One of my favorite events last year was NissanFest. It was the event that replaced Northwest Nissans’ annual Golden Gardens meet after it grew to the point that it was no longer manageable. This year, NWN took things to another level by adding autocross and expanding even further on their current activities.
Text by Matt Haugness. Photos by Ellie Marie, Nick Poirier, TK Akiyama, Ryan Cutuli, and Sam Fu.
NWN Nissan Fest 2013 from Takuya TK Akiyama on Vimeo.
Our media crew was on track for most of the drifting portion of the event. It was a wet the entire morning and the track conditions made things difficult for drivers who were still relearning their cars after the long winter. By mid-afternoon the track dried up which made things even more interesting.
The Showcase, presented by NWMotiv, had an awesome selection of cars this year. It was great to see them sell out on their spots in the show the week of the event. I saw significantly more Nissan/Infiniti/Datsun cars in the show this year which I’m sure will please some of the purists that have a problem with other makes of cars at the event.
Awards for the Showcase were as follows:
Best Nissan – John Pennell | Nissan Skyline GTR
Best 240SX – Gwapo Nguyen | Nissan 240SX
Best Non-Nissan – Brandon Olson | Acura NSX
NWMotiv Choice – John Bradley | Nissan 300ZX
Fan Favorite – Daniellie Martin | Nissan 240SX
Northwest Nissans uses the drifting portion of NissanFest to determine their sponsored drivers. This year, Rob Primo took the Formula Drift sponsorship and Ian Fournier won the Pro-Am sponsorship. They both earned their sponsorships and everyone at IM looks forward to seeing them compete this year.
