I would like to use this thread for several purposes. First to thank all those who worked so hard to make NSXPO 2013 a success. Also to recognize the many sponsors who contributed funds, products and facilities to help subsidize the event. I will be posting official results and scores for the Concours d' Elegance winners - 1st and 2nd place positions for all 10 classes. Also to thank those who attended NSXPO and made this event successful. And finally to allow those who have some comments and recommendations for making next year's event even better.
First and foremost three individuals that were key to the success of NSXPO 2013…and a little bit about why.
Steve LaClair was chief instigator and got me seriously involved. He is fairly new to the NSX community, however has a long history of track activities, primarily with his Integra. He had the idea for an NSXPO in the vicinity of VIR and started the ball rolling. He got me involved and committed and assumed responsibility for the entire track portion of NSXPO 2013.
Carla Lebentritt - during the many months leading up to NSXPO, there was hardly a day that I didn't exchange one or more e-mails with Carla (Pooh to those of you on Prime). And on those days that I didn't have an e-mail from Carla, I started to get concerned. But then I realized she had a business to run and purchased a new home (with a GREAT garage and business space) during this period and had to sell a house and make a move while preparing for NSXPO. She made a trip down to Raleigh early on to see the hotel facilities and participate in a food sampling. That was great fun and we actually had difficulty narrowing down our selections from several great entrees from the Hilton Garden Inn banquet Chef. Carla served as chief advisor, consultant and guru for NSXPO 2013.
Doug Danuser, VP at HondaJet, a Honda/Acura veteran (24 tears) and avid NSX owner/enthusiast. As mentioned during the banquet on Saturday night at NSXPO, I met Doug at a car show at Foreign Cars Italia, and that changed the course of history for NSXPO 2013. Doug worked tirelessly during the months leading up to NSXPO on many fronts. He is well connected with Acura/Honda and is the primary reason that Ted Klaus was alerted to NSXPO and made the decision to come participate in our annual event.
While not corresponding with me every day, Bob Ondrovic and Don Lebentritt actively supported everything that Carla, Steve and I were doing in preparing for NSXPO. There were so many things from the pair of them, that it would be difficult to enumerate them all.
Additionally, Larry Bastanza and Ken Gladden who served in various ways during the process. Ken even served as one of the judges for the Concours event and helped to make this the professional event that it was.
Our many sponsors - some who participated in helping to fund our event, either with dollars or products for auction. Included are Science of Speed, Autoworks, CT Engineering, Pride Exhaust, Vince's Autobody, Foreign Cars Italia, Hagerty, and A.S. Motorsport and Meguiar's. Others who both funded and actively participated in NSXPO itself - Brian Urlage of Source 1, Wei Shen Chin from Chin Motorsports, Darrin Paley from Croftgate USA and Michael Dobbins from XPEL. These sponsors help to subsidize our NSXPO event, keeping the cost to a minimum for NSXCA members attending, as well as serve up important products and services during NSXPO and throughout the year. Please thank them at every opportunity and especially by using their products and services.
NSXPO 2013 would not have been nearly as successful as it was without the hospitality and service from our host hotel, the twin facilities of the Hilton Garden Inn and Hilton Doubletree. When I first started evaluating hotels in the Raleigh area - there were many that fit the requirements - banquet facilities, good parking areas, easy access to major highways, nice accommodations at reasonable pricing. I was looking for a newer facility. The Hilton Garden Inn and Doubletree met every criteria and then some. The Hilton Garden Inn is one of very few HGI hotels in the country with banquet facilities. When I saw that we could park right outside the reception/banquet area with glass running the entire exterior of the building - I was sold. After a few meetings with Laureen Trainor - Sales Manager for Parks Hotels (who own and operate both hotels) I knew we were going to have a great experience. In future meetings I met Jo-Anne Paradis - Catering Manager, Amulya Singh - General Manager and Doreen Turgeon . Each and every one of these senior staff managers were actively participating in our event - there was not a minute during the event that one or more of them was not on duty supporting the hotel activities that were a part of NSXPO 2013. Some of them actually stayed over night at the hotel during our weekend to make sure they were available. You might not have realized it, but every meal we had, except for the box lunch at Foreign Cars Italia on Saturday afternoon was served by the hotel. I probably don't have to tell you that at most hotels, that would have been near disaster - both from the standpoint of food quality and service. Every person at the hotel that had some hand in our event - from the General Manager to those busing the tables after our banquets, had a CAN-DO attitude that made every event move smoothly with perfection. I can't thank the hotel staff enough for their part in NSXPO's success.
