Compiled by SEMA Editors

NEWS NUGGETS

LANGDON, HIGHT, EDWARDS, HALL RACE TO VICTORY AT THE CHEVROLET PERFORMANCE U.S. NATIONALS: Shawn Langdon raced to his first Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals win in Top Fuel and joined Robert Hight (Funny Car), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and John Hall (Pro Stock Motorcycle) as winners. Langdon swept the weekend and pocketed more than $200,000 as he also won the Traxxas Nitro Shootout in Top Fuel as well.

"This is the biggest race of the year by far and this team just did a phenomenal job," Langdon said. "With how special this event is and with the history behind the race, it was important for me to win this and I wanted it bad."

In Funny Car, Hight raced to his third career Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals victory, which ties him for third in all-time Funny Car event wins. "This is definitely the biggest win of my career," Hight said. "We won four races in a row last year, and then to go into that dry spell, you start wondering and doubting yourself and that wears on you."

Pro Stock's Edwards returned to victory lane at the event for the frist time since 1998 when he defeated V. Gaines on a holeshot in the finals. "If you keep running well and keep giving yourself opportunities, that's all you can ask for," said Edwards. "It's a tremendous feeling to win this race. That was some of the best Pro Stock racing in a long time. It's just anybody's race out there, and I'm just fortunate to get the win."

Hall won his second race of the season when he defeated team owner Matt Smith in the finals. "We just went for it, and I was lucky enough to get the win," Hall said. "It felt great to get that second Wally, and this is huge for Viper Motorcycles."

For more, log onto NHRA.com.

LANGDON AND BECKMAN WIN TRAXXAS NITRO SHOOTOUTS: Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel) and Jack Beckman (Funny Car) took home $100,000 paydays in their respective categories when they won their Traxxas Nitro Shootout events during the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals. In Top Fuel, Langdon defeated Tony Schumacher, Spencer Massey and Steve Torrence en route to the large payday.

"I wanted to get in bad last year, and we weren't able to do that," Langdon said. "It was a great feeling just to get in and be part of it. There's a lot of attention drawn to this one event. I'm hitting the gas in the finals for $100,000. It gets you in the stomach."

In Funny Car, Beckman defeated Ron Capps, Courtney Force and Cruz Pedregdon to win the event. Beckman won in spectacular fashion after an engine explosion sent the carbon fiber body on his Funny Car high into the air. "The fact that we haven't won anything this year makes it that much better," Beckman said. "I'm actually at a little bit of a loss for words right now becuase it's really surreal. I intended to be down here with an intact Dodge Charger and a bunch of happy guys, and they're happy, but now they've got to work five more hours than they would have had to tonight."

For more, log onto NHRA.com.

COUNTDOWN TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP FIELDS SET: The fields in the Countdown to the Championship have been set in all four NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series categories. Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel), Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana Jr. (Pro Stock Motorcycle) start the playoffs as the No. 1 seeds in their respective categories. Two former champions powered their way into the Countdown to the Championship during eliminations on Monday. In Funny Car, Del Worsham, the 2011 Top Fuel world champion, earned a berth in the 10-car field when he beat John Force in the second round of eliminations and Bob Tasca III was defeated in the first round. Worsham is the 10th seed in the Countdown.

"What a job," Worsham said. "All I can say is all the guys, Nicky [Boninfante, Jon O. [Oberhofer], Jim O. [Oberhofer] and everybody on our team, it was all them. They did a great job today."

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, LE Tonglet bumped his way into the field when he defeated Hector Arana Jr. in the second round. "This is the best bike that I've had all year by a mile," Tonglet said. "I just tried to do my job and not get too worked up. We've had a fast bike all weekend, so that wasn't a concern."

