NOPI finally returned to Phoenix, Arizona on March 18th and 19th, 2006 to kick off what turned out to be a great weekend of tricked out rides, half-naked women, and of course, insanely fast cars.
With the ominous threat of rain threatening to shut the show down nearly the entire weekend, mother nature opened the skies just enough to let the fans get their fill of all things NOPI. On the car show scene, the Nissan Infiniti Owners Club (NICO) returned for their second year displaying a number of tasteful Nissan's and Infiniti's at the heart of the show floor. Rapper Lil' Flip took the stage Saturday and truly upstaged last year's act by lending some nationally known ‘MTV' talent to the show. Although several spills, near wrecks, and even a few off-course adventures prevented the drag racing portion of the event from running anywhere near on schedule, other problems also seemed to plague many of the teams in attendance. Most of the schedule for the drag racing qualifying runs was also pushed back due to a few near catastrophes and broken down rides, including several that dumped coolant the entire length of the track.
    
The lineup of car show participants was staggering, with rows upon rows of tricked out rides setup just forward of the rows of trailers from the drag racing teams that actually made it out to the event. While we were expecting plenty of drag racing throughout the weekend, most of the time fans were too busy walking the car show, grilling dogs in the NICO tent, or watching the on stage entertainment courtesy of the NOPI Chics. Nevertheless, familiar names were definitely on hand with 2005 Pro 4 Cylinder champion Gary Gardella piloting the DuPont/Hot Hues Chevy Cobalt and Bryan Jimenez also in attendance with his new Chevy Cobalt. Phoenix would also be the first stop of a newly expanded 10-race tour, with new classes and cars as well as new partners such as RJR Reynolds, NOS Energy Drink and Torco Fuels. Even with the threat of rain and the issues from many teams on the strip, NOPI still managed to provide a great time for all in attendance and we hope that the tradition will be continued once again in Phoenix next year.
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