A brief moment in history..... History Part 1

Team Mospeed was founded in 1996 by two good friends, John Morimoto and Jason Campbell. The original team consisted of John, Jason, Ricky Eng and Mikey Pomparo with its roots in the Seattle street-racing and import scene.

The goal of the team was to be the fastest and most reputable crew in the Northwest. Back then; we could spend hours and hours at one location, racing essentially all night until we felt like stopping. There were no cops, no stupid "FNF" kids, and nothing but fun. As the years progressed, Mospeed grew up and rapidly increased membership. In December of 1998 we had our first taste of mainstream success with a feature on Brian Rimmer's turbocharged Civic hatchback in Super Street. That was quickly followed by a first place finish in the street class at the inaugural NIRA races at SIR in the summer of 1999 (some of you are too young to even remember the NIRA or that Pacific Raceways used to be called Seattle International Raceways). With the increase in membership and notoriety, came an increase in responsibility. Mospeed soon moved from street racing to track and drag racing and to car show participation. To the dismay of some in the import community, we began being featured on King 5 and Komo 4 news programs speaking out against street racing and advocating sanctioned, safe, and legal racing at the track. Through John and Jason's leadership, Mospeed also hosted and organized numerous import community events; Toys for Tots-Christmas toy drives, 9/11 Car Wash, and the infamous ImportMix BBQ's.
The year 2000 brought the introduction of Emerald City Showoff, the first Northwest import car show. Team Mospeed organized and hosted the show to incredible success. Emerald City Showoff laid the foundation upon which all other NW import car shows would copy, emulate, or just plain rip-off. Following the success of Emerald City Showoff, a feature was done on Team Mospeed in TMR Magazine (old import heads know what magazine I'm talking about). Mospeed team membership grew to a peak of 25 show and race cars in late 2001. That year Mospeed ran the table, winning Best Team awards in every car show we entered, include the inaugural Hot Import Nights-Seattle and Import Showoff-Vancouver.
The following years brought plenty of success to Mospeed including a 2001 cover car feature in Max Power of Jason Campbell's Audi A4, Jason's car again featured in the blockbuster "The Fast and Furious", following Jason's success in 2003 was cover car feature in Super Street of the old Silver Supra which also won its share of awards. John Morimoto, retired from the team in 2002 to pursue other ventures and has since returned to the scene as a member of a new team, Team Menace, another competitive crew that we give major props to. The three other original members of Team Mospeed continue to provide leadership, support and structure to the team. While members have come and gone, the traditions of cars, friends, and fun have brought plenty of success to one of the Northwest's oldest and most respected import car clubs.


What goes up must come down, but being down does not mean out..... History Part 2

The import car culture in Seattle has expanded rapidly over the past several years. It is now an established component to the local automotive industry and accounts for a significant share of the local automotive aftermarket. With all the increased participation come new faces, new names and perpetual change to the landscape of the scene.

With all the changes, Team Mospeed is not immune to both growing pains and the need for retraction from time to time. When John Morimoto retired from the team in 2002, Nick Popko filled the roll as President of the team. Prior to Johns exit came a round of cuts from the team that had grown too large. Then over the next couple years there was a gradual increase in membership up through 2004, with the most recent members including Victor Joe and his very clean RX-7.

Mospeed today has yet again undergone a series of changes as the first generation of members are beginning to explore other aspects to life that consume time and effort that they no longer can put towards the team. Members who have moved on, we wish you well in all your future ventures as well as in life. We also look forward to when our roads may cross again. As of January 2005 Nick Popko has given the responsibilities of leading Team Mospeed to David Fotheringham, a member who joined in 2000 with his widebody MR2 and continues on today with the addition of his Scion xB.

-David Fotheringham

Are you interested in Joining Team Mospeed or want more info? Please email us!