I’d like to start by clarifing a few things, before we move on. First, Motorsport Nationals (M N for short) is being run by a different group of people than Nopi. The M N people were involved in the Nopi shows, but they are not Nopi employees. They are taking a HUGE risk in having a car show in the wake of Nopi’s cancellation, but if we can get behind them it will be good for all of us.

Next, my opinions. The market for most car-related things is slim right now, why are we thinning it out by having multiple shows? The nonopi people should throw their support behind M N, just like the rest of us. The goal with this show has been to experience everything that the tuner market is; show cars, drag racers, drifters, road race, and time attack. This is not about one type of car, or one angle of the tuner scene, but rather it is about gathering together as car nuts to celebrate what we love. Horsepower.

For history’s sake, let’s look back at what has made our culture. In the beginning there was the Volkswagen Beetle. The 1600cc beetle has been more heavily modified than any other car since. And it continues to be, too. Nopi’s beginnings seed with this car. The Beetle is the first car to have a multitude of aftermarket parts for it, mostly German. Nopi was a gas station and garage that began importing the parts and modifying the cars. The first Nopi Nationals show was essentially a beetle show. Fast Foreward to 2002, when The Fast and the Furious debued.

This movie, along with the growing subculture of people modifying their sport compact cars blew up that summer, and huge numbers of people were buying into it. The products in the movie saw anywhere between 50% to 500% increase in sales the next year (that’s a LOT of NOS). The next year saw the advent of the Nopi Drags and soon Race Wars (or however the race series was called). The rest, as they say, is history. Read it in the back issues of Super Street, Sport Compact Car, Eurotuner, Turbo, Performance Audio and Sound, and Modified Mag, just to scratch the surface of the publications on our sport.

I’m not saying all good things come to an end, there are over 100,000 of us out there, and we can take this as far as we want with it. I say, let’s get behind Motorsport Nationals and show everyone who is watching that we can meet, and support the industry!

I will be attending with my 2006 Corolla S…..I placed 2nd last year….who knows what will go down this year!

Look at the show that is replacing the NOPI Nationals in Atlanta the same weekend.

http://www.motorsportnationals.com

It will be an awesome event!!

It’s not canceled, just renamed!!! Same guys that put it on before and same stuff… http://www.motorsportnationals.com

This really sucks, once I started attending this show I just skipped all of the local shows up here in CT, NOW WHAT, where am i gonna get my trophies from? Always had something to look fwd to in Sept NOPI and the SS Tour before the crappy NewEngland wether would set in………Hell I even went on the 98,00,02,03,04,05,06 Tours since it was the closest to a Canonball Run for SportCompacts that you could get not 2 mention the 3 NOSPEEDLIMIT laps on the ATL Speedway…….every year the show got BIGGER AND BIGGER so how it came to this, has to be something more than the weather and economy.

looking for somthing to do september 20,2008

check out http://www.nonopi.com

do it big!!!!!

Well I have been thinking that sometihng like this was going to happen with NOPI in the next couple of years but not this year. The last 3 years the local shows have been smaller and smaller and the lack of venders and booths has been really felt at these shows and even at Nationals. Last year while there were a bunch of venders at Nationals it felt like it was 25 to 50% less then years before. Also the fact that even the SuperStreet Tour was cut in 1/2 last year and made into only a one day event seemed to spell and end to the NOPI events as we knew them.
I do feel that NOPI has gotten away from their core supporters. It was all about the show cars and the Tuner “lifestyle” but now it is all about the drag races and drift series. If you watch NOPI Tuner Vison you will spend 50 to 65% of the show watching dragging or drifting. Another 25 to 30% about some model and what she really wants out of life and at best youll see a highspeed walk through of like 3 show cars.
The only reason Nationals was still a great show the past 2 or 3 years is the fact that it is so HUGE!!! It was so big that if 1/2 of the cars werent there then you would still have a hell of a show.
I hope NOPI pulls it all back together, I really do. We need all the big shows and events we can get and lossing NOPI is a huge kick in the head for the show cars and even those drift idiots.

Looks like Hot Import Nights is going to take over now, I am sure they will step it up.

To the first commenter who wasn’t brave enough to leave his name: If you’ve been on here long enough, then you know that the CarDomain’s People’s Choice Awards are voted on by members, not CarDomain staff.