It’s that time of year again out in Oregon. The Deuces Wild Poker and Show N’ Shine has been going on for the past few years now. I personally, have never had the chance to make it out (it’s on the list) to one of their events due to my schedule; however, they are typically very well attended (currently 60 confirmed on their event listing). You can expect to see some highly modified cars if you plan to head out to Cobb Surgeline Tuning in Tigard, Oregon this Sunday August 14th. You can find a Facebook Event listing here with the full details of where to go and when. The great thing about this event is that all the proceeds go to the American Cancer Society.

My day began at 3 a.m. as my alarm went off, ringing, making those wonderful annoying noises that wake us up mid-sleep. I began to gather myself. As I woke, wondering why I set my alarm for 3 a.m., it then hit me; Formula Drift was today! I scrambled to get all of my necessary gear together; cameras, memory cards, lenses, speed-lights, reflectors, tripod and batteries. As I walked outside to put it in my car it was a crisp summer morning, probably 40 degrees, and yes in July.

The journey began as I drove from Moscow, Idaho, to Monroe, Washington. It’s roughly a 5 hour drive, and I had a mandatory safety meeting at 11:30 a.m., which hasn’t changed since I have been shooting Formula Drift, I clearly had plenty of time to arrive. If I counted how many times I have done this drive I have to have some sort of world record, but I digress. My mp3 player was loaded with new music as I hit the early morning road which led through vacant towns and silent fields of wheat, it seemed as I was the only one up this early.

Five hours later, and over the Cascade Mountain Range, I hit the gorgeous outskirts of the Emerald City. The sun was gleaming across the city line, Lake Washington was calm, and your typical volume of cars on the road for a Saturday morning. I start my way north through freeways full of construction; hit the glorious Highway 2 east, out toward Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Washington I go.

Arriving at Evergreen Speedway you are presented with the back of the grand stands which can house roughly 15,000 drift fans, not including those that can fit between the fence and grand stands. You could tell Formula Drift had been there with their signs, tents, and banners all over the venue. I had arrived early with about 2 hours to spare before my meeting, which would eventually allow me to shoot on the track. It was easy to recognize and find people I knew that I could catch up with while waiting for my “orange Formula Drift bracelet” that would let me into the car show area, and to the pits. While the 100 plus cars filled the Slammed Society Showcase, we continued to bullshit and talk about the previous day’s events, of which I was not in attendance. Judging by their sun-kissed faces, some UV rays were in store for me and boy did I get burned.

Post-safety meeting I felt energized and full of know-how on proper ways to conduct myself while on the track. If the track is hot, you may not cross to the other designated photo areas. Only cross if the red shirt official with the mic and headset on says that it’s safe to cross. Got it. I had formulated a plan to shoot the car show and get some lifestyle shots of people at the event, but that went to the back burner after a friend from Emotive Image let me borrow some equipment. I was now in the video shooting-mode (Video will follow this post in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.). By this time the sound of engines revving and tires screaming filled the air as practice runs were in session.

The car show was my first stop for video, and a few still shots here and there. This is where I met up with the Eric Gearhart of NWAutoEvents.com. We discussed the hilarity in him being mistaken for my site, NWTuner.com and me getting credit for his work. So, we connected on that level and throughout the day had miscellaneous shenanigans. Below you can see Aaron Kathman, another great automotive photographer, and Eric (Yes, spelled with a “c,” who does that?!) chimping.

You might have attended the event and are wondering, “What do photographers do with all the downtime when the drivers request 5 minutes to inspect their car, and are waiting on runs?” Well, planking was what some of us did. We also discussed the new thing to do in photos, it’s called, “Owling.” Yep, you make yourself look like an owl.

The crowd poured into the venue and it seemed from the track that there wasn’t a seat left empty in the house. The Pacific Northwest continues to show its support for extreme automotive sports, earlier in the year Global Rally Cross was shocked by the hardcore rally community up here when their event was packed. Formula Drift saw a 10% increase in this year’s attendance with a sold out crowd.

