Most of the photos that I captured at The 25 Hours of Thunderhill were done before the event even happened. It was important to document everything that led up to the race itself. The actual ’25 hours’ would be spent just watching the car go around and around, and around, the track. There wasn’t much I could capture. Of course there would be the occasional pit-in but those shots are going to look the same after the first few. We weren’t allowed to go into the pit lane area either since the rules of engagement were pretty strict, so I spent most of my time just filming when I couldn’t get photos. I actually loved the way the Vlog episodes came out, though the view counts are down because it isn’t something my audience typically gravitates towards, but it was expected. I have more fun putting the videos together than I do uploading them. It’s always been that way, lol. I could really care less about views or the monetary compensation that comes from an extra revenue stream like YouTube. It’s all about the content creation for me and an event as unique as this is one that I made sure to give 1000% to. The return on investment is the experience itself. I had an amazing time…

The most common question I got after I came back home was whether or not I’d do The 25 Hours of Thunderhill again if I was offered. I don’t even have to think about it… I definitely would not, lol. It’s just such a grueling event and requires so much energy just to stay up. It’s fucking cold and honestly, unless you’re driving or a part of the pit crew, there isn’t much for you to do. I loved documenting this event because of the circumstances that surrounded it. First of all, it was a Spoon Sports-invite, I’ll never say no to that. And secondly, it was a special one because it was essentially a Tatsuru Ichishima retirement party. It’s never going to happen again with these same circumstances so it just wouldn’t be the same the next time around. This one is an incredibly meaningful and memorable one because it’s once-in-a-lifetime. I loved being there but it is one and done for me. I’ll gladly say “never again” and move along, haha. Enjoy the content and make sure you check-out Part 1 if you haven’t already!…

The crew worked late into the night getting final preparations done for the 25-hour competition. Thankfully there were no major issues leading up to the race itself and the car had been running perfectly. Early on the team ran into an issue with one of the engine mounts but it wasn’t something that would affect the performance of the car through the multiple hours of competition…

Paragon 2-piece brake rotors and the OEM Brembo CTR brakes before they were swapped over to a new set…

Fresh set of Spoon SW388 and Yokohama Advan A052 for the morning…

The following morning, we got a taste of just how cold it was overnight with some frost over the rear glass of the Spoon FK8…

Yogi was brought on to shoot the action stuff on the track, Der was there to shoot some film, Dan drove across country to get his car signed, and Areen was there just to help facilitate things throughout the weekend…

One of the best things about this adventure was that we all got these one-off Spoon Sports jackets to keep us warm…

The car was all cleaned-up and ready to endure the next 25+ hours…

Final check to make sure the car ran smoothly without issue…

The only problem that persisted into the morning was when the crew came to realize that there was a communication issue with the MoTec display and the fuel sending unit. Fuel just wasn’t being displayed correctly and since fuel level was such an important factor in an endurance race, they only solution was to go to a local auto parts store to try to acquire an analog fuel gauge…

Luckily, a retailer nearby did in fact have a fuel gauge in stock so it was purchased and mounted next to the MoTec C127 display…

Everyone’s favorite Spoon-fanatic, Dan Gonzalez, all smiles and ready to see what they day would bring with the Spoon Sports team…

Lerry from Yokohama got up bright and early to apply fresh tire decals on the A052 rubber…

As it got closer to the start of the race, everyone began to gather around the starting grid for photos and introductions. The crew got the FK8 and began to push it to the grid…

The Spoon Sports Civic Type R looked particularly peaceful next to the real life Windows XP backdrop…

Daisuke Jomoto and the crew from Spoon Sports Type One gather for a photo before introductions…

The enduring seven who would be tasked with piloting the Civic for the next 25+ hours; (From left to right) Taketoshi Matsui, Yasunori Nakajima, Tatsuru Ichishima, Eiji “Tarzan” Yamada, Aaron Wang, Cameron Parsons, and Daijiro Yoshihara…

I’m convinced that Tarzan Yamada can never take a bad photo. He wasn’t even paying attention nor tried to pose for this shot. Yamada is just always ready for the moment and exudes a different level of ‘cool’…

One of the lead engineers and all around good guy, Chris Eimer took the opportunity to get a photo with Tarzan…

Tarzan Yamada jumped behind the wheel to take on the first few hours of the race while others like Dai Yoshihara sat back and waited for their turn…

Meanwhile, over at craft services, Spam was being heated-up on a pan to make sliders with scrambled eggs for the team…

The Spam sliders with scrambled eggs were one of many delicious meals we had throughout the weekend…

The Japanese going the traditional route and logging everything down on pen and paper…

A few hours later, the first driver-change and refuel commenced…

Again, Yogi Kruthanooch was the one tasked to shoot everything in motion on the track so I stuck around and continued to shoot all the behind-the-scenes happenings in the pit and paddock area. But occasionally I’d try to get some shots of the FK8 on the track from afar…

Hikaru from Spoon Type One taking on the duties of refueling the Type R for the race. This became an incredibly important, careful, process because any dropped fuel on the pavement required in a time penalty…

