Honestly, this might be one of the biggest posts I’ve ever done. Intentionally of course. In the past, I would normally split up big photo sets into multiple parts but we are now in an era where people are used to being overwhelmed with media. So, allow me to overwhelm you with media. I figured this way would just be easier for everyone to get their fix of content from this year’s Wekfest San Jose show. No waiting for multiple parts to see if your car made it into the coverage, now you get to see it all at once. If you made it, congrats! If not, maybe next time? It’s been many many years of doing The Chronicles now and most of you know how it works. Some of the more casual people only come here to look for photos of your cars but I hope many more come just to enjoy content. I told you guys I would try to continue to make blog posts again because frankly, I think the media space still needs it. These times are filled with bursts of content with short attention spans and little to no reading. I want to continue to do things the old way to make people read long-form content…

Let’s read again.

Let’s focus.

Take it slow and absorb the content as it is presented to you.

Don’t just say, “oh it’s too long I’m not gonna read all that”…

You don’t want your brain to become too accustomed to brevity because it makes you unable to pay attention to anything. And your attention span is a valuable tool throughout your life…

Anyways, let’s talk about Wekfest San Jose…

Since the creation of Wekfest, the Bay Area show has been the main event of the tour. No matter where we go or what areas we expand to, the show in Northern California will forever remain the main event. Wekfest started there and many of the guys who were behind the show’s success called Northern California home. Just because some have left to other cities, it doesn’t change Wekfest’s course of history. Internally it is viewed as our “Super Bowl”. Being from Los Angeles now, I try to put as much as I can into the L.A. event because it’s home, you know? But I also understand the thinking and see the event that’s hosted in San Jose, California as the Super Bowl. After last year’s event, some guys locally started noticing more Hondas coming to the show again and some out-of-state visitors bringing their cars. I wasn’t a part of this group chat but I started hearing some rumblings that some guys wanted to come back who had long been absent from the Wekfest shows to compete with the current crop of Honda enthusiasts. Darkside Racing had appeared to have a firm grip as one of the best car clubs in Northern California so there was some chatter of people from other crews wanting to come and dethrone them. This group chat grew and more people started to get involved. Guys from SoCal started chattering too along with people from ATS Garage and other local crews. People from out of state were being encouraged to come compete and the two main guys within this group chat, Chris from DSR and Phil from ATS Garage, started jokingly calling it the “Western Conference Finals”. A sports reference for those who don’t get it. It would be an event where some of the best the West had to offer would come to San Jose and compete for awards in the Honda/Acura Classes or higher…

When I heard this was happening, I was intrigued but honestly very skeptical anything would happen. I just know some of these guys too well and I absolutely had confidence that this talk would eventually fizzle out and the same people that come every year would show-up. You do this long enough and you start to understand who is really about it. Who’s actually down. Who is with the shits, you know what I mean? There are a lot of guys in the group chats that act like real demons but when it comes time to actually show some effort, they disappear. That’s just how it’s always been. Long before any group chats or social media barking. In the forum and online message board days it was the same shit. Some people are just ALL TALK…

As time went on, some of it did die down a bit but there were some older guys that actually looked like they might show up. Like they actually put in the effort to register for a fucking car show. That’s like pulling teeth sometimes these days because people want handouts or invites to come. Like it’s not hard to do, there are just a lot of egos out there that need constant feeding. They think they have these builds that shouldn’t lose or shouldn’t have lost in the past and they just lose interest. They’d rather just leave their cars in their garage and see who will beg them to come out again. And years and years go by and they become forgotten. There are new builds coming out every year and with so much media to consume these days, it’s quite easy to become forgotten. As the months and weeks passed and the registrations started to come through the Inbox, there were indeed some ghosts of the past that emerged. Some of these guys had taken this group chat seriously and were even able to convince their other friends to register their cars. It felt like somewhat of a revival. People wanted to stand side-by-side with what we considered to be some of the best of today’s generation of car builders…

There were a few in the group chat that started to leak information and gossip from these chats. As it turns out, some of these guys had actual beef with others. It wasn’t even about competition. Some drama actually was ensuing. There were some that wanted to come to the show just to make sure the guys they didn’t like didn’t get the chance to win. Things were getting interesting. Once the show had filled-up and we had a full roster of competitors, the idea of a “Western Conference Finals” felt even more real. I was thoroughly entertained. So much so that I wanted to lean into it and play along. Ken came up with an idea to have a “Chronicles Award” and I agreed that it would be a cool, fun, idea. Let’s add some more fuel to the fire. I commissioned an award to be made and even put “Best in the West” and it would be awarded to the best of the best Honda build at Wekfest San Jose…