The first race in the Countdown to the Championship takes place at zMAX Dragway, September 13–15.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

CARLYLE TOOLS NHRA CAROLINA NATIONALS PRESENTED BY NAPA AUTO PARTS, zMAX Dragway, September 13–15: The Carlyle Tools NHRA Carolina Nationals presented by NAPA Auto Parts marks the first race in the six-race Countdown to the Champship—the NHRA playoffs—that will crown the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series world champions. While a championship can't be won at the first race in the Countdown to the Championship, racers will be anxious to charge out the gate and build momentum for the stretch run. Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel,) Ron Capps (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are defending event winners. For tickets, call 800-455-3267 or log on to www.zmaxdragway.com.

AAA TEXAS NHRA FALL NATIONALS, Texas Motorplex, September 19–22: The AAA Texas Fall Nationals is the second race of the Countdown to the Championship and pivotal to the championship battle. Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Bob Tasca III (Funny Car), Allen Johnson (Pro Stock) and Michael Ray (Pro Stock Motorcycle) took home wins in 2012. Brown and Johnson parlayed their wins into championships and drivers will once attempt to take home the NHRA Wally in the Lone Star state.

HE SAID, SHE SAID

“I take it one round at a time and try not to get ahead of myself. I did that a little in the middle of the season but I think I learned my lesson. One round at a time, staying relaxed, racing my own lane and not worrying about who is next to me. Just believing in the Lucas Oil Buell that I'm riding because it is one hell of a machine and I know that if I can ride it the way it is supposed to be ridden that she'll lead me to the championship."

—Hector Arana Jr. on his mindset going into the Countdown to the Championship that begins at the Carlyle Tools NHRA Carlolina Nationals presented by NAPA Auto Parts, September 13–15.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

500: Number of round wins Ron Capps has earned in his 405 race career, which includes Top Fuel and Funny Car. Capps earned his 500th round win when he defeated Alexis DeJoria in the first round of eliminations at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals. He becomes just the 13th racer in NHRA history to accomplish this incredible feat. He has 41 career national event victories in 82 final round apperances and 15 No. 1 qualifying positions.

DID YOU KNOW…

60TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION PLANNED FOR 2014 CHEVROLET PERFORMANCE U.S. NATIONALS: The memories are still fresh from this year's Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, but prepartion is already underway for the 60th anniversary of the event taking place in 2014. The NHRA is planning a number of special-theme-park-style attractions that will bring to life some of the biggest and most historical events that have occurred in the past 60 years at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals. Also, a yearlong 60th anniversary sweepstakes promotion presented by Candlewood Suites will award the grand-prize winner a trip for two to the 2014 event. Check NHRA.com for more information leading up to the event.

SEMA News—September 2013

HERITAGE
By Drew Hardin
Photo Courtesy Petersen Archives

Number One Favorite

In the early ’60s, Motor Trend magazine sponsored a 500-mile Stock Car race on the twisting Southern California road course at Riverside, drawing top racing talent from a number of sanctioning bodies, including NASCAR, USAC and the SCCA. That’s why Robert E. Petersen (left), the publishing company’s founder, is handing Dan Gurney a check for winning the second annual MT 500, held in January 1964. The young lady sharing the photo op is 21-year-old TV actress Linda Evans.

Motor Trend’s coverage of the race kicked off by proclaiming, “Stock Car road racing shows every promise of becoming the Number One favorite of American racing fans. Considering the importance of passenger cars in everyday American life, this is the way it should be.” Unlike racing on oval tracks, where “brute horsepower is the deciding factor,” a road course “is much more demanding, because it puts equal emphasis on all the various systems of the automobile. Also, driver skill and nerve are important factors.”

Showing a lot of both that weekend was Gurney, the race’s defending champion, who couldn’t qualify better than fourth in his ’64 Ford Galaxie. After Richard Petty led the race early in his Hemi-powered Plymouth, Gurney took the lead, only to lose it to Mercury pilot Parnelli Jones. Jones broke his rear axle, though, putting him out of the running, and Petty again took the lead until transmission issues ended his day. Gurney took the lead again after the race’s halfway point, and he had built a full lap lead over Marvin Panch’s second-place Ford by race’s end, hitting 156 mph along Riverside’s backstretch.

