Kyle Tucker is the winner of the 2018 SEMA Battle of the Builders competition thanks to his amazing ’69 Chevy Camaro.
The Camaro (sponsored by exhibitor ARP) triumphed over a number of other excellent builds, including those of of Top 4 finalists Eddie Pettus (’32 Willys aircraft refueling truck, BASF), Rod Nielsen (’72 Mazda R100, Tire Stickers) and Young Gun Kyle Kuhnhausen (’72 Nissan 240Z, Young Guns Regional Winner from Goodguys).
All four builders, along with many other builders who participated in this year’s SEMA Show builders, will appear in a new episode of the TV special “SEMA: Battle of the Builders.” The special, hosted by Adrienne “AJ” Janic and racer Tanner Foust, will air on the Velocity Channel at 10:00 p.m. Jan. 7, 2019.
The 2018 SEMA Battle of the Builders competition included vehicles from veteran builders and beginning customizers alike, but all participants showed great talent, skill, creativity and craftsmanship in their work. This year, the program expanded award winners in each of four different categories, with Tucker also winning the Hot Rod title, Pettus earning the Truck/Off-Road honor, Nielsen scoring in Sport Compact and Kuhnhausen in Young Guns.
Industry experts RJ DeVera (Meguiar’s), David Freiburger (Motor Trend Group) and Fred Williams (Motor Trend Group) whittled the field of nearly 300 entries, an significant increase over last year, down to the Top 10 in each category before selecting the Top 12 builds overall. The 12 finalists then took over judging duties and voted to name Tucker the overall winner.
For more information about the 2018 Battle of the Builders competition and to see behind-the-scenes footage and interviews of some of this year’s contestants, visit www.sema.org/botb or SEMA’s YouTube channel.
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