We will let the photos speak for themselves. If you missed out this year, be sure to make it next year as it will be Formula Drift’s 10 year anniversary.

The top three winners at Round 5:
1. Yoshihara, Daijiro Falken Tire / Discount Tire Nissan 240SX Winner
2. Forsberg, Chris NOS Energy Drink / Hankook Tire Nissan 370Z Second Place
3. Aasbo, Fredric Need for Speed / Hankook Scion TC Third Place

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NOS Energy Drink’s Fast Five Premiere IMAX showing at Southcenter Mall in Tukwila is on April 29th, 2011 at 6:30 pm. The event will include a car show and meet before the first showing of Fast Five. NOS Energy Drink, NWMotiv.com and NWAutoEvents will be raffling off over 200 FREE tickets!

The winners selected to participate in representing NWTuner.com at the VIP car show are:

Ellen’s black 2001 BMW 330i Sedan that is lightly modded with a slight drop and Drag 45 deep dish gold rims with a polished lip. Craig’s 2006 Subaru WRX STI that is the flagship STI Blue, with mud guards, and Axis racing wheels. Tomas’ 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX SE that is heavily modified and Brad’s clean 2008 Nissan 350Z.

Be sure to check the original post for more details.

For additional information visit NWMotiv.com and be sure to RSVP on Facebook.

That’s right, you could be the lucky winner representing NWTuner.com at NOS Energy Drink’s Fast Five Premiere IMAX showing at Southcenter Mall in Tukwila on April 29th, 2011 at 6:30 pm. The event will include a car show and meet before the first showing of Fast Five. NOS Energy Drink, NWMotiv.com and NWAutoEvents will be raffling off over 200 FREE tickets, so if you don’t win our contest (or know someone who won our contest) you still have a chance at FREE tickets! There will be plenty of FREE NOS Energy Drink beverages throughout the event to keep you pumped.

There are two ways to enter your car for the VIP Parking in the car show and 2 FREE Fast Five tickets either follow us on Twitter and tweet: “Free FAST FIVE @nwtuner @nwmotiv #VIP http://bit.ly/eyEuhh”

or

Fan us on Facebook and post a link to this article (http://www.nwtuner.com/2011/04/fast-five-imax-contest-free-tickets-vip-parking) in your Facebook News Feed.

You will be contacted by NWTuner.com staff and required to submit photos of your car. Please remember, YOU are representing us at this event so being early to the event is crucial. You are welcomed to bring as many of your friends to the event as possible, if you need NWTuner decals hit us up at nwtuner[at]gmail.com and we will ship them to you for FREE!

WINNERS will be announced and notified on April 27th! If you win you will be required to display a vinyl decal on your car, and email us details your details (First Name, Last Name, Car Make, Model). While your in the movie you can rest assured your car will not be tampered with as the event will have 2 Mall Security Guards and 2 Tukwila Police Officers.

For additional information visit NWMotiv.com and be sure to RSVP on Facebook.

Excelerator, one of the best-known and largest import and sports compact car shows in the Northwest, is relocating from Silverwood Theme Park in Idaho to Wild Waves Theme Park in the Puget Sound. The show will be held on Sunday, August 2nd from 10am to 7pm. This will be the eighth year for the show and it is officially sanctioned by F4C a nationally recognized custom car association.

Marble Productions and Wild Waves Theme Park will offer import and sport compact car owners the chance to show off their wheels and other custom parts while enjoying some of the top regional DJ’s, roller coasters and water slides.

Registration for Excelerator is $50 and includes free admission to Wild Waves for the driver and a passenger, which gives them access to 60 rides, slides and attractions.

Once in the park, car owners can compete for all sorts of wild trophies in 32 different categories including: wheels, paint job, engine interior, best wild and mild and best of show.

For more details on this event go to www.exceleratorcarshow.com.