Ultimately, awards are just meant to be fun, meaningless pieces of acrylic, plastic, or metal. They’re just things that represent a moment in time. It helps to feed the ego and soul a little bit but it’s the fun we have along the way that is supposed to have a lasting effect. It’s the feelings and memories you had leading up to and after the awards are announced that matters. But…adding extra stakes to a competition always makes it more fun. Those who don’t know or care about The Chronicles probably look at that award like it’s a nothing burger. Those who follow this site, my work, and The Chronicles has a whole probably look at the award like its something special. And I appreciate that. That means my work is valued in this community. And I suppose the work I’ve done for the Honda community over the past 16+ years means something. An award attached to me holds some merit with my fellow enthusiasts. When I first joined the tour, admittedly when they told me there was a “Chronicles Award”, I didn’t put any importance on it. I kinda just made a joke of it because I didn’t think what I did mattered. Now, after all these years, I regret looking at that opportunity to have my own award mockingly. So I made it important for myself and had a hell of a time making sure I gave it to the right person who deserved it. Whoever was going to win this thing would win it because I took it seriously…

I think people understood that it wasn’t something just done for the fuck of it. We needed a specialized award because there were so many good builds that weekend in San Jose. As you look through these photos, you’ll probably have your own personal choices as to who should have won, but somewhere in this photoset I’ll reveal who took the award home and why…

Kicking off this enormous set of photos with the first car I saw outside that afternoon, George Dinh’s Integra Type R from Darkside Racing. He couldn’t make the trip but luckily he has good friends who will help get his car to the show for him…

K24A2 inside this DC2R which is actually modified internally as well with 88mm 12.5:1 pistons, Eagle connecting rods, Skunk2 cams and valvetrain. It’s dressed-up outside nicely with a PracWorks carbon fiber intake manifold, an Mugen intake box originally designed for an FD2 Type R, Mugen strut bar, and a painted valve cover with the signature yellow/green fade from JUN Auto…

Andy Mai showed-up to San Jose this year to win with a new look under the hood, or lack thereof, and the car sitting on Mugen M7 wheels to pair with his Exceed V2 lip and wing…

The K20/K24 set-up in the engine bay now has a mirror-like finish with everything polished and very monochromatic…

He previously had a PracWorks intake manifold like the George’s DC2 but last year he switched over to individual throttle bodies and for this year, he got the velocity stacks polished to match…

The mirror polish looks great inside a silver engine bay and gives the whole bay a very minimal but effective appearance. The only color you really see is from the “ARC” on his valve cover and it’s a really nice touch…

Chris from Darkside Racing pulled-up this year with yet another new set-up. For 2025, he ditched the livery, went back to all black, with some carbon fiber accents on the Exceed V2 lip and Mode Parfume mirrors…

The Kraftwerks supercharger is gone for 2025 and replaced with a new turbo set-up and PracWorks carbon intake manifold…

Nice touch with the custom billet wire cover with a flip on the classic JUN Auto wire cover and logo design…

Andy Carlos from Darkside Racing’s Integra Type R with PCI lip, Mugen MF10 wheels, Mugen Gen. 1 wing, Mugen Active Gate brakes, and finished-off with the signature Mugen side stripe…

Huy Hoang was one of the featured stars of the San Jose event, having transported his award-winning DC5 build from Seattle. He’d never made the trip before so he wanted to make the most of it by competing alongside some of the best in the west…

Bay Area legend Kelvin Bulda showed-up once again this year with his Civic looking frozen in-time with the Air Walker front, J’s Racing fenders, and Mugen MF10s. We always enjoy having Kelvin around because he’s a true staple of the car community up there. He’s a reminder that we are all getting old, still doing car shit, and it’s nice to see one another once or twice a year, lol…

JDM-face Integra Type R with the full Mugen package including the front bumper, side skirts, Gen. 1 wing, hood, and side stripe…

The MF10 wheels have been polished (chromed?) along with the center caps. Behind the front spokes of the Mugen wheels are a set of OEM NSX brakes…