The Concours d' Elegance competition judges who very "judiciously" examined each and every NSX submitted for competition were Russell Fluery, James Payne, M-P Spierer and Michael Slobodnyak (former owner of my NSX). All of these judges are either current or former NSX owners. Russ has a long Porsche history and actually tutored the tour guides for the Porsche by Design exhibit. I thank them all for their diligence during the judging.
And last, but certainly not least I'd like to recognize the local NSX owners and NSXCA members who served in various capacities to make this event happen. There were many things too numerous to mention - but a few stand out and deserve recognition - my wife Terri -not only did she pitch in and do a lot for this event, but she tolerated a lot of hours less of my time. My brother Dave (combatdad - '99 NSX) who spent the whole week ahead of NSXPO with me getting all of the loose ends tied up. Wayne Bunting who handled the food service at Foreign Cars Italia -Steve Gooding (and his family) who helped handle registration and the Tech Session - Tom Baranek, Ron & Taylor Hewett who checked and rechecked the Winding Road Rally. Darrin Paley who organized and actively participated in the car washing and detailing operations. The other members of our NSXPO 2013 committee, and who served in various capacities before and during the event include Jeff Hutchinson, Russ Percenti, Michael Christian, Berry Fairly and Robbie Smith.
By the way, they all came up to me after NSXPO and said, let's do this again next year, this time with sunshine!!!
Look for additional information soon about the Concours results and other important aspects of NSXPO 2013. Hoping to see you all next year!
John Komar - Co-Chair NSXPO 2013
First and foremost three individuals that were key to the success of NSXPO 2013…and a little bit about why.
Steve LaClair was chief instigator and got me seriously involved. He is fairly new to the NSX community, however has a long history of track activities, primarily with his Integra. He had the idea for an NSXPO in the vicinity of VIR and started the ball rolling. He got me involved and committed and assumed responsibility for the entire track portion of NSXPO 2013.
Carla Lebentritt - during the many months leading up to NSXPO, there was hardly a day that I didn't exchange one or more e-mails with Carla (Pooh to those of you on Prime). And on those days that I didn't have an e-mail from Carla, I started to get concerned. But then I realized she had a business to run and purchased a new home (with a GREAT garage and business space) during this period and had to sell a house and make a move while preparing for NSXPO. She made a trip down to Raleigh early on to see the hotel facilities and participate in a food sampling. That was great fun and we actually had difficulty narrowing down our selections from several great entrees from the Hilton Garden Inn banquet Chef. Carla served as chief advisor, consultant and guru for NSXPO 2013.
Doug Danuser, VP at HondaJet, a Honda/Acura veteran (24 tears) and avid NSX owner/enthusiast. As mentioned during the banquet on Saturday night at NSXPO, I met Doug at a car show at Foreign Cars Italia, and that changed the course of history for NSXPO 2013. Doug worked tirelessly during the months leading up to NSXPO on many fronts. He is well connected with Acura/Honda and is the primary reason that Ted Klaus was alerted to NSXPO and made the decision to come participate in our annual event.
While not corresponding with me every day, Bob Ondrovic and Don Lebentritt actively supported everything that Carla, Steve and I were doing in preparing for NSXPO. There were so many things from the pair of them, that it would be difficult to enumerate them all.
