As I mentioned in my live blog, after some funky cover music from a conveniently-named band called “The Rays,” Kia unveiled their Ray plug-in hybrid concept car at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show. But the story doesn’t end there. I’ve been to enough press conferences to know that generally they follow the same formula: a company executive comes on stage to wax poetic about the brand, then pull a cord from the ceiling to light fireworks and POOF! a car appears on stage for all to see. Kia decided to get a little bit more creative this time around. Follow me after the jump to find out how.

Before Michael Sprague, VP of Marketing for Kia Motors America, took the stage, they replayed their ad for the new Sorento that aired during the Super Bowl. Check it out below:

Catchy, no? As Mr. Sprague gets into his market share growth monologue, it was interrupted by a few hooligans on the left side of the stage. Who could they be?

Oh my, and they’re coming closer…

That’s right, Kia decided to crash its own press conference with the costumed ‘childrens toys’ from their latest ad.

How did they get to Chicago? Why, they drove all the way from Miami in the Sorento of course!

Naturally, they brought along a quick montage of their trip (similar to the commercial) with still photos from some famous locations, museums, etc.

But wait, said Mr. Sprague, where are the rest of the guys? All five of you need to be here to promote this shindig?

Whoops. Looks like the others decided to root for the wrong team this year, and they won’t be joining us anytime soon. Thanks for stopping by anyway guys! Now, off of the stage so Mr. Sprague can continue. You were saying? Ah yes, Kia has been very active in many forms of media, including motor racing. This year they’ll be fielding Forte Koups in the Grand Am’s Continental Sports Car Challenge series. The actual race car was on display next to the stage, and looked pretty good.

With that said, it was time to bring up the design team to introduce their new concept car. Massimo Frascella took to the podium with pad and pen to see if he could work his magic in front of a live audience.

As Chief Designer Tom Kearns narrated, Mr. Frascella went to work, crafting something that would encompass all of the eco-environmental elements that they were looking for.

While this was all scripted, it was still really cool to watch as he sketched the outline of the car, making you realize how much thought had gone into the project.

Is this the car you’re looking for?

This continued for a few minutes and sketches until they had mentioned each of the best features, including the flat underbody for smooth aerodynamics, and an extendable trunk lid to decrease drag at higher speeds. A lot of cool stuff in concept, but I’m not sure how much is actually going to make production (if any of it). Without further ado, bring out the car!

The headlights are one element of the styling that I would not be surprised to see on a future sedan or coupe from the automaker. They have a very nice outline, and their slanted appearance gives them a very aggressive personality.

Finally, they asked all of the designers in attendance to stand up and be recognized for their wonderful concept.

And that’s a wrap! No fireworks, but otherwise one of the more interesting and entertaining press conferences that you’ll find at an Auto Show. Thanks for following along, and be sure to share your thoughts of the presentation in the comments below.

Post updated with photos from each press event.

8:47am: I’m up in Chicago today for the first press previrew of the Chicago Auto Show. It should be a fun event, and I’ll try to update this live blog with my thoughts as the day goes on. Stay tuned!

10:20am: Toyota press conference just finished. New 2011 Avalon revealed, and will go on sale this Spring. Focus of the talk was on safety and the pedal fix. Avalon will have the fixed pedal already from the factory. Next up is Honda so we’ll soon see the what the new Odyssey mini-van will be like.

Below: Bob Carter, Toyota’s Group Vice President and General Manager, introduces the new Avalon

11:18am: Honda showed the Odyssey Concept, but pronised the production model would bow before the end of the year (my guess would be the LA Auto Show). Car looks good though with a much more curvy front and side. Photos to be uploaded later on from each press event. Next up is Chevy… not sure what is on for an unveiling this time. More to come.

Below: Vicki Poponi and designer Catalin Matei unveil the Honda Odyssey Concept (which seems to have a faulty fog light)

12:12pm: Time to break for lunch. At Chevy they had a new special edition Suburban and a new Silverado HD pickup. The Silverado looks pretty cool, and will have up to a 20,000lb towing capacity. No idea what you would tow that could be so big, but cool none the less. Later on is Kia and then Suzuki, along with other new stuff around the floor. I walked past the Corvette Gran Sport and it is wearing a very nice shade of blue. Definitely check that out if you come visit the show on a public day.

1:15pm: At the Kia stage waiting for things to get going. They have a cover band called “The Rays” playing stuff like Poker Face and Party in the USA. Guess it’s more hip than Toyota’s elevator music was.