Mikey Bitanga’s Integra GSR with JDM ITR-face conversion, paint-matched Spoon Sports front lip, Mugen MF10 wheels, and Mugen Gen. 2 rear wing…

Bitanga hasn’t been paying much attention to his Integra lately because he went and got himself a Porsche 991 GT3. It had to be red of course…

Yasu walking around studying George and Andy’s Hondas…

Andy had a tough decision to make in the final hour of the show whether to run these M7s or Work RSZ-Rs. I think both would have been fine but the M7 was a new look for his Civic so it was the better final option…

Chris went and put the CHRNCLS logo on his intercooler, instantly making the Civic look 10x less interesting and also easily introducing the idea of favoritism—though I will go on record saying it ultimately had zero effect on how things went…

If anything I would have docked imaginary points because my logo is supposed to be angled and he tried his best to make it straight and now it looks funny…

Albert Zheng pulled out the vinyl cutting machine and blessed us with neon vinyl that instantly faded under the hot ass sun from Las Vegas to San Jose…

Always good to see him though and his enthusiasm has not faltered at all even after moving away to Nevada…

Bitanga heading up the ramp into the venue in his GT3 Street Cup…

The Integra that he convinced someone to drive for him is still cooler so it gets more photos…

Ronne’s extremely well-build Varis widebody Subaru WRX STI on Rays Volk CE28N wheels…

Leonard Yee decided to dip back into his Honda roots by putting together a JDM Honda Integra Type R which he painted a matching Porsche Miami Blue…

Andy had a little bit too much fuel in his ITR so we had to figure out a way to help relieve some gasoline in his tank…

Alex Alfaro made the trip north from Southern California to show with the massive Honda line-up we had this year. For San Jose, he decided to run the Mugen front half-lip, Mugen side skirts, super rare Crowhouse rear bumper, Mugen Gen. 2 spoiler, and his incredibly rare forged Work WAE wheels. He also came up with a pretty interesting idea to add a JUN Auto carbon intake duct originally designed for an R35 GTR to his front bumper…

Jonathan Monteith’s supercharged S2000 wearing Voltex aero, a Mugen hard top, and bronze Volk ZE40 wheels…

Making his grand return to Wekfest was Phil Sison from ATS Garage and his Super Street magazine cover-featured Integra GSR. He switched-up his whole set-up for the return with a 94-97 front and rear bumper, Comptech front lip, and a set of WEDS Sport TC05 wheels…

Phil also had an entirely new exhaust set-up fabricated and added Nitron suspension with remote reservoirs…

Devin Hui from Speed Element pulled-up with a trio of white R34 Skyline GT-Rs…

This Midnight Purple Skyline GT-R with Nismo Z-Tune aero looked pretty great under the bright sun…

Tweeezy from Member’s Only car club debuted a new look with paint-matched Spoon Sports front lip, Rays Volk CE28N in black, AP Racing front big brakes, Mugen Gen. 2 wing, and TODA Racing Sports Injection on his K24A2…

The whole engine looks freshly assembled with XRP hoses plumbing the K24. The individual throttle bodies are the centerpiece of the engine bay though and right under you can even see an electric water pump plumbed to the tucked radiator…

More photos of Alex’s Integra Type R. I always try to get as many photos of this ITR as I can since he doesn’t bring it out too often…

Despite it’s near OEM appearance, the engine bay has been fully resprayed and restored. The factory B18C is long gone and sitting in its place is a fully-built JUN engine imported from Japan…

From here you get a better look at the Crowhouse rear bumper and how it flows nicely into the Mugen sides…

If you never thought you’d see a Cobra (or a Cobra kit car) on Work Meister S1 3-piece wheels, now you can check that off your list…

BJ from RUNUP decided to surprise everyone and pulled-up in this incredibly good-looking S15 Silvia wearing Carmake T&E Vertex Ridge aero and SSR Agle Strusse wheels…

Brennan Wright’s HKS widebody A90 Supra posted up perfectly for a photo on the loading dock on Work Meister L1 wheels…

Lam’s static Lexus LS400 on K-Break wheels from Liberty VIP…

Parked right behind him was Lucas Ly’s Aimgain LS430 pancaked on SSR Koenig wheels…

Brian Truong’s 86 with a license plate featuring terminology that folks like me don’t understand…

Friends enjoying some McDonald’s while waiting to get set-up inside the venue…

Jakob’s slammed Datsun 1600 truck on mismatched SSR Interceptor wheels up front and SSR Auswuch in the rear…

