We stumbled into the second day of the 2009 SEMA Show a little hung over, a little beat, but mostly ready to field whatever curveballs came our way. First on our hit list was the press conference Scion was putting on to announce the winner of this year's xB Tuner Challenge.

The challenge brought together three innovative and creative visionaries: Brandon Leung and Bowls LA, Peter Colello and Mummbles Marketing, and Eneri Abillar, who worked with Leigh Guarnieri from BRS Autodesign. Each was handed the keys to a Scion xB to modify however they pleased, and a cool $10,000 in prize dough was up for grabs for the winner.

Scion veep Jack Hollis announced that this year Colello would take top honors with his well-rounded Teal Blue Pearl show car. The project spec sheet includes grip like a wide-body kit and copious amounts of carbon fiber in the hood, hatch, wing and custom roof. Other elements include a turbo kit, air-ride suspension, TRD exhaust, and an over-the-top in-car entertainment system, one of Colello's signatures.

Runner-up was the Bowls pick-up truck entry done by Brandon Leung. Bowls took design cues from a 1970 Toyota Crown pickup truck, which was never released in the U.S., and a matching custom Honda Ruckus scooter was also created and sat in the bed. The feel of the xB is total '70s Southern California, and Bowls incorporated several trick elements to the project besides the truck conversion. This build was done entirely in-house at Advanced Design Fabrications (ADF) with the help of Eric Toyoshiba and Eddie Estrada.

Abillar came in third, but his xB was no less brilliant than his competition's. A designer representing an eclectic background that bridges street culture and high style, highlights of his project vehicle include custom turbo charge plumbing and downpipe, custom wood floors and rear seat, and an in-car entertainment system by Creative Car Audio and Motorsports that includes a listening station with Apple iPods.

Later in the day, Ryan Sage and Jim Liaw from Formula DRIFT stepped up to the mic to clue in the world to its 2010 agenda. We were a bit surprised to hear that 2009 was the series' best year yet, considering the tough economy, and next year looks to be very similar to the season that just ended (if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?)

FD's pro championship will be hitting the same seven venues as 2009, and will again employ two day-long events and a 32-car opening round to the tandem field. New machinery to purportedly hit the track in 2010 includes Conrad Grunewald's Hankook-backed Camaro, Michael Essa's BMW 335i, and Dynamic Autosport's R35 GT-R, also shod in Hankook rubber.

UrbanRacer will again be back as producers of the series' official fan guide, our third in a row, and NOS Energy Drink will apparently be the official energy drink of FD in 2010.

A handful of cool developments are also on the horizon. The series is working on providing live streaming from each event, and more international demos are also being sorted out. Perhaps coolest of all, Formula D is working on an Asian championship that will consist of contests in Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, and it's also hoping to have another drifting world championship - like the Red Bull event last year - at the end of 2010.

Time for a beer - come on back for more SEMA madness tomorrow!

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