Driven by the success of last year’s inaugural Big Northwest Subaru Meet (or “BigNW”), the folks at SubieEvents were more than glad to come back to Pacific Raceways for their second annual event.

Words and Photos by Armin Ausejo

Thankfully, this time the original plan was to hold the event at Pacific Raceways instead of scrambling to change locations near the last minute, thus BigNW didn’t have any conflicts with any other large events taking place at the track. The only other event that took place at the same time was a BMW/Mini track day, so the main vendor and show area was placed adjacent to the upper paddock area where the auto-x was held. This easily eliminated the long walk/short drive to and from the auto-x area last year. A fence separated the car show area from the vendor area, which to the chagrin of some people was once again on top of gravel instead of concrete. While the setup was a bit awkward for traffic flow, that didn’t stop well over a thousand Subaru enthusiasts from joining in the festivities.

The car show ended up being much larger than last year’s, with around double the amount of entries. Defending Best of Show winner Jamarri Whiteside was back with a new motor in his car, and contrary to often-heard criticism, he drove his car without a trailer all the way up from Oregon and back. While this might not put a complete end to some people calling his car a trailer queen, it definitely made them keep their mouths shut for at least this particular weekend. It was also a welcome sight to see some new cars in the mix at the car show, including a light blue fender-flared GC8 that still had “wet paint” under the hood, an old-school Subaru hatch with a supercharged SVX motor in the trunk, and even a Subaru-powered ATV.

In addition to the big Subaru auto-x, a new addition to BigNW this year was an exhaust contest, which took place right underneath the main NOS inflatable arches. A huge crowd gathered around each Subaru in line while a decibel meter decided the winner of the contest. Motor revving continued throughout the day well after the exhaust competition, ingraining the sound of the boxer motor into just about everyone’s heads for the rest of the weekend. With the sound of these motors, combined with the sea of Subarus in the main parking area, BigNW proved that the Subaru community in the Northwest is among the strongest in the area, and even around the country.  We definitely look forward to seeing what’s in store for next year’s event.

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