Jorge Sandoval’s Integra Type R running a Spoon Sports front lip, OEM optional ITR sides and rear, Mugen Gen. 1 wing, Ganador mirrors, and 16×8 Formula Hart CP-Rs…

No more B18C under the hood of this Type R which now has a K-series powerplant in the resprayed engine bay…

Andrew’s BMW G87 M2 looking good on BBS E88 wheels. I always think these generation M2 looks strange but when you modify them they actually look really cool and particularly menacing in a way…

Ezekiel from CM Autohaus brought out his really nifty Porsche 930 with a set of RS Watanabe R-Type wheels, Watanabe Falcon steering wheel, and matching RS Watanabe edition Bride seats…

Jorge and Chuy talking about VSM Integra Type R things…

Phil Sison’s Integra all cleaned-up and staged inside…

A K20A resides in the engine bay of Sison’s Integra with everything mostly blacked-out, including the AT Power individual throttle bodies, with the only color coming from the blue/gold on the -AN fittings. Really cool touch. The Cusco strut bar is technically mounted backwards but it was done to remove the clutter from where the Nitron reservoirs would be mounted above the valve cover. This way of installation gives everything more room to breathe…

I actually shot and wrote a feature on this Integra a very long time ago when magazines were still being printed. It was for the “Honda Issue” of a little title called Super Street. You can still read the digital version of it HERE….

AJ Antiporda from ATS Garage showed-up in his Storm Trooper-looking Integra with JDM ITR front-end conversion. For his return to Wekfest San Jose, he decided to run a classic C-West aero set-up with J’s Racing GT wing, Shift Sports front fenders, Ganador mirrors, and black 16-inch Volk TE37 wheels…

Chris Sakai took some time away from the kids and brought out the family J’s Racing S2000. I don’t know if people remember or know but these Volk CE28N wheels on this S2000 was actually from my old roommate Tony Khamly’s Sorcery NSX from Phaze2. Crazy to see this S2000 and those wheels still around after all these years…

Vince Pascua was an original member of ATS Garage back when it was first formed but he passed away unfortunately in 2006. His Civic has always remained the same, stored away and preserved in a garage. Since ATS wanted to bring the guys back out for Wekfest San Jose, they also decided to load-up Vince’s Civic and bring it out for the first time in almost 20 years…

Chris from DSR’s Civic all cleaned-up…

Right in front of him was Andy Mai, who for whatever reason refused to join Darkside Racing but is always with them, lol…

George Dinh’s DC2R flowing nicely with a nice little pop from that JUN valve cover…

Kelvin Bulda usually gets stuck in the back of the building cuz his roll-in time is late but this year he finally made it up front…

James from Supreme Detailworks’s Voltex-equipped AP1 S2000 with EVS fenders, EVS mirrors, and Desmond Regamaster EVOs…

The engine bay has been cleaned-up nicely and the F20C now hosts a Skunk2 intake manifold and an HKS GT-Supercharger kit…

Chhunlay Thay’s fully-restored Phoenix Yellow Civic Type R from Access Garage down here in Southern California. The outside is mostly factory OEM CTR with the exception of the Exceed front lip and Spring Hart CP-R wheels…

Everything inside the engine bay of the EK9 has also been restomodded with the B16B now hosting a JUN valve cover, JUN header, ARC intake, and GruppeM air filter/carbon duct…

Rusty Smith’s Vogue Silver Metallic EK9 is also another careful restoration from Access Garage. It had a basically stock EK9 aesthetic just lowered on WEDS TC05 wheels. I didn’t get a chance to see under the hood but if its anything like the yellow one next to it, it’s likely equally impressive…

Kong Xiong’s NSX has become a regular over the last few years at the Super Bowl of Wekfests. This year he switched it up a bit with a new I’s Impact front bumper to pair with his Advance aero, Taitec rear wing, and Ganador mirrors…

He had a custom rear hatch made with a carbon duct fitted which brings air into his C30A with rare ARC Air Induction Box…

Nice touch with the yellow valve covers for contrast and a tasteful selection of decals on his rear glass lol…

Cool little custom breather set-up mounted to the firewall too with a red Motul filter element…

There’s also a Mugen strut bar there if you didn’t notice earlier while staring at his “Mugen style” carbon wire covers…

