How Clutch Rebate Becomes the Biggest Auto Race in Tokyo

2025-05-28
Posted by PSEDEN

This article is published in Tokyo Weekend Volume. 2, 2025.
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My first full-time job straight from high school was as a mechanic. I’ve spent a lot of time in cars, cars and underneath since. Naturally, I also attended fair car parties and car events. From the old-fashioned club parade overlooking Paris from the steps of Sacré-cour to improvising encounter with local Hons, who took over the parking lot of McDonald in rural Australia, I bet I see most of the car culture and the scope of the community that exists in it.

But one thing I always feel during these parties is a sense of moment. Even with the organizer’s prior permission, if a large number of cars are gathered in public spaces, the authorities will not turn it off after too many engines are started. This means it is usually only a matter of time until people have to move on, bring their high octane chariots and barely see the audience between each other.

Through a grassroots approach, the Clutch Backback Motor series, which blends automotive culture with music and nightlife, is perfect for changing that.

Clutch rebound motion series

Small team, big dream

You think a large-scale action involving hundreds of cars and even more spectators will allow you to organize an army to organize. But at the heart of the clutch kickback is just the work of three people: Founder and CEO Cameron Hurd, executive producer Katerina Grusheva and brand director Shion Shibuya. All three have their own experience in event management and love for cars. They have the opportunity to meet in Tokyo, and the rest is history.

“We’ve been competing against each other in all situations,” the team explained. “We all have our car friends, nightlife or fashion friends, but you rarely meet people across communities, you’ll see at a verdy event on Saturday, Sunday’s drifting. Like-mindedness. Since then, friendship has brought us together and friendship has kept us moving forward.”

And keep moving forward. Since its inception in 2022, clutch kickbacks have planned almost every incident in the car format imaginable. The group hosted a high-octane drifting day on the track, where viewers could watch the modified car slide at an astonishing speed, blew smoke out of the screaming tires. It also released last-minute location details using the online RSVP, with more low-key gatherings at popular Tokyo attractions. The brand hasn’t missed any pace since it took off, and the most recent product was set on a weekend in April 2025, by far the most ambitious.

How Clutch Rebate Becomes the Biggest Auto Race in Tokyo CKB Stadium Sign 1

From the street to the stadium

When I reached the location activated on Friday night, I was convinced that Google Maps led me astray. I stand outside a stadium in Kawasaki, which is usually used in football and track and field competitions. In the distance, I heard the low rumbling of the engine and the murmur of the sound. Maybe this is the place after all.

As I got closer, I saw a car driving into the parking lot next to the stadium and noticed that they didn’t stop. Instead, they entered the stadium with other spectators. I followed.

The tracks lined up hundreds of cars, from street-driven domestic models to combat drift machines. At either end of the stadium, the Jumbotrons in the stands are filled with highlights of previous clutch rebate events and music videos, a laid-back mix of hip-hop and electronic music that emanates from speakers hidden in the afters. Clutch Queens is a subgroup of the organization led by members Lani Schaaf and Dani Amaya, mixed with the crowds, and both exhibited the cars in awe.

I’m used to the moments I’ve experienced at these moments – waiting for the lights to turn off or the police arrive – never coming. Hosting with lifestyle brand car service and HUF, it’s the real thing that anyone, regardless of their knowledge or participation in the scene, can come and hang out for an evening.

How Clutch Rebate Becomes the Biggest Auto Race in Tokyo CKB Block Party 8

Bayside Block Party

Two days later, I found myself in the middle of Kiranah Garden, a luxurious resort-like space overlooking Tokyo Bay and the iconic Rainbow Bridge. In addition to the typical swimming pool, palm trees and open-air cottage scenes, the garden has been remodeled, decorated with a series of highly modified classic Porsches, a Lamborghini full of diameters, and many other unique cars that look incredible against the backdrop of water supply. This is a clutch kickback party.

All day long, the audience relaxes in a vibrant festive atmosphere, which includes live demonstrations from pop-up fashion and food shops, swimming pool DJs and Japanese rope artist Beni Shibari, who applies his craft to the midstream column of the Japanese car royal family, the Honda NSX. American rapper Xavier Wulf attended his car, resonating with other like-minded enthusiasts, while professional choreographer Lily Yurika performed live at Sunset.

Clutch rebound motion series

That night, when the sun disappeared outside the Tokyo skyline, the car set out to the city’s garage, and my only question was: What’s next? After the weekend, it is often seen in the settings in the car scene, and it is hard to imagine what else to do. Not long after, when the three guys behind the kickback interrupted the game, I saw everyone and I got the answer.

“Greater and better events and activations around the world!” Hurd explained. “We will always find inspiration through Tokyo’s culture and as we expand, the vision will remain the same: curate moments through music and racing.”