2016 Tuner Battlegrounds Championship: Stage 1

In Stage 1, the elimination process begins to seed 32 additional competitors with newly registered/qualified submissions for the 2016 Tuner Battlegrounds Championship and 2016 Tuner Battlegrounds #TBGLIVE competitors that have not accumulated enough points in the 2016 Tuner Battlegrounds #TBGLIVE season. Online voting takes place between September 6, 2016 (12:00 PM EDT) and September 12, 2016 (12:00 PM EDT) to narrow the total number of competitors to 64 at the end of Stage 1. The Top 64 competitors advance to Stage 2, the head-to-head battles.

The annual PASMAG Tuner Battlegrounds Championship competition provides automotive enthusiasts with an opportunity of a lifetime - to compete against other passionate enthusiasts in North America* for the ulitmate award: to be featured on the cover of PASMAG. Hundreds of enthusiastic competitors register each year but only 1 will be left standing. Seeding for the 2016 Tuner Battlegrounds Championship began immediately, and inclusion and placement for the Top 64 depended on votes earned throughout the 2016 Tuner Battlegrounds #TBGLIVE Season (February 1, 2016 - September 5, 2016). The #TBGLIVE competitors were seeded 1 to 32 in relation to their total number of votes accumulated in the 2016 Tuner Battlegrounds #TBGLIVE Season, while the remaining 32 were decided in the Stage 2 round of Stage 2. Between September 6, 2016 and October 18, 2016 weekly online voting took place to narrow the final competitors to 2 (two), one round after another. Read HERE for more details.
*Contiguous United States or any province in Canada.

CHAMPIONSHIP AWARD
PASMAG COVER FEATURE
+ CUSTOM SET OF NICHE ROAD WHEELS
+ SET OF BFGOODRICH TIRES
+ CUSTOM TROPHY FROM NOSTALGIC GRAINS

2016 TUNER BATTLEGROUNDS CHAMPIONSHIP
STAGE 1: ELIMINATION
#WILDCARD
Schedule: Sept 6, 2016 (12:00 PM EDT) - Sept 12, 2016 (12:00 PM EDT)
To vote in Stage 1, connect with your Facebook login, select a competitor then click the YELLOW STAR on the top of their competitor profile page. Voting is limited to 1(one) vote per Facebook account per 24 hours of the posted qualified Competitors. The Top 32 #WILDCARD competitors advance to Stage 2: Top 64, the head-to-head battles.
*Vote totals reset to 0 (zero) at the end of stage.
*Standings will be updated on Sept 7-12, 2016 between 12:00 PM and 3:00 PM EDT.

TOP QUALIFIERS
1. Erik Diener (1996 Acura Integra): 513 (A)
2.Matthew Ambrosino (2003 Nissan 350Z): 437 (A)
3. Keith Jarvis (2002 Chrysler 300M): 406 (A)
4. Kyle Harper (2008 Nissan 350Z): 290 (A)
5. Alex Delatorre (2005 Infiniti G35): 271 (A)
6. Hideki Fernandez (2013 Acura TSX): 240 (A)
7. Eric Guerette (2002 Subaru WRX): 220 (A)
8. Adam Baumel (2002 Audi TT): 190 (A)
9. Antonio Wood (2011 Acura TSX): 176
*TOP 32 #TBGLIVE* Aaron Cloa (1992 Nissan Skyline): 150 (A)
10. Brent Callow (1998 Subaru Legacy): 135 (A)
11. Garrett Jarboe (2015 Subaru BRZ): 133 (A)
12.Brittany Sanderson (2002 Subaru WRX): 119 (A)
13. Jarvis Smith (2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer SS): 119 (A)
14. Damien Grant (2006 Subaru STI): 119 (A)
15. Dallen Hostetler (2013 Scion FR-S): 103 (A)
16. Matt Ericksen (2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse): 102 (A)
17. Voltaire Cacal (2010 Nissan Maxima): 90 (A)
18. Carolane Laniel (1995 Nissan 240SX): 87 (A)
19. Martin Cabrera (2002 Lexus IS300): 85 (A)
20. Cody Hudson (1995 Honda Prelude): 83 (A)
21. David Racowski (2008 Mitsubishi Evolution): 82 (A)
22. Melchor Yuson (2009 Toyota Matrix): 78 (A)
23. Jared Kipping (1987 Mazda RX-7): 77 (A)
24. Anthony Rodriguez (2012 Scion tC): 77 (A)
25.Hoang Le (2008 Nissan 350Z): 76 (A)
26. Giovanni Gonzalez (2009 Acura TSX): 69 (A)
27. Virgil Simbulan (2003 Infiniti G35): 62 (A)
28. Kim Lim (2009 Infiniti G37): 57 (A)
29. Gabe Gonzalez (2014 Scion tC): 56 (A)
30. Elmer Eckert (1992 Nissan 240SX): 47 (A)
31. Anitra Ahmad (2009 Acura TSX): 44 (A)
32. Brandon Buchter (2008 Honda Accord): 36 (A)

