Battle of the Imports recently caravanned across Nevada's desert to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and with it, brought a new twist to import drag racing: the Grudge Match. An enthusiast at heart, BOTI founder Frank Choi knows all about the rivalry between domestic V-8 power and sport compacts, and this time around, Frank wanted to find out which would reign supreme: the V-8 heads or the import nuts. Thus, invitations went out to championship PSCA 10.5 cars (read: super-fast American muscle) to race against some of the best Pro FWDs the import scene has to offer and to crown a champion once and for all. It was a battle of tubbed and slicked muscle cars against tube-framed front-wheel-drive imports...but more on that later! Battle is known for more than settling grudges, and the crew kept their Las Vegas event buzzing with plenty of SpoCom-only racing throughout the night. Dozens of privateers vied for entrance into the limited eight-car Sportsman classes, and the Pro Import class was comprised of a total of 14 cars-each duking it out for the Battle purse. What did this mean for the spectators? That calling what went down that evening "exciting" or "all-out" racing wouldn't even begin to tilt the scale of anarchy they witnessed!

Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America recently invited any and all Mitsu owners out to their third annual MOD celebration at the company's Cypress, Calif. headquarters - to get a good taste of the aftermarket, socialize with fellow Mitsu enthusiasts, shake hands with corporate higher-ups, and talk their rides with high ranking members of the automotive press; yours truly. With heavy Starion, Eclipse, Talon, EVO, 3000GT, Lancer, and Mirage involvement, plus tons more, peep the DEC issue of 2NR for images and details of more cars than you probably thought Mitsubishi ever made. In the meantime, chomp on this: www.mitsubishicars.com

Growing up my mama always said, "Don't judge a person by your first impression of them." Well, not in those words, exactly, but a loose Korean translation. But try as I might, it's hard not to cast judgments from the first few moments of interaction-shallow opinions are quickly cast, which are close to immutable. The same can be said about going out. When it comes to restaurants, house parties, clubs, and, pertinent to the story at hand, car shows, I'll know within seconds whether or not I'm at the right spot or if I should make two right turns and bounce from the spot. My gauge? The parking situation.

After the Formula D Diary debacle of last month with none of our drivers landing on the podium, we're back at an all-new track, Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J., for a fresh start. For Chapter Three, the same eight drifters are back to tell us every little detail that went down in the Northeast. From repaired mechanical problems to new ones brewing, a two-way tie for First between Chris Forsberg and Samuel Hubinette for overall points chase, and last year's champ, Tanner Foust, trailing slightly, will the third time be the charm for our drifters?

The Hot Import Nights crew cooled their roll in Pomona, recently, and created one of the craziest outdoor shows we've had the pleasure of attending in a long time. Peep the DEC issue of Import Tuner - our 10-year anniversary issue - for full coverage when it hits stands next month. Until then, here are a few teaser photos to chew on:

Import Showoff recently held their signature end-of-summer show this year, during Nisei Week festivities in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo neighborhood, and 2NR was on hand to bring you complete details of how it went down. Look forward to an upcoming issue for the scoop, and check out the pics below until then. Mitsu, Honda, Nissan, Mazda... old and new school... race, show, VIP... even a random turbocharged Saturn here and there; if you missed the event in person, be sure to catch our coverage of it in print! www.showoffcafe.com

Corona, California
Spring is officially over, and with it went another annual Eibach Honda Meet, organized by Honda-tech loyalists Ben Howard, Ryan Hoegner, and resident photographer Rodrez. Now in its fifth year, the annual meet is the largest Honda-only gathering in the nation, and this year's increased attendance reaffirms that Honda enthusiasm is here to stay; over 500 H-badged cars from as far away as Seattle, Houston, and even Cincinnati pre-registered, and at least as many-if not more-could be found lining streets and parking lots for miles around Eibach's Corona, Calif., headquarters. Honda crews pulled no punches in what they brought to the table-apparent in the total show dominance of NWP4LIFE, Wek'Sos, Show Stoppers, and JDMjunkies. Vendors pulled off the gloves as well-most notably Hasport, who unveiled their latest Frankenstein swap kit, enabling Honda 3.5L V-6s to drop into EG Civics-weird, but badass! Eibach and Co. auctioned off thousands in free schwag, bought pizza, and even converted indoor warehouse space into a cafeteria to help tuners beat the Cali heat. www.eibach.com / www.honda-tech.com

Going on its 15th year, we're sure all of you are familiar with the X Games to the extent that no introduction is needed here. If not, well... Look forward to 2NR's JAN issue for most of what you've been missing, while we joke to all your friends about how much of a loser you are. Until then, just know that the 2NR crew scored extended all-access passes for the gig, meaning complete, insider Rally coverage awaits you in print - along with a little skateboarding, BMX and Moto X to boot. Drool over these sample pics for a few months, and keep checking back; we might decide to release a few more along the way! www.expn.go.com