“When Dan Gurney took the checkered flag on the 185th lap, he did so in the record time of 91.154 mph,” said the magazine. “The winner’s share of the purse amounted to a cool $13,000.”

Gurney’s average speed, which obliterated the previous year’s record of 84.965 mph, was indicative of a trend in early ’60s Stock Car racing: Higher horsepower levels were bringing up racing speeds, but those speeds—without a comparable improvement in safety equipment—were taking a toll in human life. Two-time national champion and crowd favorite Joe Weatherly suffered a fatal crash during the Riverside race; Fireball Roberts was killed not long after at Charlotte. NASCAR implemented new rules to help improve safety for the 1965 season, an evolving process of that continues to this day.

SEMA News—September 2013

HERITAGE
By Drew Hardin
Photo Courtesy Petersen Archives

Number One Favorite

In the early ’60s, Motor Trend magazine sponsored a 500-mile Stock Car race on the twisting Southern California road course at Riverside, drawing top racing talent from a number of sanctioning bodies, including NASCAR, USAC and the SCCA. That’s why Robert E. Petersen (left), the publishing company’s founder, is handing Dan Gurney a check for winning the second annual MT 500, held in January 1964. The young lady sharing the photo op is 21-year-old TV actress Linda Evans.

Motor Trend’s coverage of the race kicked off by proclaiming, “Stock Car road racing shows every promise of becoming the Number One favorite of American racing fans. Considering the importance of passenger cars in everyday American life, this is the way it should be.” Unlike racing on oval tracks, where “brute horsepower is the deciding factor,” a road course “is much more demanding, because it puts equal emphasis on all the various systems of the automobile. Also, driver skill and nerve are important factors.”

Showing a lot of both that weekend was Gurney, the race’s defending champion, who couldn’t qualify better than fourth in his ’64 Ford Galaxie. After Richard Petty led the race early in his Hemi-powered Plymouth, Gurney took the lead, only to lose it to Mercury pilot Parnelli Jones. Jones broke his rear axle, though, putting him out of the running, and Petty again took the lead until transmission issues ended his day. Gurney took the lead again after the race’s halfway point, and he had built a full lap lead over Marvin Panch’s second-place Ford by race’s end, hitting 156 mph along Riverside’s backstretch.

“When Dan Gurney took the checkered flag on the 185th lap, he did so in the record time of 91.154 mph,” said the magazine. “The winner’s share of the purse amounted to a cool $13,000.”

Gurney’s average speed, which obliterated the previous year’s record of 84.965 mph, was indicative of a trend in early ’60s Stock Car racing: Higher horsepower levels were bringing up racing speeds, but those speeds—without a comparable improvement in safety equipment—were taking a toll in human life. Two-time national champion and crowd favorite Joe Weatherly suffered a fatal crash during the Riverside race; Fireball Roberts was killed not long after at Charlotte. NASCAR implemented new rules to help improve safety for the 1965 season, an evolving process of that continues to this day.

SEMA News—September 2013

HERITAGE
By Drew Hardin
Photo Courtesy Petersen Archives

Number One Favorite

In the early ’60s, Motor Trend magazine sponsored a 500-mile Stock Car race on the twisting Southern California road course at Riverside, drawing top racing talent from a number of sanctioning bodies, including NASCAR, USAC and the SCCA. That’s why Robert E. Petersen (left), the publishing company’s founder, is handing Dan Gurney a check for winning the second annual MT 500, held in January 1964. The young lady sharing the photo op is 21-year-old TV actress Linda Evans.

Motor Trend’s coverage of the race kicked off by proclaiming, “Stock Car road racing shows every promise of becoming the Number One favorite of American racing fans. Considering the importance of passenger cars in everyday American life, this is the way it should be.” Unlike racing on oval tracks, where “brute horsepower is the deciding factor,” a road course “is much more demanding, because it puts equal emphasis on all the various systems of the automobile. Also, driver skill and nerve are important factors.”