Yasunori Nakajima behind-the-wheel of the Spoon Sports Civic…

At times, Tatsuru Ichishima came out of the trailer to see how things were going as well as capturing some scenery on his iPhone…

I’m pretty sure I spoke this into existence but in the day leading up to the competition, I had been running around telling everyone that I hoped there would be a weather delay sometime during the middle part of the race. The reason for this was because I wanted to make sure we had night time in-car footage of the race but there was no way I’d be able to keep the GoPros going for more than a few hours. Pitting, refueling, and driver changes are very strict for this race so there was so way I could just swap GoPros. So, I had hoped that there would be a weather delay since the race had been known to come to a pause for fog. In this part of California, especially during the winter, fog can get pretty heavy there and the night before the race, we got to see just how foggy it got. About six hours into the race, it suddenly became very foggy and sure enough, the race was halted…

Now, I say I wanted the race to pause just so I could have time to put new batteries in the cameras. What ended up happening was a delay so long that everyone later just went to sleep for hours. The race didn’t even start up again until the morning, and it was even still foggy then!…

When the race came to a halt for a weather delay, you weren’t allowed to work on the car at all, per rules of the 25 Hours of Thunderhill. All you could do was cover the car and look over it real quick. The cars were even placed back near the starting grid so the race could resume immediately if needed…

A look at the Spoon Sports pit area right after the race came to a stop…

Since there was little we could do while the fog filled the air, we gathered around the RVs to eat some smoked ribs…

While everyone was eating, I spent some time watching a live UFC event that was going on inside one of the RVs. We didn’t have hotel rooms that night, since we hadn’t expected to sleep much, so these RVs came in clutch for us…

Yogi and Der watching some shenanigans that was happening outside…

Eventually we realized that the race was going to resume any time soon so Der and I drove around the track to find some good photo locations…

I noticed the night before that the gas station at the track was well-lit and would look perfect with some fog. It looked kinda eerie so I made sure to shoot a couple photos of it while it was empty since everyone was sleeping…

Around 5 AM, the alarm at the track went-off, signaling that the race was going to resume. Everyone got-up, got ready and we were back in business…

I’m pretty sure we were delayed a total of about 6 hours and I only got about 35 minutes of sleep that evening. I was tired but excited to see the race resume, especially since I was able to get a new GoPro into the car…

This photo came out kinda shitty but I liked it so much that I decided to use it anyway…

The passenger-side front right tire was ultimately the tire that needed to be changed the most and here is an example of what one of the wheels looked like after it was swapped-out…

With the car running great and up a few laps against its competition, everyone was in seemingly good spirits…

The only time the Civic had to come in to the paddock area for a full tire change all the way around. We got to get a glimpse at how the air jacks and how quick the tire change, refuel, driver changed happened simultaneously…

Nearing the final hours, the Spoon Sports team was up enough laps where, barring catastrophic failure, a win was almost certain…

I liked how they made apparel specifically for this event and turned the significant “95” that had long-been attached to Spoon Sports into a meaningful message attached to Ichishima’s retirement as President…

At last, in the final hour of the competition, it was time to get Tatsuru Ichishima into the Spoon Sports Civic to bring home the victory…

Tarzan filmed with his own camera and got to interview his fellow drivers to see if they had any words to pass along to his audience…

Dai Yoshihara watched-on as Ichishima made their final laps around Thunderhill Raceway…

Aaron grabbed the custom Spoon Sports pit sign to signal Ichishima into the pit area…

…and at last, after 25+ hours, we witnessed victory and Ichishima’s final journey as the President of Spoon Sports…

Driver and crew photos post-race to document the win…

The competitors who flew over to the U.S. just to drive alongside Ichishima…

The real MVP of the 25 Hours of Thunderhill was the FK8 itself, which ran flawlessly throughout. From what we were hearing from the driver’s, the car drove and felt the same from start to finish. The brakes never even had to be changed though multiple sets were brought on and there were absolutely zero mechanical issues…

When all was said and done, there was only some slight wear on the front-end of the car which was mostly just rubber scuffing…

I don’t think there was any point when the team was even remotely stressed-out. Everything went smoothly with the exception of the weather-delay…

So cool to be able to be around a legendary driver and personality like Tarzan Yamada for this event…

Dan was so proud to have let the Spoon Sports team borrow one of his wheel chocks that he even asked each member of the Type One team to sign it…

The awards ceremony was quick and easy. I think anything after enduring 25 hours would seem quick though…

Congratulations to Tatsuru Ichishima for not only a great race but also an incredible career as the man behind Spoon Sports…

He made sure that the crew also got to embrace their moment of victory…

After the race, Der and I made the 8-hour drive back home to Southern California. I don’t remember much after that since I spent most of it recovering from lack of sleep. But a few weeks later, I was presented with this great gift from Spoon Sports…

I’m so glad that Aaron invited me to be a part of this momentous occasion. It’s something I won’t soon forget and likely one of the most unique events I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing. That’s a wrap on this one. Huge thank you to Spoon Sports, Spoon Sports USA, and all involved that weekend. What a trip it was. If you guys missed it, please watch the vlog episodes dedicated to this event. It provides great insight into everything we experienced. Thank you for looking!…

Part 1 of the Vlog…

Part 2 here…