IRVINE, Calif. (Nov. 2, 2005) — Coming off a record-breaking 2005 season, the promoters of “Hot Import Nights” (HIN) have added a new format for next year's events.
Vision Entertainment, creators of what's billed as the largest lifestyle custom car festival in the nation—HIN and its counterpart “Hot Import Daze”—have introduced “Night Shift,” a format for select shows that will focus on street tuning and performance.
The company said the new format “combines all the traditional production and entertainment value” of HIN with performance and motorsports elements of this year's Hot Import Daze shows, including drifting, drag racing, stunt bikes, manufacturer test drives and kart racing.
The concept of Night Shift developed from taking the Daze event format and “shifting” it to night hours, adding headliner musical talent and bringing in more high-performance motorsports elements, the company said.
The new format was tried out in Phoenix this year, resulting in nearly doubling the anticipated attendance, Vision Entertainment said. That event featured Latin hip-hopper Pitbull, professional drifting exhibitions and a tandem drifting demo with 100-mph performance superkarts from the Bondurant SuperKart School, a sport bike stunt exhibition and showcase.
All Night Shift show stops will feature top drivers from D1, Formula Drift and other major players in the world of drifting as well as a first-of-its-kind stunt bike competition judged by Kane One and other industry experts.
The six planned Night Shift shows—in San Diego and San Mateo, Calif.; Austin, Texas; New Jersey; Chicago; and Arizona—will take place in outdoor stadiums, fairgrounds and lots from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. These events will be in addition to 14 HIN shows planned for various markets throughout the U.S. beginning next February and ending in September.