Additionally, Larry Bastanza and Ken Gladden who served in various ways during the process. Ken even served as one of the judges for the Concours event and helped to make this the professional event that it was.
Our many sponsors - some who participated in helping to fund our event, either with dollars or products for auction. Included are Science of Speed, Autoworks, CT Engineering, Pride Exhaust, Vince's Autobody, Foreign Cars Italia, Hagerty, and A.S. Motorsport and Meguiar's. Others who both funded and actively participated in NSXPO itself - Brian Urlage of Source 1, Wei Shen Chin from Chin Motorsports, Darrin Paley from Croftgate USA and Michael Dobbins from XPEL. These sponsors help to subsidize our NSXPO event, keeping the cost to a minimum for NSXCA members attending, as well as serve up important products and services during NSXPO and throughout the year. Please thank them at every opportunity and especially by using their products and services.
NSXPO 2013 would not have been nearly as successful as it was without the hospitality and service from our host hotel, the twin facilities of the Hilton Garden Inn and Hilton Doubletree. When I first started evaluating hotels in the Raleigh area - there were many that fit the requirements - banquet facilities, good parking areas, easy access to major highways, nice accommodations at reasonable pricing. I was looking for a newer facility. The Hilton Garden Inn and Doubletree met every criteria and then some. The Hilton Garden Inn is one of very few HGI hotels in the country with banquet facilities. When I saw that we could park right outside the reception/banquet area with glass running the entire exterior of the building - I was sold. After a few meetings with Laureen Trainor - Sales Manager for Parks Hotels (who own and operate both hotels) I knew we were going to have a great experience. In future meetings I met Jo-Anne Paradis - Catering Manager, Amulya Singh - General Manager and Doreen Turgeon . Each and every one of these senior staff managers were actively participating in our event - there was not a minute during the event that one or more of them was not on duty supporting the hotel activities that were a part of NSXPO 2013. Some of them actually stayed over night at the hotel during our weekend to make sure they were available. You might not have realized it, but every meal we had, except for the box lunch at Foreign Cars Italia on Saturday afternoon was served by the hotel. I probably don't have to tell you that at most hotels, that would have been near disaster - both from the standpoint of food quality and service. Every person at the hotel that had some hand in our event - from the General Manager to those busing the tables after our banquets, had a CAN-DO attitude that made every event move smoothly with perfection. I can't thank the hotel staff enough for their part in NSXPO's success.
The Concours d' Elegance competition judges who very "judiciously" examined each and every NSX submitted for competition were Russell Fluery, James Payne, M-P Spierer and Michael Slobodnyak (former owner of my NSX). All of these judges are either current or former NSX owners. Russ has a long Porsche history and actually tutored the tour guides for the Porsche by Design exhibit. I thank them all for their diligence during the judging.
And last, but certainly not least I'd like to recognize the local NSX owners and NSXCA members who served in various capacities to make this event happen. There were many things too numerous to mention - but a few stand out and deserve recognition - my wife Terri -not only did she pitch in and do a lot for this event, but she tolerated a lot of hours less of my time. My brother Dave (combatdad - '99 NSX) who spent the whole week ahead of NSXPO with me getting all of the loose ends tied up. Wayne Bunting who handled the food service at Foreign Cars Italia -Steve Gooding (and his family) who helped handle registration and the Tech Session - Tom Baranek, Ron & Taylor Hewett who checked and rechecked the Winding Road Rally. Darrin Paley who organized and actively participated in the car washing and detailing operations. The other members of our NSXPO 2013 committee, and who served in various capacities before and during the event include Jeff Hutchinson, Russ Percenti, Michael Christian, Berry Fairly and Robbie Smith.
By the way, they all came up to me after NSXPO and said, let's do this again next year, this time with sunshine!!!
Look for additional information soon about the Concours results and other important aspects of NSXPO 2013. Hoping to see you all next year!
John Komar - Co-Chair NSXPO 2013
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