Wow, what a weekend! As we take a look back at this past weekend, it couldn’t have been better. This was our 19th year hosting NICOFest Carlisle, and we’ve seen some so-so turnouts, and some amazing turnouts, and this year was one of the best we’ve had. Absolutely amazing weather helped, as we had virtually no rain all weekend. Friday was a little chilly, but Saturday’s weather was absolutely perfect.
We saw a lot of familiar faces this year, but also a lot of new ones, which was great. Registrations went well as we had very few tech failures, which means everyone read the updated safety rules before arriving. Amazing!
For the AutoX, we had a number of seasoned autocrossers that usually compete in SCCA try their skills at our track this year. Clement Miller who lead the time chart last year with his 2020 Volkswagen Jetta, did it again this year securing the fastest run of the weekend with a 51 second time. The only car to crack into the 51’s, and he did it just once on Friday. Only two other cars managed a 52 second time this year, which were Nicc Suarez in a 2022 Hyundai Elantra and Nicholas Cuevas in a 2016 Mazda MX-5 with a 52.20 and 52.47 second time respectively.
Moving further down the list of participants were some other notable cars. Devin Heim had a nicely built 2014 Volkswagen Jetta TDI, which made you smile as you heard that turbo diesel spooling just driving through the paddock. Vincent Mitchell had a nicely prepped 1998 BMW 318ti for AutoX, as did Sam Operchyck in his 1994 Acura Integra.
We saw some new cars with old faces as well this year. Most notably, Tyler Steck returned with his newly acquired bright orange 2017 Lotus Evora, and Fayth Betke brought her new bright blue 2024 Toyota GR86. And speaking of brightly colored cars, Rebecca Johnson was back with her highlighter yellow 2019 Honda Civic with a perfectly placed and clean bumper sticker that makes us all giggle a little bit and think “yep, she’s one of us.” Bon Booher in his 1985 Chevy Monte Carlo was also running AutoX although his car is set up primarily for drifting. He might not have one of the quickest cars around the track, but watching him slide around the track in his boat and not hitting any cones is impressive. And his smile on his face makes us smile too. Easily one of the most entertaining vehicles to watch.
Moving over to the drifting side of NICOFest Carlisle, we had a lot of crowd favorites return. As mentioned, Bon Booher in his Monte Carlo returned, as did some other crowd favorites. Jeremy Melton in his 2004 Pontiac GTO put on a great show again, along with Andrew Popovich his his “melted” 1992 Ford Mustang. For the drift limbo, once again this year Dakota Elstun in his 2004 Nissan 350Z took the top spot, making it his 2nd year in a row to win the contest. Zachary Mangle was once again on the podium coming in 2nd in his 2001 Lexus IS300, and Dylan Moul rounded out the podium with a 3rd place in his 1997 Nissan Silvia.
Overall we had more participants this year than we’ve had in a number of years. It’s great to see the increased growth of this event. Next year marks our 20th anniversary of hosting NICOFest Carlisle, and we can’t way to do it big! We’re already making plans for it and can’t wait to see you there!
To see the full AutoX and Drift Limbo results, head on over to our 2026 NICOFest Results page! And a huge thanks to Clement Miller Photography for supplying the photos. Make sure to check out his site for even more pictures!