Lucky 8: The JSK Auto Fun Run 8

Most numerologists love the number “8” because it sounds almost like how the Chinese pronounce the word “luck”. Thus, most Chinese, and even those Filipinos with a small amount of Chinese blood in their veins, consider the number “8” as a very special and very lucky number.

The 8th running of the JSK Auto Fun Run, which was held last November 24, 2018 and which culminated with a variety of activities at the Fontana Leisure Park in Clark, Pampanga, was no different. Note that the date was “24”, which when multiplied together (2×4) the product is 8. Luck was definitely with the organizers and the participants of the convoy because the weather was cool with only a mild drizzle in the morning before the auto fun run started.

More Fun in Each Run

The JSK Auto Fun Run is the brainchild of Johnson Tan, the proprietor of JSK Custom Paint and Body Works. “Uncle Johnson”, as he is fondly called by his friends in the automotive community, held the very first auto fun run in 2011 with just 70 of car-loving friends driving from Valenzuela City to Subic Bay in Olongapo.

The car convoy grew to 180 vehicles during the 2nd auto fun run in 2012; 300 vehicles during the 3rd edition in 2013; 510 vehicles in 2014; 1,059 vehicles in 2015; and 1,182 vehicles in 2016. When Fontana was temporarily closed in 2017, the auto fun run moved to the Subic Bay Convention Center, where 1,052 vehicles converged for the exciting activities.

Back to Fontana

With the reopened and newly-refurbished Fontana Leisure Park as their destination, the participants of the JSK Auto Fun Run 8 gathered at the SM City North Edsa parking building in Quezon City, mixed it up with the Saturday morning traffic on EDSA between North Avenue and the Cloverleaf Interchange in Balintawak, got into the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), and exited at the Clark North tollgate in Pampanga after driving almost incident-free for more than a 100 kilometers.

Driving alongside the convoy of 943 cars was like watching a car show, albeit a very fast and mobile one. Car lovers along the route of the convoy were treated to a feast of amazing vehicles ranging from classic to modern Mustangs, Camaros, a new C7 Corvette, sports cars, sport trucks and SUVs, big bikes, and the longest convoy of various car clubs you’ll ever see. When the convoy finally arrived at the Fontana Convention Center, the parking grounds turned into an instant car show venue!

Entertainment, Games and Prizes Galore!

The program for the JSK Auto Fun Run 8 was held inside the Fontana Convention Center where master rapper Andrew E. got the crowd all excited after a hearty lunch buffet. There were the traditional fun games like the hamburger-eating contest for the men, the hotdog-eating contest for the ladies, the longest line for the car clubs, and other fun stuff. The contestants for the male and female beauty contests were all bested by Renan Jade San Juan, who won as “Mr. JSK 2018” and Camille Magdayao, who reigned as “Miss JSK 2018”.

Car clubs MPH (1st Place), HCCP (2nd Place), and Team MAP (3rd Place) lorded over others and got generous cash prizes for winning as the clubs with the greatest number of participants. There were hundreds of prizes given during the raffle including flat-screen TVs, trips abroad, car accessories, wheels, tires, car care products, gift certificates, and many more, but the most anticipated was the raffling of the grand prize – a brand-new car!

Piyesa O Kahon

But Uncle Johnson did not just pick the grand prize winner from the tambiolo. The names (and numbers) of 14 lucky men and women from all the participants were drawn and then, the lucky 14 got to pick one of 14 pretty female models who were each holding a white box with letters that spelled out “J-S-K-A-U-T-O-F-U-N-R-U-N-8”. Most of the boxes contained prizes like tires, wheels, car care kits, gift certificates and the like, but only one box holds the key to the top prize – a brand new red 2018 Toyota Wigo from the Toyota Fairview dealership.

Whenever a participant came forward to reveal the contents of the white box held by the pretty model whom he or she had chosen, Uncle Johnson would then try to bid for the box using car accessories and additional cash, playing “Piyesa O Kahon”, a spin of the old popular game show, “Kwarta O Kahon”. There were tense and funny moments, but in the end, Dohn Javellana Nalumen of MPH car club held on to his white box, which contained the key to his new car.

More Than Just An Event

The JSK Fun Auto Run 8 named the late actor Paul Walker’s Reach Out World Wide (ROWW) Foundation and Bahay Kalinga of Valenzuela City as their charity beneficiary. “This auto fun run is much more than just gathering like-minded car enthusiasts for some fun, food, games, and camaraderie”, Johnson Tan stated. “The JSK Auto Fun Run is all about sharing all our blessings with those in need. We’d like to thank all our sponsors, especially those who keep supporting us every year since we started, our partners, friends, family, and people from the media, who made the JSK Auto Fun Run 8 another milestone in car club activities. We look forward in seeing you all next year as we drive towards the 9th year of the JSK Auto Fun Run!”

The JSK Auto Fun Run 8 was presented by SM City North Edsa, Fontana Leisure Resorts and sponsored by 10-Inch Lights and Sounds, Mad Films, S5S Auto Foil, Decal Republic, Slimmers World, Nitto Tires, Motolite car batteries, Holiday Spa, Manila North Tollways Corporation and SCTEX, Green Cross Incorporated, GTechniq, Monster Energy Drinks, Clark Development , Pioneer Mighty Gasket, Aikka Color Mixing Specialist, Karl Wash carwash services, Stage Line, Scarecrow House of DJ, Diamond, Auto Transporter race and show car carriers, Top 1 Synthetic Oil, X-1R Performance Products; Sea Oil fuels, RAW Performance, Back Stage Events, Hap Chan SM Manila, Jeff Abalos, Gas To Diesel Conversions, K92 Automotive Finishes, Meguiar’s, Auto Domain car accessories, SM supermalls, A-Toy Bodykits, Ben’s O.K. wheels and tires, Salon 360 International, A-Toy Customs, Jet Car, Icarus shirts, Team Loft 21Lights, the Zen Institute, Venteny Lifestyle Card, and Toyota Fairview.

The Participants’ Cars:

 

The Sponsor’s Displays and Booths: