Trifecta Finals - Event Coverage
by CAE, Mar 01, 2008
Casey Thorson: Though no one wanted him to be part of the judging team, the rest of the guys had to agree, as he is part of the CA&E staff. Of course it doesn't hurt that he's a former competitor and sound judge, and knows a thing or two about product. He doesn't just listen to the stuff; he's also helped design products for manufacturers in the past.
Ed Ng: A man of sophisticated tastes (for everything from food to fashion, fast motorcycles and great audio), Ed Ng has been our RTA man and SQ judge the last two years of Trifecta. You might think those peak dB readings are useless bonus points. In fact, they did have a significant impact on the final scores.
Chris Yato: He didn't help us at all with Trifecta this year! But he is a friend of the magazine and we consult him on occasion, so we include him here (and included him in the group photo) as a way of saying, "Thanks for being there." And hey, he may not have done anything, but yes, he was there.
(Stay tuned for the announcement of the '08 Trifecta schedule.)
Zee Siddiqi: Some of you may know him from Pimp My Ride; others may remember his cover car in the Dec. '06 issue of CA&E. Last year he finished third at the Trifecta Finals. Like Watkins will this year, he went from competitor to judge this past season. In addition to building cars for the TV show, he has been busy working on concepts and demo cars at GAS, including a vehicle for CA&E, soon to be featured in these pages.
Keith Turner: Turner is one serious dude. Those who know him may mock his penchant for wearing white tube socks with sandals or his lack of affinity for any really cool music, but what do you expect from a sound judge who takes his work seriously. Look for him on the SEMA episode of Overhaulin' wherein our Turner lends Foose his audio installation skills.
We started the year at Spring Break Nationals in Daytona Beach, FL. That's where we found Jason Syner's "homemade" Civic and selected him and his vehicle for direct entry into the Trifecta Finals at the SEMA Show. That was followed by our first regional event of the year at the San Antonio Texas Heatwave show. Indoors, without air conditioning, we sweated our way through the weekend but found last year's finalist, Wayne Watkins and his updated RSX and Jeff Kanes' 350Z. Due to an unfortunate accident, the 350Z built by Louis Gonzalez wasn't able to compete at SEMA. The Lowrider show in Portland followed and it was there where we discovered (or perhaps it was the other way around) Chris Roberts. No one had ever heard of the guy before but after seeing his center-drive Scion xB, everyone was wondering how many ultratalented cats like this are there in the wilderness of car audio country. If not for the wild horse, to play on a saying, Jojo Pagulayan, who finished in second place, would've taken home the $500 and First Place plaque for his yellow Supra, which was on display at last year's CES.
