were just some of the supporters of the local car scene that were at the show. This is one of the biggest events the Westcoast has to offer. Hosted by Revscene.net, the largest car and lifestyle forum in the Pacific Northwest. With over 400 cars in attendance, the show spilt out onto the streeet as the lot quickly filled up. All this…for free. With the help of hardworking volunteers, Revscene manages to pull off a large organized meet every summer year after year. The summer meet gatherings give car enthusiasts a chance to get together all in one place and while spending the afternoon with old buddies, meeting new friends, and checking out hot cars. It shows the Vancouver car scene is big and very much alive. Grab a drink, your favorite snackies and enjoy the photos.
This weekend we made the trip down to Tacoma to check out two events that were happening at Cheney Stadium. Tailored Seattle was a showcase of stanced rides from the Pacific Northwest. Many friends from BC made it down to the event to show off their cars and it was great to see BC well represented.
Waterwerks 2011 was also this weekend at the same venue bringing VW and Audi enthusiasts together. Here’s a taste of what both events involved.