He didn’t make too many changes to his NSX because Kong was dedicating much of his time to his new Civic hatchback build. In 2025 we go backwards where NSX owners now strive to build EKs, which is both crazy and incredibly ironic…

The Civic is done in white with an Exceed V1 lip, paint-matched Spoon mirrors, and white Desmond EVO wheels. You can tell immediately that red is his chosen contrast color and it is used throughout the vehicle…

Under the hood is a B16A2 with the timing belt side of the valve cover cut to expose what looks to be a TODA Racing timing belt. The tasteful selection of decals also translates over to his Civic with an incredibly well-designed decal on his spark plug wire cover…

The radiator has been tucked away to showcase the unique runner design on the DTR header. There’s a custom oil breather set-up which runs to a breather box on the firewall plumbed over the intake pipe…

Kai Her’s S2000 continues its streak of competing at Wekfest San Jose in 2025. This year he added a front splitter to pair with his Spoon S-Tai front bumper, switched over to yellow ICB seats, installed a Project Mu big brake set-up, and topped it off with bronze Volk CE28N wheels…

A big giant restrictive ARC Induction Box looks great paired to the modern PracWorks carbon intake manifold. Spoon Sports cooling hoses also go with the Spoon theme along with the valve cover…

Good looking bay right here with a good combination of parts ultilized…

Can never go wrong with a Project Mu BBK set-up either…

Turbocharged, K-swapped, and all-wheel drive converted Civic hatchback with Mode Parfume front fenders, front lip, mirrors, and Volk SE37K wheels…

A look under the hood reveals the Precision turbo, sidewinder turbo manifold, Skunk2 center-feed intake manifold, and oil breather set-up…

Mee Vang red Civic hatchback from NNOVATION with a +Vibes front lip and rear wing. +Vibes is actually an Indonesia-based aero parts developer for those who haven’t heard that name before…

Phoenix Yellow DC2R iwth an EDM front bumper and 17-inch Mugen MF10s…

I specifically remember Brian Marquez’s Civic being from the East Coast so it was a little weird to see it at San Jose and now with an NNOVATION decal on the windshield. As it turns out, he actually moved to the West Coast and became friends with the guys from NNOVATION car club. His Civic has remained somewhat unchanged but he’s still one of the best Civics in the building and has also won at Wekfest East before…

Inside the engine bay of the Civic is a K24 set-up that actually still looks very ‘East Coast’…

Why I say that is because Marquez’s K24 features a Gato center-feed intake manifold which is a piece that is very popular out there but not often seen here in the left coast…

A very faithful interpretation of an EK9 Type R with some classics from the Mugen catalog including the highly sought-after Mugen SS front lip…

Unfortunately I think the owner broke the front lip leaving the venue during the roll-out…

The engine bay set-up is exactly what you would expect from a Mugen collector, featuring the air intake, front strut bar, original oil cap, header and of course, the famed Mugen Formula Head Cover…

That’s an easy $10K just sitting on the top of this engine these days. This one looks to be in great condition too…

Hanzel Tango’s NSX from Member’s Only car club featuring a full Mugen theme complete with staggered Mugen M7 wheels…

Gemil Libatique Domani-style Civic sedan with JDM Domani front and rear conversion. It’s always cool to see these Domani fronts with an aggressive front lip added to it. Otherwise it just looks a bit odd. Like imagine someone you’ve known all your life who has a full beard and one day they shave it off. Then you just stare at their face like something is wrong with it. That’s basically what a Domani looks like without a lip which is pretty much like 90% of them…

This Civic still retains all creature comforts like A/C and power steering even though it has been swapped. Titanium bits help to dress-up the engine and the center of it is a nice shaved and paint-matched valve cover…

Jonathan Cabras’ newly redone Civic hatchback with First Molding front lip, Sergeant Racing Division front bumper, Chargespeed front wide fenders, and Mode Parfume rear wing…

K-series set-up in the shaved engine bay of Cabras’ Civic which uses a PracWorks intake manifold, has a tucked radiator, mil-spec engine harness, and Skunk2 Racing magnesium valve cover…

Some more of Tweeezy’s Integra from Member’s Only. This one was a contender in the Acura category since it was so well done but what it came down to was simple issues like the headlights, cowl and trim, just very minor details but details nonetheless. Those are the factors we consider ultimately when the competition is very close and it comes down to who takes home an award and who doesn’t. I really liked this build though so with those minor things buttoned-up, it’s got a pretty bright future ahead…

