I recently found myself just north of Seattle, Washington, for Round 6 of the 2026 Formula DRIFT championship. The Pacific Northwest (PNW) is home to Microsoft and Turn 10 Studios – T10 being the developer and publisher of the Forza Motorsport series, along with its sister series, Forza Horizon. Given this connection, Larry, T10, and Type S saw it as the perfect opportunity to bring their audiences together for another Type S Night Lights car meet.
For anyone who doesn’t know, Larry hosts a few car meets each year with Type S ahead of select Formula DRIFT events to build excitement for the upcoming weekend of tire smoke. Type S is best known for making underglow lighting for cars. And if you haven’t already played Forza Horizon 6, Mr. Chen actually makes an appearance, where you can take on a few side missions with him and his cameras.
The PNW region mainly consists of Washington and Oregon, along with the southwestern part of British Columbia. While I’m fairly familiar with the car culture here thanks to Wekfest Seattle, it wasn’t until this meet that I experienced it in all its glory. While I wasn’t quite expecting a Wekfest-level turnout, I was amazed by Night Lights’ sheer size and the variety of cars on show.
This was partly down to Type S implementing – for the first time – a vehicle submission process for entrants, allowing the team to ensure a good mix of quality builds, not to mention a cap on numbers to keep things manageable.
My favorite part of these events is roll-in. It’s a fun way for me to catch as many of the cars as possible, all stacked up alongside each other as owners wait to show their QR codes and get into the show lot. It’s also a great opportunity for me to move around and capture a few images that aren’t in a parking garage. The streets become completely congested, which the locals don’t seem to love, but I think it’s fine. A single evening where car enthusiasts get together to hype each other up about their builds doesn’t hurt anyone.
Being that the meet was held at the Turn 10 Studios parking garage, a large portion of the Forza team was also present, which gave me the chance to chat with some of their PR staff and game designers. It felt like the perfect way for them to experience a small slice of the community they cater to through the Forza titles. I’d also like to think that a good few of them used the event as an opportunity to do some light research and see which performance and styling trends local car enthusiasts are currently leaning into.
Type S Night Lights usually start around sunset and run into the dark. Depending on the venue, lighting can be hit or miss, but the Type S team has been on point over the last two years, making sure the event locations are adequately illuminated. It also helps that a good selection of the cars that show up have some form of underglow.
Speaking of the selection of cars, we had a bit of everything. McLaren Seattle showed up with a few 750S supercars, which were parked at the Type S booth. Toyota also linked up with the local PNW Gazoo Racing club to bring out plenty of cars, resulting in an influx of GR Supras, GR86s, and GR Corollas. It seems like we’re right back in the ’90s, with Toyota sports cars once again being so popular in the enthusiast space. I couldn’t even count the number of GR86s in the lot, each with its own modifications to set it apart from the others. My favorite? A monster truck-inspired build.
The event went smoothly, with local police on standby to make sure no one made decisions they’d later regret. A few pops and bangs echoed through the lot as we headed out into the night.
Night Lights meets have become a favorite of mine, and with more on the horizon (sorry) this year, I can’t wait to see where Type S and Larry head next.