4:28pm: Kia did a great job with their presentation. Suzuki was a bust so not much to say there. I’ll have to devote a whole other post to Kia, but suffice to say their new Ray concept car looks pretty neat. What may actually make production is a whole different story. More thoughts to come.

Below: Kia Ray Concept

5:42pm: A few more live notes before I make my way back to the airport again for my flight out tonight (and before my iPhone’s battery runs out!). In terms of new cars, there are a few others worth mentioning. Nissan and Infiniti made a reappearance at this auto show, after backing out of all but the NY show originally in 2009. They brought along the new 40th Anniversary 370Z and refreshed M sport sedan respectively. Both cars look even better in person than they did in the initial press photos. Mercedes also had the new SLS AMG gullwing on display – a car I’m still not quite sold on, but it is growing on me. Last but certainly not least, Ford unveiled the new Edge crossover in their presentation that occurred before the Toyota conference (I couldn’t see everything live). Sharing a lot with its sister Lincoln MKX, the Edge got a new front grille in line with the Fusion, and the new meters with MyTouch interface. It’s very slick, with almost no buttuns in the traditional sense. They don’t ‘press’, but rather a simple touch will activate the audio, climate, etc.

Nissan 370Z 40th Anniversary:

2011 Infiniti M:

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG:

2011 Ford Edge:

Thanks for following along with me today. Hit up the comments below to let me know if this type of live post is something you would like to see more of in the future.

While I was up in New Jersey covering the Formula Drift event for Performance Auto and Sound Magazine, I was also able to get the full scoop on Kyle Mohan’s latest creation for the same publication. This past year was the debut of his new Mazda RX-8 drift car. It’s quite a beast, and the white/camo livery carries on the tradition from his previous FC nicely. Pick up the Dec. ‘09 issue (cover above), or head on over to the website to get the full story. Follow me after the jump to see more photos from the shoot, including one that nearly cost me a camera!

The only time available to photograph the car was on Friday when things had been rained out. So, I strapped the rain sleeves on my cameras and decided to make the most of it.

And here is the man himself. He and his father were very accommodating during the shoot, and didn’t mind the car getting a little wet. Apparently it helped them find a leak or two on the interior!

But, that is not where this story ends. I had my rig with me, and was eager to use it since I had lugged it on the plane all the way from Tennessee. The result was a pretty neat shot, but I had to put my camera upside down beneath a dripping awning. By the time we got the shot, a few of the buttons on my 40D had stopped functioning. Luckily, I went at it with a blow drier as soon as I got home from the track, and everything was back to normal. Phew!

I mentioned in a prior post that my site allows me to track statistics about visitors. This is a fairly common feature for web hosts these days, and it is very useful information. It lets me know how many visitors I’ve had on the site, but not always how they got there. I’d like to recommend a new way to view this blog, especially for the smartphone users of the world. It’s called RSS, and while this is not meant as a ‘how to’ post, it should be enough to get the wheels turning.

There are many avenues for downloading an RSS feed, and they vary based on what device you use. For a personal computer, your website’s browser (read: Firefox), or Google Reader, are excellent ways. Simply clicking on the orange icon on the left side of my blog will pull up the feed, and your browser should let you add it right away. But what if you are on the go, and want to keep up with me? On the iPhone, there are many RSS readers available in the App Store. The one that I personally use (shown above) is called Free RSS Reader (link to App Store). Other applications also exist that include push alerts whenever a new post has been published. I do not not own a Blackberry, Palm, or Android device, but I’m sure that if you look around there is an RSS function available on those as well.

So why, if you have a smartphone with a web browser, would you want to use RSS anyway? For one, speed. The posts will download much more quickly this way, even on a basic 3G connection. Once they are downloaded, you will be able to read them even if you lose your connection. This is great for air travel, or other trips that you want something to do on but can’t access the internet. If you want to add a comment, or use a link within the post, there is a button that you can press that will send you quickly to the web browser for the full experience. It’s handy, and probably my favorite app to date on my own iPhone, so give it a try!

In an effort to reach out to more of you fans, I’ve finally gotten my act together and joined a few more of the social networks that grace our fine interwebs. As you can see from the little buttons on my side bar that popped up a week or so ago, I’m now a fleeting member of the twitterverse, and sport my own Facebook page. Clicking one of those will send you on over to the respective page, where you can add me to keep up with the latest happenings, and newest hot-off-the-digital-press photographs.

