• Pit+Paddock’s SEMA Silver Lot display continued to be an industry destination, offering show attendees and exhibitors plenty to admire throughout the week.
• Two autograph signing sessions featuring pairs of automotive influencers, creatives, and racing icons brought in immense foot traffic.
• The first meet and greet allowed eager fans to grab signed posters from Larry Chen and Adam LZ, while the second brought Dai Yoshihara and Maaya Orido together for their own print signing session.

“How did they get there?” This is the pervasive question when people try to connect the dots with celebrities. There’s a myriad of details that summate their story, but you’ll find out rather quickly that the common denominator amongst most celebrities — at least in the automotive world — is hard work. As an agency, Pit+Paddock understands that better than most, but alongside that foundational commitment, we have always aimed to create one other crucial component: opportunity. 

In SEMA’s context, that opportunity manifested itself in two autograph signing sessions with some of the industry’s most coveted people. The first paired content creators and entrepreneurs Larry Chen and Adam LZ, and the second coupled stars Dai Yoshihara and Maaya Orido with one another. Their collective appearance at the Pit+Paddock booth built upon our already stellar reputation as a mandatory SEMA pit stop, and also gave avid fans a rare chance to meet their heroes, snap photos, and take home a signed print to commemorate the occasion.

FOUR MILLION STRONG

Tuesday afternoon at the Pit+Paddock booth was abuzz with anticipation. Our first autograph session welcomed Larry Chen and Adam LZ who have amassed over 4,000,000 YouTube followers over the years. But simplifying their impact into “just” YouTube would be a disservice; both have undeniably made a much larger stamp on the industry through their entrepreneurial talent, managing to marry their passions with an acute sense for filling important voids within the automotive industry.

At this point, Chen has been a mainstay of Pit+Paddock’s ascent since the early days and by extension, our Silver Lot booth at the show every year. Our location allowed Chen to take advantage of our plethoric hospitality to provide him with a well-deserved respite from his busy SEMA schedule. By contrast, LZ is a new friend to Pit+Paddock. After visiting him earlier this year for a tour of the compound, we kept the conversation going. Eventually, our teams found an opportunity to bring LZ’s incredible 4-rotor-powered A90 Supra to SEMA, and with it, an appearance with the man himself within our ever-popular booth space.

CHAMPION X RISING STAR

That pair was a tough one to follow, but the dynamic duo of Dai Yoshihara and Maaya Orido proved to be a formidable second act. The former is Pit+Paddock’s star motorsport athlete, Formula DRIFT champion, and Pikes Peak hillclimb wizard. Since his Formula DRIFT series retirement, the Japanese driver has diversified his seat time, juggling drift demos in our popular Ride with Dai ride-along series and successfully competing in TC America’s range-topping class in the Pit+Paddock Civic Type R TCX race car. In between those bouts, he’s managed to build a plethora of incredible projects, too, including the R33 GT-R (or “DAI33” as it’s affectionately referred to in enthusiast circles), which was a main attraction at our SEMA booth.

Maaya may have initially been known as motorsport legend Max Orido’s daughter, but she has successfully paved the way over the last few years, both for herself and other women who have sought entry into the world of motorsports. Her range of driving abilities continues to evolve — she’s only 23 years old after all — but she’s managed to intersect her passion for driving with building her personal brand through modern means: YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and strategic collaborations. As I mentioned in the Inozetek x Playboy Lamborghini Diablo GT feature, Pit+Paddock prides itself on being an integral part of rebalancing the industry in terms of equality, diversity, and the cultural discourse at large. Orido’s presence here is yet another step forward in this effort and we’re excited to see her career blossom.

GROWTH AHEAD

As our team, glowing reputation, and the opportunities that come with it continue to flourish, it’s rewarding to see that our industry access has followed suit. Simply put, this quartet of cameos aligns with our agency’s growth and we’re excited to see what 2024 has in store for us. Thank you to Larry Chen, Adam LZ, Dai Yoshihara, and Maaya Orido for reserving a bit of space in your busy SEMA schedules to spend time with Pit+Paddock.

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