All good things must come to an end. Yes even SEMA. Good thing the powers that be, thank you very much Mr. Kersting, know the only way to cap off a week of red hot, fiery automotive action is to take a match to it and burn that Mother down! And burn it down, blow it up and Ignite it they did. SEMA Ignited, the party after the four day party that was the SEMA show lit up the Vegas night. SEMA blew it into the stratosphere with this scorching after party. The coolest thing about the hottest event in town is there is so much to it. To start with, the 1,500 or so rides that packed the LVCS created the worlds most expensive car parade. It was millions of dollars of sheet metal, horsepower and passion gliding out into the Vegas twilight. In addition to the gathering of rolling wonders, the night was filled with hot laps from Formula 1 phenom Max Verstappen, it’s not every day you see a F1 car doing donuts! There was also incredible professional drifting, fantastic food and drink and perhaps most importantly, the culmination of the Battle of the Builders competition. I give you hands down, the best most innovative way to wrap a show. In town where over the top is tame, SEMA Ignited nailed it! They blew it up and let everyone go along for the ride.
As I said before, SEMA Ignited is where they make the biggest announcement of the entire week; the winner of the SEMA Battle of the Builders. Leave it to SEMA to make this Battle and subsequent jousting for the top prize a one of a kind happening. The final judging of this epic battle falls into the hands of the builders themselves, ingenious don’t you think? Oh, and they can’t vote for themselves, how’s that for a roll of the dice. Good thing I’m not a wagering gal cause there weren’t any sure bets in that game! Drum roll please …… the winner of the SEMA 2017 Battle of the Builders is Troy Trepanier with his 1929 Ford Sedan. This beauty has a hand crafted body, hood, grill and chassis. It has fully adjustable front and rear suspension. It’s powered by a first gen, fuel injected, aluminum small block. It has three inch stainless exhaust with Flowmaster mufflers and a Legends five speed transmission with a hurst shifter. This stunning ’29 is finished with custom mixed gloss and satin two-toned paint with hand stripping and a custom interior with hand built seats, door panels and bowed headliner. Now have yourself a look Troy’s creation.
I know winning is mighty nice but taking second and third place at the SEMA Show Battle of the Builders ain’t so bad. Especially considering the company these fellas were in and the hundreds of insane rides that were vying for the top prize. Without further ado, second place went to Alan Johnson and his incredible ’32 Ford Tudor and third place went to Troy Ladd and his stunning ’36 Packard Roadster . Both outstanding builds and more than worthy to be in the top three, judge for yourself.
As I said before, to kick off this evening of motor head madness there was the SEMA cruise to delight the thousands and thousands of fans that both attended SEMA and regular folks who for one afternoon and evening got to get a hefty dose of SEMA. Cast an eyeball at the real stars of the show glimmering in the bright lights of Vegas.
Boy they don’t mess around here at SEMA. In four short years SEMA Ignited has ahem, exploded into a world class, all encompassing, action packed par-tay and it’s open to the public for crying out loud! The crowds were massive and the show just keeps getting bigger and better. A huge high five Mr. Kersting to you and your gang at SEMA. Y’all really know a thing or two about a thing or two. It sure ain’t your first rodeo. I can’t wait to see what next year brings!
Stay tuned we’ve only skimmed the surface of our coverage.
Till the next time – Keep on Kruzin!