The engine bay is already really well done and you can tell a lot of attention was paid to how everything is executed with the motor…

Anything with TODA Racing individual throttle bodies is gonna be good…

Even the hardware used on the K24 for this build is well thought-out. It was just a couple of shortcomings in the end that made the difference. The Acura Class, especially with all the Integras in the building this year, was incredibly difficult to judge. Every single one of the finalists had to be nitpicked to differentiate who was the ultimate winner…

When you have to bring the Integra so people can look at your Porsche, example 1…

Example 2…haha… Seriously though. This is quite the flex. Especially with Leonard’s pairing with his JDM ITR and a Dundon Motorsports aero package for his GT3 RS…

Albert from PlusOne with a new look for his once lime-green FD3S RX-7. Now it’s a much more traditional white/carbon theme with RE Amemiya aero…

Jedh Wholegood’s BMW F80 M3 sedan with new 3DDesign front bumper which replaces his Laptorr front lip and brand new Volk TE37 Saga S-Plus wheels in blue…

Huy Hoang’s got a prime spot right up front since he was our special guest competitor from Washington…

Right next to him was another special guest, this one all the way from Gunma, Japan. Hikaru Taguchi from Moontech Performance built this BMW last year for the SEMA Show and shipped it here from Japan where it has actually been staying stateside for the better part of the year. This would be the last show for this E36, as it left shortly after to return to Gunma Prefecture…

Crazy to see an GM LS3 swap with individual throttle bodies inside a BMW that was built in the countryside in Japan…

Full custom suede interior as well with a special badge indicating which build number it was from Moontech…

Jonathan Monteith’s S2000 has come a very long way since he first started putting it together. These days he’s a part of the Garage Life team and constantly collecting awards…

This DC2 belongs to Steven Truong from Team OutOfOrder and features in interesting assortment of aero parts. The front is BackYard Special, fenders are Crowhouse, side skirts are Air Walker, and the rear valances look to be from Mode Parfume…

Under the hood is a turbocharged B-series set-up using a traditional ram-horn style manifold with a low-mounted turbine…

Devin Hui’s BNR34 Skyline GT-R V-Spec II with Nismo Z-Tune aero, Ganador mirrors and Volk Racing 21A wheels…

The Speed Element GT-R V-Spec II features an RB26 equipped with an HKS GTIII-4R turbo kit along with their famed V-CAM System and a Nismo intake manifold…

Rowie Landicho’s Mitsubishi Evolution IX wagon with one-off Varis aero kit now fully-running and operational…

Vou Tang supercharged NSX with Mugen front lip, Mugen MF10 in bronze, Mugen seats, and a rare Mugen intake…

Full Spoon Sports-themed FL5 Civic Type R…

Next to the Spoon FL5 was a full Spoon Sports catalog-themed FK8 Civic Type R LE…

Likely every Spoon Sports piece made for the FK8 chassis can be found on this Type R LE…

The Spoon Sports carbon kevlar intake duct is also signed by Spoon founder Tatsuru Ichishima…

Enrique Guerra’s period-correct Integra LS with full Kaminari aero kit, 17-inch Volk GT-P wheels, Wilwood brakes and JDM one-piece headlights…

The billet B-series valve cover adds a bit more of a modern touch to the bay and under the front strut brace is a rarely seen LHT Performance intercooler manifold which helps to cool down a Jackson Racing supercharger…

Ken Takahashi’s ND Miata with Garage Vary FCR front, Chargespeed vented hood, Craftsquare mirrors, Volk TE37 and full purple vinyl wrap by Aerowerkz…

Full catalog of AutoExe components under the hood of the Miata including a carbon fiber intake paired with a Alutec front strut brace…

After the show it was time for the roll-out, which is an event all by itself. I really wish I had more time to shoot but most of the time was spent trying to prevent pure chaos from happening. It did start off somewhat peaceful though with the Access Garage VSM EK9 being one of the first to roll past the massive crowd of onlookers…

Chhunlay’s followed as he angled just well enough to avoid any damage to his Exceed front lip…

Kelvin and his Sergeant Racing Division rear lip diffuser…

George Dinh wasn’t around by Loreto Garcia was more than happy to drive his DC2R to and from the show…

