The US Central Pacific Regional Contest is more commonly referred to as the Bay Area Classic or "BAC". Dave Bazan founded the BAC in 1998 and ran the first 12 contests. In 2009, the contest was taken over by Stu Branoff and Nathan Crissey. Traditionally, the contest is held in May in the San Francisco Bay Area. The BAC has been held in San Jose, San Mateo, and most recently in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Referred by some as the "mini-nationals", BAC is one of the most prestigious and high-level yo-yo contests in the world. Though officially a U.S. regional contest, the BAC hosts players from across the U.S., as well as international players. The winners receive the legendary "Red Jacket". In 2013, the contest had an unprecedented tie for first place in the 1A division. Due to the unnusual nature of the tie there was no rule to break it, therefore there were two champions in the form of Gentry Stein and Luis Enrique.
In 2007, the Northwest region was split into the Central Pacific Region and the Pacific Northwest Region. The BAC is now the Central Pacific Regional.
Steve Brown's legendary debut of Freehand took place at the 1999 Bay Area Classic, as well, where he used a prototype Team Losi Silver Series Cherry Bomb to demonstrate the then-new style.
Current Champions (2016)
- 1A: Paolo Bueno
- 2A: Joseph Harris
- 3A: Ian Smith
- 4A: Michael Nakamura
- 5A: John Wolfe
Past Champions
1998
- Pro-Am: Paul Han
1999
- 1A: Steve Brown
2000
- 1A: Steve Brown
- 2A: Paul Han
2001
- 1A: Steve Brown
- 2A: Matt Harlow
2002
- 1A: Johnnie Delvalle
2003
- 1A: Johnnie Delvalle
- 2A: Paul Han
2004
- 1A: Yuuki Spencer
- 2A: Paul Han
2005
- 1A: Augie Fash
- Y: Patrick Mitchell
- JR:Dylan Benharis
2006
- 1A: Paul Han
- Y: Tsubasa Onishi
- JR:Patrick Borgerding
2007
- 1A: Yuuki Spencer
- Y: Tsubasa Onishi
- Pro-Meltdown: Tsubasa Onishi
2008
- 1A: Yuuki Spencer
- 2A: Paul Han
- 3A: Kentaro Kimura
- 4A: Tsubasa Onishi
- 5A: Tyler Severance
2009
- 1A: Jensen Kimmitt
- 2A: Grant Johnson
- 3A: Paul Yath
- 4A: Tsubasa Onishi
- 5A: Miguel Correa
2010
- 1A: Jensen Kimmitt
- 2A: Patrick Mitchell
- 3A: Masanobu Iwata
- 4A: Bryan Figueroa
- 5A: Tyler Severance
2011
No information yet
2012
No information yet
2013
- 1A: Gentry Stein and Luis Enrique
- 2A: Joseph Harris
- 3A: Eric Tranton
- 4A: Michael Nakamura
- 5A: Tyler Severance
2014
- 1A: Anthony Rojas
- 2A: Joseph Harris
- 3A: Eric Tranton
- 4A: Zac Rubino
- 5A: Chase Baxter
2015
- 1A: Andrew Maider
- 2A: Tyler Hsieh
- 3A: Elliot Ogawa
- 4A: Michael Nakamura
- 5A: Tyler Severance