Also, my PBase galleries and flickr galleries are now more accessible than ever through the new links. Hop on over there when you’re through reading this blog to see even more of my work, and leave me a comment or two while you’re at it.

Last but very far from least is RSS. More to come on that in my next post.

Currently, I do a lot of my own advertising. I submit posts from this blog to stumbleupon, digg, etc., and I do some shameless promoting on the different social networking outlets (more on that later). But I was pleasantly surprised to see that others had stepped in for a change to show me, and my portfolio some love. MotorsportPhotographers.com is a website with the goal of spotlighting photographers that specialize in racing, tuner, or other general automotive subjects. It works on a submission only basis, and sites are reviewed by the administrator before making it to the limelight. I am honored to say that my portfolio was submitted, by an anonymous fan, to this site, and approved. If my stat tracker’s hit count is any indication, this probably happened around January 11th.

I encourage all of you this to give the site a look. There are many artists there whose work will simply make your jaw drop. Because I’m a generous guy who likes to spread the love too, I’ll even name a few personal pals to get you started: Brad Wood, Jeff Creech, Scott Chu, Steve Demmitt, Scott Dukes, Easton Chang, and Rick Dole. If you like their work, be sure to vote for it!

It’s time to close the book on 2009 as I look ahead to 2010. I was privileged to work with Performance Auto and Sound magazine on the Formula Drift Wall, NJ event, and the coverage went to print in the Oct. issue (shown above). I’ve noticed that some magazine racks run a little behind schedule, so be sure to check your local Borders or B&N just in case there’s a few of these still around.

Click past the fold to see some of my favorite shots from the weekend.

Friday’s practice session was cut short due to a large downpour that hit the whole NY/NJ area in the afternoon. I could see the clouds looming as I crossed the George Washington bridge in the morning on my way to the track. That didn’t stop a few drivers from putting on a show for the press photographers such as myself who braved the elements – the practice was not open to the public. I asked Robbie Nishida (below) afterwards what he thought of the conditions, and despite both his front and rear bumpers being torn off in the puddles, he thought it really wasn’t that bad.

NJ is home turf for Falken ace Vaughn Gittin Jr. and he was on fire the whole weekend.

Joon Maeng also had an outstanding weekend, beating out Ryan Tuerck in the round of 32. This ended up having huge implications on the overall points standings for the season, as Tuerck finished 2nd to Forsberg by only 6 points!

On Saturday during the early practice session there was still a little bit of standing water off-line on the track. This made for some cool reflections, as in the shot below of Kyle Mohan’s RX-8.

Tanner Foust didn’t have the best run in his Rockstar Scion tC, but it sure did look good when he had it sideways.

As the sun set in the afternoon, only one could stand atop the podium. That one was Irishman Darren McNamara in the Falken Saturn Sky. Gittin, and McQuarrie managed to make it a sweep for the tire sponsor in 2nd and 3rd places respectively.

Although I managed to catch a cold from standing in the rain all day Friday, the event was a blast and I look forward to attending again this coming summer.

Apologies guys – it turns out the 400 or so photos I’ve been churning on will take a little longer. In the meantime, enjoy a few highlights from the race after the jump.

Just wanted to throw up a little teaser before I get some sleep after a long day in the rain at Road Atlanta. I won’t give away anything for those who still haven’t emptied their DVRs, but needless to say it was quite a race this year. Check back on Monday for a full recap.

October is almost here, and my hometown team is a shoe-in for the play offs. I wanted to share this panoramic photograph that I took while visiting the stadium over the summer. It was constructed using 4 photographs taken with a Canon SD770 IS, then stitched in Photoshop CS3.

A part of me never thought I would like the new stadium, that I would always miss the narrow corridors and the extreme parking of the house that Ruth built. But in truth, the new stadium amazes in every way. I did one lap around the lower level just to take it all in, and I was staggered at how every seat looks like it is the best in the venue. Everybody wants to be right behind home plate, but in the old stadium the infield felt like it was miles away. Now all of the seats have a great view, including their own cupholders so you are not going to knock them over with your foot onto the guy infront of you during a home run cheer. It is just as mystifying, just as exciting, and a much more pleasant experience for all (including my mom). The more diverse array of food stands didn’t hurt either.

Hopefully the stadium will get to see its first World Series, to cap off its first year of life. October, bring it on!