2008 USACi Finals Update: Details, Details

We've got updates on the USACi Finals move. According to USACi's President, Ralph Randall, Finals will take place at the state fairgrounds in Dallas and will move to Will Rogers in Ft. Worth for 2009. They will have 24-hour security on site, free trailer parking, and competitors that have to drive more than 500 miles will receive a discount on their entry fee.

1. Free secure trailer parking ($100 savings)
2. Clubs and groups can RESERVE space together @ no charge.
3. 20% entry fee discount (1st entry) for those traveling more than 500 miles.
4. Points cutoff will be extended to October 19, 2008. Invites will still mail on October 10 so those who qualify later will have to call in to register.

This will be both and inside and outside event. They will try to fit as many cars inside as they can, but space is limited, and this is finals after all - there will be a lot of cars! Power will be available and the USACi crew even said they would  bring generators if need be! For more info, follow the discussion over at the USACi forums: 2008 USACi World Finals Moved to Dallas, Texas. Thanks for the tip Murph and Ben!

Source: USACi Forums

Update: 2008 USACi Finals Moving Locations

Posted by: Brian Murphy, SoundDomain Moderator

USACI announced today that the 2008 USACI World Finals and Tuner Jam will be re-locating to the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas. Every effort is being made to keep the current dates. Event specifics including hotels will be updated frequently over the next week. Despite incredible efforts and input on behalf of the Omaha retailers and USACI, there were obstacles to the event in the Omaha market that could not be overcome.

USACI would like to thank Stereo West, Inphase Audio, Nebraska Furniture Mart, and Metro Audio for all their efforts. "While we at USACI are disappointed to be making a change so late in the season we welcome the opportunity to take USACI Finals back to Texas and develop a new venue" stated Ralph Randall, USACI's president. "We also have several forthcoming announcements coming about our new finals sponsors and the plans for our new venue!" he continued. These announcements can be expected over the next 5-7 days.

USACI has a very strong support base in the mid-south region that includes Texas and the move will undoubtedly increase not only competitor attendance but spectator turnout as well. Several manufacturers have already committed to support the event and we expect several more in the next two weeks. http://www.usaciworldfinals.com will be updated as contracts are secured. Please visit the site regularly.

in the forums!

Car Audio Nationals-- The Results Are In!

Car Audio Nationals took place the past weekend in Georgia, and the show was an amazing success. The competitor roster was full of the industry's top guns, and why not? With a $3500 purse on the line, who wouldn't want to try their hand! CAN took place along MECA State Finals and a USACi event, so there was no shortage of audio fanatics and experts on hand. CAN judging included one-seat and two-seat SQ judging, so competitors really had to bring their A-game. A special thanks goes out to Arc Audio for hosting the event.

We'll have pics up shortly from the event thanks to Team SoundDomain's own Jonathan "Thumper" Denton. And if you were there and had a camera handy, we'd be happy to add your shots to out gallery as well. And speaking of Thumper, big congrats on your 4th place finish! Not too shabby for a rookie....

We've got the full results posted after the jump, and you can join in on the CAN discussion in the SoundDomain forums.

Road To Tulsa - Day 4 & 5

By: Ben Vollmer, Car Audio Nationals/Team SoundDomain

After spending upwards of 18 hours on the road and in airplanes, we have finally come to the days that we made the journey for. Joe and I spent most of the day on Saturday judging cars for the USACi Regional Event, so much of the day was a blur to me with the exception of seeing a ton of cars. I think we judged about 35 or so cars during Saturday's judging.

The thermostat reached a heat index of 104, which lead to a bit of sweating for Joe and me.

The hardest part of the whole day? Deciding on the best cars for the USACi Portion of the show. I can't think of any recent occasion when there have been this many strong cars in a single location that wasn't a World Finals event from one of the competition sanctioning bodies.

The Money Round Judging was probably the most organized I have ever seen it in recent times. Each competitor was assigned to a group, and each group was assigned a time. I think the Money Round judging was done by about 11:30 or so on Sunday, which is actually ahead of schedule. By contrast, the USACi Judging wasn't done until about 9:30 on Saturday night. (Blame me for that...)

After the trophies were handed out, Andy, Rick and I headed out of Tulsa and back towards Memphis. We made it about 85% of the way before deciding to stop for the night. We made it as far as Lonoke, AR, which is as far as I could drive before I wanted to pass out. Our hotel was also the destination for some Gustav evacuees and unfortunately, we got gouged for a hotel room, which to me should be a crime. We paid almost as much for one night in this place as we did for 5 nights in Tulsa.

And the list of winners from the Tulsa Invitational are:

 

MECA Rocks Sound Quality @ Elite Summer Nationals

Elite Summer Nationals exploded at the Spartanburg Expo Center on Saturday, August 9th, with over 200 show vehicles and a huge crowd over 5000 for the 1 day event.  Drifting, a car/truck show with 150 entrants, IASCA sound-off contests, and MECA's SPL and SQL competitions were featured attractions.

The MECA Sound Quality League entertained 27 Competitors from 9 states, including 2007 Culbertson Cup winner/aka SQL Modex+ World Champ, David Timmerman from North Carolina.  Team Zapco was the prevalent factory team, with teams from Audison, Hertz, JBL, Memphis, Powermaster, and Xstatic represented by their best Competitors. Team Elite, as host team, presented many SQL Competitors that earned top spots in their classes.  Team SoundDomain was there with all five Team SoundDomain members there and three of us competing.