Showing a lot of both that weekend was Gurney, the race’s defending champion, who couldn’t qualify better than fourth in his ’64 Ford Galaxie. After Richard Petty led the race early in his Hemi-powered Plymouth, Gurney took the lead, only to lose it to Mercury pilot Parnelli Jones. Jones broke his rear axle, though, putting him out of the running, and Petty again took the lead until transmission issues ended his day. Gurney took the lead again after the race’s halfway point, and he had built a full lap lead over Marvin Panch’s second-place Ford by race’s end, hitting 156 mph along Riverside’s backstretch.

“When Dan Gurney took the checkered flag on the 185th lap, he did so in the record time of 91.154 mph,” said the magazine. “The winner’s share of the purse amounted to a cool $13,000.”

Gurney’s average speed, which obliterated the previous year’s record of 84.965 mph, was indicative of a trend in early ’60s Stock Car racing: Higher horsepower levels were bringing up racing speeds, but those speeds—without a comparable improvement in safety equipment—were taking a toll in human life. Two-time national champion and crowd favorite Joe Weatherly suffered a fatal crash during the Riverside race; Fireball Roberts was killed not long after at Charlotte. NASCAR implemented new rules to help improve safety for the 1965 season, an evolving process of that continues to this day.

SEMA News—September 2013

HERITAGE
By Drew Hardin
Photo Courtesy Petersen Archives

Number One Favorite

In the early ’60s, Motor Trend magazine sponsored a 500-mile Stock Car race on the twisting Southern California road course at Riverside, drawing top racing talent from a number of sanctioning bodies, including NASCAR, USAC and the SCCA. That’s why Robert E. Petersen (left), the publishing company’s founder, is handing Dan Gurney a check for winning the second annual MT 500, held in January 1964. The young lady sharing the photo op is 21-year-old TV actress Linda Evans.

Motor Trend’s coverage of the race kicked off by proclaiming, “Stock Car road racing shows every promise of becoming the Number One favorite of American racing fans. Considering the importance of passenger cars in everyday American life, this is the way it should be.” Unlike racing on oval tracks, where “brute horsepower is the deciding factor,” a road course “is much more demanding, because it puts equal emphasis on all the various systems of the automobile. Also, driver skill and nerve are important factors.”

Showing a lot of both that weekend was Gurney, the race’s defending champion, who couldn’t qualify better than fourth in his ’64 Ford Galaxie. After Richard Petty led the race early in his Hemi-powered Plymouth, Gurney took the lead, only to lose it to Mercury pilot Parnelli Jones. Jones broke his rear axle, though, putting him out of the running, and Petty again took the lead until transmission issues ended his day. Gurney took the lead again after the race’s halfway point, and he had built a full lap lead over Marvin Panch’s second-place Ford by race’s end, hitting 156 mph along Riverside’s backstretch.

“When Dan Gurney took the checkered flag on the 185th lap, he did so in the record time of 91.154 mph,” said the magazine. “The winner’s share of the purse amounted to a cool $13,000.”

Gurney’s average speed, which obliterated the previous year’s record of 84.965 mph, was indicative of a trend in early ’60s Stock Car racing: Higher horsepower levels were bringing up racing speeds, but those speeds—without a comparable improvement in safety equipment—were taking a toll in human life. Two-time national champion and crowd favorite Joe Weatherly suffered a fatal crash during the Riverside race; Fireball Roberts was killed not long after at Charlotte. NASCAR implemented new rules to help improve safety for the 1965 season, an evolving process of that continues to this day.

SEMA News—September 2013

HERITAGE
By Drew Hardin
Photo Courtesy Petersen Archives

Number One Favorite

In the early ’60s, Motor Trend magazine sponsored a 500-mile Stock Car race on the twisting Southern California road course at Riverside, drawing top racing talent from a number of sanctioning bodies, including NASCAR, USAC and the SCCA. That’s why Robert E. Petersen (left), the publishing company’s founder, is handing Dan Gurney a check for winning the second annual MT 500, held in January 1964. The young lady sharing the photo op is 21-year-old TV actress Linda Evans.

