June 29, 2010, Huntington Beach California – On July 11th, 1998, Rich Goodwin’s twist on the average car show changed the face of youth automotive culture. His car show creation, Hot Import Nights, ignited a multi-billion dollar aftermarket industry and that industry went on to spawn movies, toys, video games and even a shift in how OEM’s developed their vehicles. Now almost 12 years later and nearly to the day that Hot Import Nights was first produced, Goodwin is set to release his first new show since he sold Hot Import Nights in 2004. The show is called RPM and it will debut at Chicago’s Soldier Field on Saturday, July 10th and much like the beginning of Hot Import Nights, RPM is defying all the odds.
RPM was initially announced as a two event series, an outdoor nighttime show in Chicago, Illinois on July 10th and a daytime festival in Irvine, California on August 7th, but the overwhelming response to the show, despite the economy and despite the hurdles that have plagued tuner shows in recent years, the show has received tremendous support from the tuning community at large and that prompted a quick addition of two more indoor nighttime shows in Dallas, Texas on September 4th and San Mateo, California on October 9th.



“The response to RPM did not surprise us,” says Goodwin. “We felt as though over the past few years, shows were increasingly becoming more corporate, more about the concert portion of the show, and more about the models rather than RPM’s model of carefully blending those lifestyle elements into a show whose main focus is the cars, the enthusiasts and the industry that supports them.”
The show has quietly become the most anticipated show of the year and is gaining more and more steam. The show is on track to sell out on car show registration in Chicago and anticipated to be at full capacity. Similar success is taking place in all other cities as the tuning community rallies around this show.
“I believe that another reason for our success is that we are not trying to be all things to all people blending in all different types of vehicles and crowds or trying to blend a show and racing combination. We are one thing. We are a tuner car show and we are the only one out there these days” says, Forrest Melton, National Sales Director for RPM.
The excitement over RPM has lured in some pretty big names such as MTV’s Jersey Shore cast member and DJ, Pauly D who will be playing along with Hard House DJ’s Alex Peace and Mario Florek in Chicago on the event’s main stage.