Never heard of Opak Racing before? Neither had we until they contacted us recently to invite us to visit Northern California and test their RSX-R race car at Infineon Raceway. Imagine our surprise then to find that they had obtained the coveted North American distributor rights for Spoon Sports products. So just who is Opak Racing, and how did they land one of the biggest and most respected JDM Honda parts lines in existence? We visited their Rohnert Park, CA headquarters to find out.

Opak Racing's HQ is in a non-descript little business park near the heart of California wine country. "It's a temporary location," says Mr. Edmun Laurea, President and CEO of Opak Racing, but it's more than big enough to house a showroom, offices, an installation bay and lots of parts storage. Step inside, past the reception desk, and you're greeted by a JDM Honda lover's dream. Boxes and boxes of Spoon Sports products are stacked on shelves and pallets. In another corner sits a pallet of 5 gallon drums of HAMP oil, the original factory fill used by Honda on freshly assembled engines. Opak is the only company we've seen that stocks it. Probe further and you'll find boxes of JDM Honda parts ranging from lighting assemblies, to belts, gaskets and interior pieces. And in the showroom sits a complete Spoon B18C engine, ready for shipping, surrounded by myriad titanium exhausts of Opak's own design. Its essentially one stop shopping if you're a JDM or Spoon nut.

Just a taste of some of the goodies Opak Racing stocks

But it isn't until you sit down with Mr. Laurea (we'll call him Edmun from here on, he's a very friendly, personable guy) that you really begin to get an idea of what Opak is really about, and how they were able to partner up with Spoon in the USA. Relaxing in Opak's showroom, I chatted with Edmun and Alan Sensier, Opak's resident tech expert who seems to handle everything from parts installations to complete setup and prep on Opak's race cars. As we talked, underneath Edmun's personable demeanor and Alan's stoic competence, you get the impression that these guys are really, really serious about what they're doing.