Motor Trend’s coverage of the race kicked off by proclaiming, “Stock Car road racing shows every promise of becoming the Number One favorite of American racing fans. Considering the importance of passenger cars in everyday American life, this is the way it should be.” Unlike racing on oval tracks, where “brute horsepower is the deciding factor,” a road course “is much more demanding, because it puts equal emphasis on all the various systems of the automobile. Also, driver skill and nerve are important factors.”

Showing a lot of both that weekend was Gurney, the race’s defending champion, who couldn’t qualify better than fourth in his ’64 Ford Galaxie. After Richard Petty led the race early in his Hemi-powered Plymouth, Gurney took the lead, only to lose it to Mercury pilot Parnelli Jones. Jones broke his rear axle, though, putting him out of the running, and Petty again took the lead until transmission issues ended his day. Gurney took the lead again after the race’s halfway point, and he had built a full lap lead over Marvin Panch’s second-place Ford by race’s end, hitting 156 mph along Riverside’s backstretch.

“When Dan Gurney took the checkered flag on the 185th lap, he did so in the record time of 91.154 mph,” said the magazine. “The winner’s share of the purse amounted to a cool $13,000.”

Gurney’s average speed, which obliterated the previous year’s record of 84.965 mph, was indicative of a trend in early ’60s Stock Car racing: Higher horsepower levels were bringing up racing speeds, but those speeds—without a comparable improvement in safety equipment—were taking a toll in human life. Two-time national champion and crowd favorite Joe Weatherly suffered a fatal crash during the Riverside race; Fireball Roberts was killed not long after at Charlotte. NASCAR implemented new rules to help improve safety for the 1965 season, an evolving process of that continues to this day.

SEMA News—September 2013

HERITAGE
By Drew Hardin
Photo Courtesy Petersen Archives

Number One Favorite

In the early ’60s, Motor Trend magazine sponsored a 500-mile Stock Car race on the twisting Southern California road course at Riverside, drawing top racing talent from a number of sanctioning bodies, including NASCAR, USAC and the SCCA. That’s why Robert E. Petersen (left), the publishing company’s founder, is handing Dan Gurney a check for winning the second annual MT 500, held in January 1964. The young lady sharing the photo op is 21-year-old TV actress Linda Evans.

Motor Trend’s coverage of the race kicked off by proclaiming, “Stock Car road racing shows every promise of becoming the Number One favorite of American racing fans. Considering the importance of passenger cars in everyday American life, this is the way it should be.” Unlike racing on oval tracks, where “brute horsepower is the deciding factor,” a road course “is much more demanding, because it puts equal emphasis on all the various systems of the automobile. Also, driver skill and nerve are important factors.”

Showing a lot of both that weekend was Gurney, the race’s defending champion, who couldn’t qualify better than fourth in his ’64 Ford Galaxie. After Richard Petty led the race early in his Hemi-powered Plymouth, Gurney took the lead, only to lose it to Mercury pilot Parnelli Jones. Jones broke his rear axle, though, putting him out of the running, and Petty again took the lead until transmission issues ended his day. Gurney took the lead again after the race’s halfway point, and he had built a full lap lead over Marvin Panch’s second-place Ford by race’s end, hitting 156 mph along Riverside’s backstretch.

“When Dan Gurney took the checkered flag on the 185th lap, he did so in the record time of 91.154 mph,” said the magazine. “The winner’s share of the purse amounted to a cool $13,000.”

Gurney’s average speed, which obliterated the previous year’s record of 84.965 mph, was indicative of a trend in early ’60s Stock Car racing: Higher horsepower levels were bringing up racing speeds, but those speeds—without a comparable improvement in safety equipment—were taking a toll in human life. Two-time national champion and crowd favorite Joe Weatherly suffered a fatal crash during the Riverside race; Fireball Roberts was killed not long after at Charlotte. NASCAR implemented new rules to help improve safety for the 1965 season, an evolving process of that continues to this day.

