By James Chevrette
A father-daughter competition team from Lloydminster, Alberta, located sixteen hours northeast of Seattle, provides a glimpse at the broad demographics in car audio competition’s next generation.
Twenty-two-year-old Keira Christensen and her dad Corey recently claimed their third World Record in dB Drag Racing. Their passion for car audio, passed from one generation to the next, demonstrates how the sport continues to bring families together.
Keira has been immersed in the world of car audio competition for most of her adult life, surrounded by the smell of fresh-cut MDF and Bondo dust. Her dad has been building SPL (Sound Pressure Level) vehicles since before she could walk. Keira has emerged as a seasoned competitor since her first competition at the age of seventeen.
What draws Keira to the competition scene?” She said, “I love music, and being able to [physically] feel the music and not hear anything else outside of it. It’s why I enjoy the audio aspect so much; how notes and frequencies can tighten your chest. I love the competitions because of the adrenaline and excitement of watching the score on the screen climb and always trying to beat your own personal best. But also, the people that have come into my life from being a part of that world.”
She earned two runner-up finishes at the World Finals in Spruce Grove, Alberta in 2023 and 2024. Despite encountering several system glitches along the way, Keira remains focused on the upcoming 2025 season.
The father and daughter duo is currently building a new vehicle called “The Farm Truck,” which features a sixth-order bandpass subwoofer enclosure. This unique enclosure design is uncommon in today’s competition scene. As Corey explains it, a bandpass subwoofer box works “like putting your thumb over a garden hose to create more pressure.”
Her current competition vehicle, “The Pontiac” – a well-worn 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix – may be retiring this year to make way for the new build. At a recent event in Kelowna, British Columbia, Keira’s Grand Prix earned the team’s first World Record of 2025 with a score of 206.2 in the Psychlone category. Keira broke her own record with a 208.8 score a few months later at The Tuner Bash season opener at the Rad Turque Raceway in Le Duc, AB.
The dB Drag format uses satellite locations around the world to make competition more accessible. For example, the satellite location in Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada allows competitors to participate at the world level without traveling extreme distances. Multiple events are held simultaneously in countries across Europe as well, with United States locations to be determined for 2025. This allows head-to-head competitions in real time across the globe.
For the Kelowna event, Keira drove 22 hours round trip. By comparison, if Keira had to travel to Louisville, Kentucky – a former satellite event location – the journey would require 54 hours of straight driving. For many enthusiasts, such travel requirements create too significant a barrier to entry into car audio competitions.
The satellite system helps maintain the global nature of the sport while making it more accessible to competitors worldwide, ensuring that passionate teams like the Christensens can continue to compete and build their legacy in the dB Drag Racing community.
This is awesome 😎
Excellent work!
There is a reason that SPL competitions far outnumber SQ events. SQ is subjective and it is difficult for many to understand the nuances associated with it. For many, the stock system in a vehicle probably sounds just fine. Conversely, everyone understands ‘do it bump tho?’
While I always focus on the SQ of my personal systems, it never fails that anyone listening to a demo asks ‘how loud does it go?’ as this is a simple concept for the average person or enthusiast to understand. Explaining that is not the point of the system often quickly loses their interest. Hammering something lively to the point they vibrate though always returns a smile.
SQ is important but it is the SPL that gets the excitement these days. IMO a high performance system should do reasonably well in both areas.
Well said Paul!
Congratulations to Keira and her dad for those victories. Prevailing in any car audio competition is not only fun but also rewarding; a sense of pride and accomplishment to reach a goal. As one who has a relatively long-term exposure and production of car audio exposition and competition, it’s important to remember that for all competitors, retailers, manufacturers, industry in general, it is ALL about the proliferation of the car audio industry (sales and installation).
While the generations of SPL competition rules and protocols have developed over the decades, (including SPL scores in sound quality judging) criteria for SPL was merely reaching the highest number whether rules of different orgs confused participants or not.
When I developed the “Bass Boxing” format to SPL competitions at SBN, it was judged (by spectators) for Sound Quality, volume and even artistic expression. The science of rising SPL scores and their competitors are amazing; however, it has little to do with sound quality, or influencing great sound to garner desire in spectators.
I cannot identify a single one of my clients at Soundcrafters who “tool down the road” listening to or requesting extreme volume at one particular frequency. Mind you I don’t dismiss the intense competition of squeaking out another 10th of a DB; It is a science indeed.
The goal for car audio competition, specifically sound quality, was geared to proliferate industry to new consumers and not catering to the converted. I continue to receive annual requests after SBN’s dormancy for more than half a decade, a resurgence seems more plausible than ever. However, should that prospect come to pass, the evolution, as it began in the final years at the Ocean Center, would include SBN as a car audio AND automotive aftermarket accessories event. The goal, as it once (and always was) is to re-engage youthful consumers whom through the years this industry has ultimately lost to smartphones.
Every independent car audio dealer should be focused on providing more than only one service as installation labor remains the last stronghold of profitability. Re-engage the youthful consumer… Who’s on board?
That’s Awesome………….