33.  Kevin Hirapersaud (1996 Acura Integra): 28
34.  Michael Ross (2003 Chevy Silverado): 24
35.  Anthony Lau (1992 Nissan President): 20
36. Marcus Yu (2015 Acura TLX): 15
37.  John Anaya (2008 Mitsubishi Evolution): 12
38. Adam Warfield (2015 Subaru WRX): 11
39.  Brittany Hinz (1993 Toyota Supra): 11
40. Daniel Perez (2010 Nissan 370Z): 11
41. Gilbert Rivera (2012 Honda Crossover): 8
42.  Desi Montgomery (2007 Nissan 350Z): 8
43.  Christian Habberstad (2008 VW GTI): 5
45. Sukh Chahal (2014 Honda Accord): 1
(Updated: Sept 12, 2016 @ 3:00 PM EDT)
*(A) - Advances to Stage 2: Top 64

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HOW TO ADVANCE TO THE NEXT STAGE?
Competitors must obtain votes at www.tunerbattlegrounds.com. Rather than PASMAG's internal staff acting as judges to select the winners, that responsibility will fall in the hands of the audience (the fans, show-goers and friends and family of the competitors). With a click of a button, the audience will be able to vote and choose their winners one Stage after another. In Stage 1: Elimination, the 32 #WILDCARD competitors with the highest number of votes will advance to Stage 2: Top 64. In Stages 2-6, the competitor with the highest number of votes in each Battle will advance.

HOW TO VOTE?
In the elimination stages, visitors to the Tuner Battlegrounds website simply log-in with their existing Facebook account credentials using the integrated Facebook Login widget. Once logged in, visitors can vote for their favorite competitor(s) by clicking the star on the top of a competitor profile page when enabled (see SCHEDULE below). Voting is limited to 1(one) vote per Facebook account per 24 hours of the posted qualified competitors. In the Final Stage, create a new post (text, photo, video) on Instagram and/or Twitter using the announced hashtag. Voting is limited to 1 (one) vote per Instagram/Twitter account. Vote totals reset to 0 (zero) at the end of each stage.

FINAL STAGE
The Top Two (2) competitors will battle against each other on-site by gathering votes at a dedicated PASMAG Tuner Battlegrounds booth (#20125; Central Hall) at The SEMA Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV on November 1-4, 2016. Similar to previous stages, the competitors are encouraged to campaign for votes by generating a new post on Instagram and/or Twitter with a dedicated hashtag, which is announced before the final stage of voting.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW RULES & REGULATIONS

SCHEDULE/STANDINGS
Registration: Aug 9, 2016 - Aug 31, 2016
Stage 1 (Elimination): Sept 6, 2016 @ 12:00 PM - Sept 12, 2016 @ 12:00 PM EDT
Stage 2 (Top 64): Sept 13, 2016 @ 12:00 PM - Sept 19, 2016 @ 12:00 PM EDT
Stage 3 (Top 32): Sept 20, 2016 @ 12:00 PM - Sept 26, 2016 @ 12:00 PM EDT
Stage 4 (Top 16): Sept 27, 2016 @ 12:00 PM - Oct 3, 2016 @ 12:00 PM EDT
Stage 5 (Top 8): Oct 4, 2016 @ 12:00 PM - Oct 11, 2016 @ 12:00 PM EDT
Stage 6 (Top 4): Oct 12, 2016 @ 12:00 PM - Oct 18, 2016 @ 12:00 PM EDT
Stage 7 (Championship): Nov 1, 2016 @ 12:00 PM - Nov 3, 2016 @ 6:00 PM EDT

2016 PASMAG TUNER BATTLEGROUNDS CHAMPIONSHIP SPONSORS