SEMA News—September 2013

HERITAGE
By Drew Hardin
Photo Courtesy Petersen Archives

Number One Favorite

In the early ’60s, Motor Trend magazine sponsored a 500-mile Stock Car race on the twisting Southern California road course at Riverside, drawing top racing talent from a number of sanctioning bodies, including NASCAR, USAC and the SCCA. That’s why Robert E. Petersen (left), the publishing company’s founder, is handing Dan Gurney a check for winning the second annual MT 500, held in January 1964. The young lady sharing the photo op is 21-year-old TV actress Linda Evans.

Motor Trend’s coverage of the race kicked off by proclaiming, “Stock Car road racing shows every promise of becoming the Number One favorite of American racing fans. Considering the importance of passenger cars in everyday American life, this is the way it should be.” Unlike racing on oval tracks, where “brute horsepower is the deciding factor,” a road course “is much more demanding, because it puts equal emphasis on all the various systems of the automobile. Also, driver skill and nerve are important factors.”

Showing a lot of both that weekend was Gurney, the race’s defending champion, who couldn’t qualify better than fourth in his ’64 Ford Galaxie. After Richard Petty led the race early in his Hemi-powered Plymouth, Gurney took the lead, only to lose it to Mercury pilot Parnelli Jones. Jones broke his rear axle, though, putting him out of the running, and Petty again took the lead until transmission issues ended his day. Gurney took the lead again after the race’s halfway point, and he had built a full lap lead over Marvin Panch’s second-place Ford by race’s end, hitting 156 mph along Riverside’s backstretch.

“When Dan Gurney took the checkered flag on the 185th lap, he did so in the record time of 91.154 mph,” said the magazine. “The winner’s share of the purse amounted to a cool $13,000.”

Gurney’s average speed, which obliterated the previous year’s record of 84.965 mph, was indicative of a trend in early ’60s Stock Car racing: Higher horsepower levels were bringing up racing speeds, but those speeds—without a comparable improvement in safety equipment—were taking a toll in human life. Two-time national champion and crowd favorite Joe Weatherly suffered a fatal crash during the Riverside race; Fireball Roberts was killed not long after at Charlotte. NASCAR implemented new rules to help improve safety for the 1965 season, an evolving process of that continues to this day.

SEMA News—September 2013

BUSINESS
By Mike Imlay

Retailer Spotlight

ModBargains.com Delivers Data, Product and More

Located in La Habra, California, the company was co-founded in 2004 by CEO Mike Brown, then 19, and President Ron Hay, then 24. Their original business plan called for a sort of online clearinghouse of special automotive parts promotions and deals similar to those offered by tech-industry bargain sites. But the venture quickly morphed into something much bigger—and better.

“It just wasn’t that much fun,” conceded Brown. “So we started to focus on actually connecting people with parts instead. Since then, the business model has continued to evolve from parts broker to connecting people with parts based on our knowledge to inventory and installations.”

Hay added: “We started as a BMW aftermarket accessories company. We’ve recently begun to branch out into all sorts of cars: Nissans, Infinitis, Mercedes-Benzes, Scions, Camaros and Mustangs. We’ve just been expanding. Back then, there was a lot of fragmentation in the market. There weren’t a lot of shops specializing in what we were doing, and the prices seemed really high. Were they really the best products? Where were the reviews, the information? There weren’t a lot of product details out there.”

Filling that gap became the pair’s immediate goal, and social media seemed the ideal way to attain it. They worked with both manufacturers and customers to gather product data, photos and video and then harnessed multiple forms of social media to deliver that information to consumers. Essentially, ModBargains.com has positioned itself as the expert “middleman” that connects manufacturers with the public. The company often fields hundreds if not a thousand consumer inquiries a day. Ultimately, the goal is to help potential customers find exactly the right product for their particular applications. To that end, the staff is composed of employees who specialize in different vehicles, brands and scenes, from sport compacts to American muscle.