Andy Mai ended the day with a big award in the Honda Class…

Adam Mao’s new Porsche 964 project on BBS wheels making a classy exit…

Had to make sure the crowd got to seem some fireworks as he left though in true Adam Mao-fashion…

Chris leaving for the after-party along with his CHRNCLS “BEST IN THE WEST” award…

It was a tough choice and a really close competition with maybe 3-4 other people, but Chris was who I thought deserved it the most. The main factor was purely his motivation to constant change and improve his car. He’s won “Car of the Festival” which is our Best of Show before and it didn’t make him stagnant. He never seemed satisfied and continued to look for ways to improve upon his car in a way where it didn’t seem overdone. There are many out there who reach a certain place with their build where it peaks—and then they just continue to do MORE stuff. They lose the concept of addition by subtraction, of viewing your build with a specific idea or theme. And then their cars just end up looking goofy. They don’t understand that changing things up means taking what helped you win off the car to add something new to make it different. You sort of have to look at it like a metaphor for life. Change is never supposed to be comfortable. Your life doesn’t get better without sacrifice, it doesn’t get better if you don’t face the concept of losing something and learning from it…

People that become successful and have lots of money can sometimes become to overwhelmed with what they have. They grow prone to doing too much and having too much excess in their life. They lose what they worked so hard to create because they have so much shit that everything gets watered down. That happens with cars too. Once people find success with one look, they don’t want to give up that thing that made them successful. Then they just stack and stack and stack shit onto their cars. Execution and flow is everything. When you have excess, it becomes very hard for people to understand what you’re trying to do. Again, it’s a metaphor for life…

“It’s not that deep bro…”

Actually, if you care enough, it really is that deep.

That means you care about the shit you do and what you create, what you present to the world. The things you do serve as an avatar for who you are. How will you be remembered? For the shit you busted your ass for to achieve or all the shit you got afterwards?…

I chose Chris because he’s never been afraid to take chances, to switch things up. It’s better to try and fail. And granted, not everything he’s done has always been great. He’s made some mistakes. But if you ask him, he’ll be nonchalant about it and act like it’s not that important. But his effort shows otherwise. He does everything to his car because he actually does care. If you ask him why he does it, he’ll tell you he’s just a street racer who loves cars who probably shouldn’t even be at a car show. But he embraced change and now he has something that represents appreciation for his willingness to try something new and be good at it…

He’s a catalyst along with a few others that helped ignite a lot of conversation in this region of the car community that helped introduce a lot of interest to others who needed that fire lit under them. The “Western Conference Finals” idea started out as a pseudo-joke and trash talk amongst peers but later evolved into something pretty fun and remarkable. Many of us will look back on this time and have a lot of good memories from this weekend. He’s owed a lot of credit along with Phil from ATS for making that happen…

The question remains now if everyone can keep that momentum going…

Stickydiljoe = Guy who constantly tells people awards aren’t important. 

*Proceeds to create an award with the most meaning ever*

Anyways, back to the coverage…

Andy Carlos’ Integra Type R lookin good as he pulled-out from the steep driveway…

I feel like most of the crowd outside had little interest in nice builds and just wanted debauchery, but I hoped at least a few got to appreciate this Mugen Integra Type R as it drove through…

Chris Garay was able to escape with his incredibly-rare C-West E46 front bumper unscathed…

Some guys like the owner of this imported Toyota Crown were able to air-up and immediately back down after they cleared the driveway…

Nice little KE10 Corolla on Hayashi Street wheels…

The Boof Garage Paul Walker-inspired Skyline made sure to spray everyone in the face with Nitrous Oxide as it left…

Back inside I was finally able to get a photo of Jaylen Chapman’s new Civic project. I had shot a majority of the photos during the roll-in the day before and Jaylen had narrowly put the car together in time to show-up early in Sunday morning…

AJ and Jace heading home after the show in his Integra adorn in C-West aero…

There’s still a long way to go with this build, especially since it’s still not running yet, but it looks like Jaylen will be heading to Los Angeles later this year for the Wekfest event down here so we’ll all get a chance to see it’s progress…

Also staying in California for the next few months will be Huy’s Mugen DC5 RSX Type-S. He wanted to make the full California tour like Terry Suvonnarith did with his Integra last year so it’ll be residing in Southern California until after WFLA…

Man, that was a lot of photos. Good lord. My brain is fried and it’s time to go veg on the couch for a few hours with some mindless TV playing in the background. Thanks for looking everyone!…