By Christina Kwan

One of the most anticipated awards of the show, SEMA’s Battle of the Builders (BOTB) brings out the best of the best. What’s especially exciting are the Young Guns – defined as 27 years old and younger, these builders are selected through regional venues and are invited to compete in the main BOTB competition.

This year’s winner is no stranger to the industry – Kyle Tucker who brought an astonishing 1969 Chevy Camaro to the competition. The car, nicknamed Tux, was built by a team at Detroit Speed where Tucker is also the president of the company. The Camaro is LS3-equipped with a Harrop supercharger. With Detroit Speed headers, a custom exhaust and valve covers, the car has exudes beauty with street toughness. Inside the award winning car is a custom leather interior with modified Recaro seats and custom gauges by Classic Instruments.

Notable Finalists

Before a winner was declared, four finalists remained. They were: Truck/Off-Road Winner Eddie Pettus with his 1932 Willys Aircraft Refueling Truck, Sport Compact Winner Rod Nielsen with his 1972 Mazda R100 and Young Guns Winner Kyle Kuhnhausen with his 1972 Datsun 240Z.

In tight competition from beginning to end, the top 12 builder finalists brought on some hard decisions. With such variety, muscle and class, builders along with their cars shared unique stories of their journey and process.

Looking forward to next year’s BOTB competition, it’s sure to be one of the highlights of the 2019 SEMA Show.