We did it again!  Three years in a row, NICO has been glad to be a part of the Cars at Carlisle Performance & Style car show. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the show, it is a car show for all makes and models.  However, if you come to the show and head to the back of the Carlisle Fairgrounds, you’ll smell burnt rubber, hear cars screaming at the top of their rev range, and see an extraordinary display of skill, as drifters and auto-crossers tear up the track.

If you like shiny stuff and loud music, the car show is for you. But if you like horsepower, adrenaline, and driving skill, you’ll probably end up hanging out in the NICO area all weekend. NICO participates in the show by offering a chance for everyone to autoX their vehicle, or drift it if you dare to try.

Months before the show began we set up a registration thread in the NICO forums to sign up for the track.  Although you had to pay to get your car into the fairgrounds, once in the track time was free if you had pre-registered.  For those that didn’t, it was only $25 for a weekend of as much track time as you could get in.

The amount of support NICO received was incredible. All kinds of Nissans showed up to track their cars, from Sentras to 350Z’s and from G35’s to Q45’s.  Perhaps more incredible  was the amount of non-Nissans that were drawn to the track.  Scion’s, Ford’s, Honda’s, Chevy’s—you name it, you probably saw it.

While Joel (Bubba1) manned the starting line, Stacey (sentrastace) helped get people signed in at the registration table. Seth (Eikon) grilled up some burgers and hotdogs for the participants, and the rest of the NICO staff helped out with tech inspections, security, and answering questions about the club. Even with all the help we had, there was still a line to get into the pits nearly the entire time. The NICO track event was definitely one of the biggest attractions!

NICO alternated the track set up throughout the day. Roughly half the time was set up as autoX, where anyone could test their skill driving through the cones. A minute flat seemed to be a good target for most, and a few people broke into that time bracket.  For others, although they may not have hit a minute flat, they still had fun trying to best their times.  When the track wasn’t set up for autoX, the cones were removed and the drifters had their go.  From first timers, to seasoned veterans, a variety of skill hit the track sideways. While 240SX’s seemed to be the most common on the track, some other vehicles made their way out there too. A few trucks even hit the track and made quite an impression on the crowd.

Overall, it was another great NICOFEST event. If you’ve never been to one, we encourage you to check it out. Each event we do has its own flavor, but each one is guaranteed to be a blast.  We hope you make it out to the next one, so see you there!

2009 NICOFEST Carlisle Image Gallery