As profiled in 2NR's OCT '08 issue, Spocom's second annual show recently hit the Long Beach, Calif. Convention Center... and hit it hard! Attendance was up among enthusiasts, entrants and vendors alike... as well as models! Whoever says the `import trend' is over, needs to visit SoCal more often. A brief re-cap for those of you who might've misplaced your OCT issues: Spocom is the tuning scene's premier open-to-the-public industry trade show. Think SEMA, only you and your crew are on the VIP list. Looking for sponsorship on a new project? The latest industry schwag? A pic with the one and only Miss Alicia Whitten? Scoring a feature in your favorite mag? Come to Spocom! www.spocomusa.com

Hyper Meeting 2008
Tsukuba Circuit, Japan
Foreign correspondents are invaluable to the publishing industry. That's why we love Mike Garrett so much; he lives in Japan, paradoxically has both ears to the ground of the JDM tuning scene, and resides a stone's throw away from the Tsukuba Circuit-meaning we can always count on him to pull through with the sickest event coverage anywhere, like his snaps of the Hyper Meeting 2008, for example. The staple event in the world of all-wheel-drive turbo-four tuning, the Hyper Meeting invites Japan's greatest Subaru and Mitsubishi tuners to prove their mettle on the scene's most sacred battleground each year-and with the debut of the new generation EVO and STI only months prior, this year's meet was one of the best to date. It was JUN's EVO X with a 1:01:31 that claimed the fastest pass by an '08 at the event, with little more added to it than when we shot it for last month's cover. The Runduce Impreza GRB followed closely, claiming the top '08 Subie spot, but the more heavily modded veterans remained atop the competition with sub-minute passes, including Sun Auto's 56.28-second Cyber EVO VII, Varis's Cyber EVO V, and Zero Sports' Impreza, driven by Tarzan Yamada. Still, our favorite machine of the event had to be CS Hiro's chop-top super clean Impreza-with a roof so low, Nakamura-san had to peer through the steering wheel to drive it. In addition to the time attacking, D1 champ Nobushige Kumakubo and Team Orange threw down multiple four-car demo drift runs, and of course, race queens were in abundance to keep their drivers cool...and look hot doing it! www.hypermeeting.jp

As journalist reporting a motorsport event, we try diligently, at times, to recount, the happenings in text form. Cnversations with drivers and crew are recorded, notes from the race are taken, and images are pored over. But at the end of the day, what we write is pure speculation sprinkled with facts, times, scores, and so on. The ones who really know the story are the people who are themselves part of it. And in Formula D they are the drivers-pardon my expression, the drifters-who are deeply involved in the plot. So for the first time ever, we gathered seven of the greatest drifters to write in their words what happened at Round One of Formula D: Long Beach.

Investigation By Pearl Nalani and Carter Jung
I'm stumbling through a pitch black hall brimming with people. In my left hand is my Canon 5D and in my right, a Gitzo tripod that grows increasingly heavy. Bright flashes of light and pulsing music fill the air. A few feet in front of me is, or at least was, import model Pearl Nalani. Normally I don't stalk models-in public, at least-but this is different. We're working.

In case it's been a while since you've picked up a copy of Import Tuner on the newsstands, we've begun running out Formula D coverage a little differently. Formula D Diaries: the section in which eight top drifters - The Crazy 8: Gushi, Yoshihara, Gitten, Forsberg, Hubinette, Miki, Foust, and McQuarrie - recount their own behind-the-lexan details of each FD event in their own words. 2NR's August issue played host to the first installment, with FD Long Beach coverage on page 102. The Crazy 8 are back again in the September issue (on stands now) with FD Atlanta insight, and will continue by giving you details of Round 3: New Jersey's happenings in the October issue.

Over 121,000 people came to check out the Fukuoka Auto Salon held at the Yahoo Dome in Kyushu, Japan. Normally reserved as the home field for pro baseball team, the Softbank Hawks, the Yahoo Dome was filled to the brim with the best autos Kyushu had to offer. Besides the unique venue, the Fukuoka Auto Salon show itself is one of a kind. Although smaller than its big brother, the Tokyo Auto Salon, Fukuoka is far from a slanty-eyed, Japanese redheaded stepchild.

