Photos by Travis Chin
The Kentucky Expo Center in Louisville, KY was the host location for the 2016 IASCA North American Championship (INAC). The 2 day event in mid-October had close to 70 SQ competitors and more than 100 IASCA SPL competitors from across the continent.
鈥淥nce again, our team did a great job and we are extremely proud of them鈥� said Moe Sabourin, Director of Operations for IASCA Worldwide 鈥淥ne of the toughest jobs in car audio competition is being a judge; most Judges know the competitors and have great friendships with them. When you鈥檙e judging, you have to turn off the friendship and focus on the rules, and ensure that everyone is following them. That鈥檚 not always an easy task when there鈥檚 so much passion and intensity in the lanes.鈥�
鈥淭his was our fifth year being part of the Unified Finals Championship.鈥� Sabourin continued to say, 鈥淲orking with great people like Wayne and Celise Harris from dB Drag Racing and Steve Stern from MECA, along with their judging teams, has proven to industry that our collective goal is the betterment of our industry; we鈥檙e proud to be part of the event. From the organizers to our industry members who supported us, we are looking forward to continuing this partnership for many years to come.鈥�
Title sponsor Alphard Sound Technology was on hand to show off their full lines of Machete and Deaf Bonce line with shelves full of products. Full Throttle featured Leslie Killian's lifted show stopping Ford 4x4 and Matthew Karlovic's Mazda built for sound quality. AAMP of America brought an Escalade stuffed top to bottom with Phoenix Gold while MMATS brought out their SPL demo van. In the Audio booth were two sound quality demo vehicles, winning multiple awards during the weekend. Other supporting vendors on hand were Beyma, Boom Mat (Design Engineering Inc.), DD Audio, Hybrid Audio Technologies, Incriminator Audio, Linear Power, Ohio Generator, XS Power, Dad鈥檚 Custom Car Audio, and Audio Specialists.
With close to 300 vehicles competing at the event, the Unified Finals Championship took up two of the main buildings at the venue, including the Pavilion and the Broadbent Arena. There were also competitors staged outside due to overflow and the logistics of the event went off without any major issues. In the sound quality building, there was no shortage of spotless vehicles with stunning installations featuring a lot of LEDs, plexiglass, and motorization. In the Broadbent Arena, SPL competitors were lined up across 6 lanes, making spectators feel the bass through their entire bodies.
IASCA鈥檚 top award, the Triple Crown given to the vehicle with the highest combined score of sound quality and installation, was won by Dan Merritt and his Dodge Charger. Loudest in the IASCA SPL lanes was Andrew McCain鈥檚 DD filled Chevrolet Astro van with a score of 170.6 db.
An IASCA satellite location was held at Sight and Sound Audio Connections in Centralia, WA for IASCA SPL events and scores were combined with those in Louisville to determine the North America Champions in each class and division. Although the Centralia location experienced a rainstorm most of the day, competitors and spectators enjoyed the event late into the evening.
IASCA would like to thank all the IASCA Judges who worked diligently through the weekend. In SQC and IQC competition, the team comprised of Head Judge Travis Chin (WA), Keith Turner (VA), Tim Goudy (AR), John Sketoe (AR), Jeff Smith (FL) and Christerfer Pate (TX). The IASCA SPL Judging team consisted of Head Judge Aaron Dunkle (FL), Tony Economou (FL), Scott Sinde (IL) and Brandon Rosser (MI). Thanks also go out to the registration and administration team, including Kim Sabourin (FL), Terry Floyd (AL), Kim Cook (AL) and the Judges spouses, Chelsea, Elizabeth and Jessica who also helped out with set up and worked hard at the show over the weekend. #pasmag
Contributor: Travis Chin ()
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