Revell Contest Judges

Judge: 16 & Over -Novice- Box Stock

I grew up in the DC area totally car crazy and spent many hours in the garage of my neighbor who had a 32 Ford BB/altered with a blown 371 Olds. Also helped a buddy run an old Chassis Research slingshot dragster in high school. It was old school even then ('69-'71), running a small block Chevy with Algon injection and a Cad Lasalle trans. It was a push start car with no reverse. Lots of exercise for he crew on hot summer nights in Maryland.

You might guess that I'm crazy about drag racing as well as land speed racing. I attend Speedweek every summer and spend many weekends each year either at Pomona, Bakersfield or Fontana.

I have been building models since the early sixties and even helped man the booth at the early Revell Testors shows at the D.C. Armory Ram Rods Shows. In the early 80's I discovered Scale Auto Enthusiast and over the years I have contributed numerous articles and have had several of my models featured.

As for my professional bio, I am a medical doctor specializing in anesthesiology and my hospital is located in Pomona California a few blocks from the NHRA Motorsports Museum and the Pomona Drag Strip. I have been very involved with the museum since its creation and have created many of the models displayed there.

Lastly, I am a working guitarist and pedal steel player and work most weekends in various bands around my area playing jazz, soul, country, and just about anything else.

Judge: 16 & Over- Unlimited Novice & 15 & Under-Box Stock

Some say their passion for cars began in their formative years, but it started much earlier for Jason. His dad moved the family from to Arizona in advance of the state’s population boom, creating the highest grossing Lincoln-Mercury dealership in the nation. In working at that dealership, Jason found his true calling, a lifetime of involvement with automobiles.

After college, Sakurai entered General Motors’ Management Training Program and became a district manager for Pontiac, where he took the worst district in the country to the top of 26 in the Western U.S. Later, while with Nissan, Jason co-authored the first extended service contract program for import cars, grossing $30 million in the first eight months. Next, as Western Advertising Manager for General Media’s Four Wheeler Magazine, he handled 200+ active accounts and $2 million annually in sales, the firm’s highest. Later, with Hachette Filipacchi’s Cycle World, he once again became the top advertising sales manager.

After a stint with The Designory, Jason founded Roadhouse Marketing, a marketing firm that creates and activates marketing campaigns, events, strategic partnerships, and develops automotive content for media properties. Accomplishments include re-focusing the NHRA’s Championship Drag Racing Series on TV to achieve profitability; creating flyaway and event promotions for the record industry’s MAP Promotions; initiating and managing multiple events for the TJ Martell Foundation, and creating promotions for clients from beverage marketers to ATV makers in NASCAR and ALMS to reach the target audience. A content provider to publishers and web sites, he has done so continuously for more than two decades.  Relocating to the Southeast, Jason currently handles sales and marketing for Stacey David’s GearZ, one of the most popular series on the Speed Channel, and product placement for the upcoming Snake And Mongoose motion picture from Rhino Films.

Jason earned an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Arizona State University, and pursued an MBA at ASU prior to being hired by General Motors. Having served as Chairman of SEMA’s Sport Compact Council (SCC), he has been on the Member Benefits Committee, the Import Performance Committee (forerunner to the Sport Compact Council, now the Street Performance Council), the SEMA Cares Committee, and the SEMA SBN Mentoring Program.