• Pit+Paddock takes its “Car Park Party” car meet series to Mishimoto headquarters in New Castle, Delaware – six miles south of Wilmington.
• Despite triple-digit temperatures, over 300 modified cars from neighboring states in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland attended.
• Mishimoto put on an “open box sale,” which was a hit as people could buy various cooling upgrades at huge discounts.
• The new carbon fiber intake designed for the G80 M3 and G82 M4 was displayed for BMW fans to check out.

Taking Pit+Paddock on the Road

At the beginning of spring, Pit+Paddock vowed to make an effort to step outside our bubble and create events and experiences that would cater to new markets and regions. Over the last few months, we’ve been doing just that with the introduction of our Ride with Dai drift ride-along experience and Cars+Coffee meets in different regions of the country, the last stop taking place in Texas. It’s part of our evolution as we expand into a new business model of being more than just a traditional digital media outlet but a full-on creative marketing agency. It’s been an incredible journey so far. With each project, we can’t thank the aftermarket car community and our industry partners enough for their support. This can be said about last weekend’s Car Park Party meet, which saw more than 300 modified cars and their owners travel to the second-smallest state in the U.S., Delaware.

Why Delaware

Not many people can say they’ve spent much time in Delaware. For many of the attendees that showed up to our Car Park Party, it was their first time “not driving through” to get to nearby states such as Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. The state’s population falls short of a million, and in the small town of New Castle, you’re looking at a city short of 6,000 residents. So why host a car meet in Delaware? First off, because no one really does. Second, we hosted the last two Car Park Party events at our usual home base, Turn 14 Distribution headquarters. It was time for a change. Third and most important of all, we partnered up with cooling specialist Mishimoto to have them open their beautiful headquarters to play host, and the result was better than what any of us expected.

The Heat is On

We mentioned earlier that we couldn’t be more thankful for the community’s support which rings true for this event. At the peak of this month’s summer heatwave across the nation, temperatures climbed to triple digits making an outdoor event not the most pleasant. But as five o’clock rolled around, the line of cars and packs of car clubs started pouring in without hesitation. We were shocked to find Mishimoto’s parking lots at capacity after only an hour of the meet. We also welcomed two rows of standout local builds that made up the center section of the Car Park Party, which included George Gomez’s Acura NSX, Devon Dice’s Mazda RX-7, and our very own Toyota GR Supra project car built in conjunction with R/T Tuning.

If the rad cars weren’t enough, Mishimoto displayed its latest products, including its sweet BMW G8X carbon fiber intake system. They also put together a last-minute “open box sale,” which slashed prices on all sorts of parts that had either been returned or slightly used. Throughout the evening, folks were eating up the unbelievable prices as we watched several happy customers walk back to their cars with big smiles and bright orange boxes.

What’s Next

With another event in the books, Pit+Paddock is looking forward to the next big thing: the second round of Ride with Dai at Formula DRIFT presented by Mishimoto on August 5-6. Our driver Dai Yoshihara will give fans ride-alongs in his 1,000hp Subaru BRZ at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Washington, for two days. And for those who couldn’t make it to Delaware, we’ll announce details soon regarding our end-of-the-season Cars+Coffee meet, which will return to Turn 14 Distribution headquarters.

From all of us at Pit+Paddock and our presenting partner Mishimoto, stay tuned, stay hydrated and stay cool this summer!

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