Don't Try This At Home
Just days before what was planned to be a live television broadcast of two record-breaking back-to-back stunts, the tuner community received word that one of their own was fighting for his life. As part of ESPN's New Year, No Limits telecast, Rhys Millen was scheduled to throw down a back flip in a modified Pro-Lite CORR truck-something no one has ever attempted, probably for good reason. After completing numerous full rotations in practice, landing wheels-down into a large "crashvat" made of used cardboard boxes, Rhys' final attempt landed him in the ICU. He failed to rotate completely after exiting the launch ramp with excess speed and overshot his landing zone, slamming more than 20-feet to the pavement-roof first-fracturing and compressing five vertebrae in his neck and back. In true stunt-man form, Rhys appears to have gotten extremely lucky-not only did his injuries prove to be non-lethal, but he is expected to make a full recovery in due time. He promises to be back behind the wheel as soon as his doctors will let him. www.rhysmillen.com

Without a doubt, the absolute greatest show on earth is Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey's Circus...when you're eight. But post-puberty and if your into cars of the Japanese flavor, there is none like the Tokyo Auto Salon. Size-wise, it's modest compared to SEMA, and no, it doesn't have any of the entertainment frills of an HIN, but what Auto Salon is, is pure, uncut, unfiltered automotive ecstasy.

Fans Who Attended D1GP's two-day season finale got double the amount of the world's finest drifting, as Irwindale hosted not only the organization's USA competition, but their All-Star World Championship, as well. Saturday's drift sessions pitted the series' best drivers against each other in tandem tsuiso-style matches to determine the best of the best. After 14 hard-fought battles, Atsushi Kuroi Met Last year's champion Nobushige Kumakubo in the finals, and despite clocking the fastest entry speed of the whole shebang-139mph-eventually fell to the newly debuted RWD Lancer after six rounds.

"Hey-a friend of mine at Shine Motorsports (www.shineautoproject. com) is hosting a meet this weekend to show off some new products. You should come out-there should be some decent cars going," previous 2NR feature car owner Wendy Cheng suggested to me in conversation the other day. "Is there going to be a bbQ? Yeah? Count me in!" I replied. Trusting her judgment, I set off for the Ontario, Calif., aero experts headquarters in hopes of getting the scoop on a few dozen cleanly modded rides. but, damn-I must have pulled in as car number 200 of about as many more to follow; Shine owner Ken Ching later put the estimate of attendees at well over 400 for the day. "We ran out of hot dogs in the first hour," he laughed when we met. Damn, again.

America's Tire recently celebrated the opening of their newest store by inviting area tuners out for an early-morning meet at the Huntington Beach storefront, complete with free food, BBQ and raffles. Promoted by s2k.com, the meet pulled an impressive number of S2000s early-on, as well as Evos, STis, and even the occasional spec Miata and NASCAR. One point of interest: Race-readiness represents a growing trend among SoCal's S2k tuners. Super Lap Battle racers fielding cars of other makes will have an increased threat to face come next season! www.discounttire.com

With all the B-spec and Honda meets you've been seeing coverage of lately, rest assured VIP tuners: We haven't forgotten about you! Neither has VIP authority AutoFashion, for that matter. Freddie Fernandez, the owner of your headquarters for all things luxury, recently invited tuners to his San Diego-based facility to show off their rides, eat some free BBQ and basically enjoy their scene outside the loop of competitive show circuits (barring prizes that were awarded by Junction Produce and Sessions CEOs). The meet was the first official one of many more to come, Freddie promises, which brought out the best of California's modified Japanese luxuries. Visit www.autofashionusa.com for total VIP details.

Some things in life are unavoidably made to be broken: Hearts, promises, girls' inhibitions and, more importantly to the scenario at hand, records. Not the DJ, Freaky-Freaky-Fresh type of vinyl records, but benchmark setting, achievement kind of records.

What the Cannes Film Festival is to cinema and Paris Fashion Week is to couture; SEMA is that, and then some, to the automotive aftermarket. With more than 2,000 exhibitors and 125,000 attendees in over a million square feet of space, it's a four-day gauntlet of all things car. But because most of you readers can't attend-it's an industry only trade show-we've acted as walking proxies, traversing damn near every inch of the show floor, to bring you back the 45 hottest aspects-and we mean ass-pecs-of the show. And believe us, it wasn't easy. After a whole lot of walking, photographing, drinking and deep consideration we narrowed it down to the top 10 wheels and tires, parts, models, and of course, our pick for the top 15 cars. This time what happened in Vegas didn't stay in Vegas-with the exception of a large chunk of what little cash (and liver) we brought.

No one expected the 2007 Formula D points race would leave three competitors jockeying for position all year, eventually to be deadlocked with each other coming into the final battle. But that's exactly what happened as Chris Forsberg, Daijiro Yoshihara and Tanner Foust marched their way into the "House of Drift", Irwindale Speedway, for round 7 of 7 of Formula Drift, with a mere 30 points difference from one another.

Pssst. Hey. Hey, you. Yeah, you. Come over here. I'm going to let you in on a little industry secret. When it comes to feeling the pulse on the hottest new tuning trends, there's only one show that insiders go to. And that's the Nisei Showoff presented by Falken Tires.

I know what you're thinking: lord knows we need another show series like we need another herpes outbreak. Whoa, put your Valtrex away. The SpoCom show was as standard a car show as Jessica Biel's body is run-of-the-mill female anatomy.