“Not everyone we talk to buys from us,” said Brown. “Some people call us, get information and still end up buying from their local shops. There are things that local shops do that we don’t, and there are things we do that they don’t. Each of us has different roles and contributions, and there are a lot of customers to go around. We try to have more alliances than enemies.”

That attitude has led the company to tremendous growth in only a few short years.

“For the first year and a half, there was no office space,” Brown recalled. “I was working on a laptop while I was attending classes.” By 2010, however, the company had moved to its current 5,000-sq.-ft. headquarters, which boasts a reception area, work stations for 26 employees, an installation bay, a shipping department and plenty of inventory space. An
additional 8,000-sq.-ft. warehouse is located close by, and the company works closely with about 50 specialty manufacturers to meet customer demands. Moreover, ModBargains.com is highly organized. Its departments encompass administration and accounting, online and social media, sales, processing and customer loyalty, shipping, receiving and installation.

“Installations are the newest part of our business, but they really work for us,” said Brown, who estimated that the company does between 15 and 20 installs per week. “We get to learn more about our customers, interact with them and take that knowledge and pictures and videos of their installations and feed that to tens of thousands of other consumers who need information about products.”

Hay explained that ModBargains.com uses before-and-after pictures, videos and sound clips to get information out to the masses through Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, online forums and other
social media.

“It’s also about us contributing—not only with our customers by giving them the right information for their vehicles, but also with our manufacturers,” he said. “We have direct information about customers that we have to get to manufacturers: ‘This is what customers want; this fits or doesn’t fit; we’ve tested it here in our installation bay and it doesn’t work; or customers don’t like this or that color....’ We can help the industry grow because we’re helping the manufacturers.”

Inspiring the Staff

“We’ve carefully picked the staff who connect with our customers on the phone, through e-mails, on forums, message boards and social media,” said Brown. “Over the last year and a half, we’ve spent a significant amount of effort on maximizing the strengths, abilities and character of everyone.”

One strategy has been to use book groups. Brown and Hay choose personal and professional-improvement titles, ask employees to read 20 pages per week, then break the staff into weekly discussion groups of five.

“I was nervous when I first started the groups,” said Brown. “There was probably a little bit of ‘what the heck is this’ at first, but as people started to actually see an impact not just at work but in their personal lives, and see their relationships start to change; they really got behind it.”

Brown said that the company has developed a list of 10 core values that the co-founders believe in strongly and would like to see their employees adopt,
behaving in ways they’d like to see their customers treated.

“Instead of focusing on things like part numbers and what’s the new product, we like to focus on our people and ourselves, trying to become the best people we can be,” he explained. “We like to develop a culture where people enjoy coming to work and feel like there’s some sort of purpose. We’re not here to be this big company and sell parts. We’re here to help fellow car enthusiasts modify their cars in a smart, fun way that makes them happy.”

Like every young retail operation, ModBargains.com has faced more than its share of challenges. One has been convincing manufacturers and WDs that they’re legitimate retailers amid a world of drop-shippers.

“The name of our company—especially as we’ve evolved—leads to a lot of misconceptions,” Hay explained. “We’ve enjoyed a good reputation with our customers, but we haven’t always enjoyed that same reputation with the industry. Explaining our company has always been a challenge.”

Brown and Hay enjoy working with all types of aftermarket companies. They don’t lead out by undercutting prices and prefer manufacturers with healthy distribution networks that maintain and enforce their minimum advertising pricing.

In the end, ModBargains.com strives to “be memorable” to customers.

“We’re a really specific, boutique expert retailer that just happens to get a lot of customers from the Internet,” Brown concluded.

SEMA News—September 2013

BUSINESS
By Mike Imlay

Retailer Spotlight

ModBargains.com Delivers Data, Product and More

Located in La Habra, California, the company was co-founded in 2004 by CEO Mike Brown, then 19, and President Ron Hay, then 24. Their original business plan called for a sort of online clearinghouse of special automotive parts promotions and deals similar to those offered by tech-industry bargain sites. But the venture quickly morphed into something much bigger—and better.

“It just wasn’t that much fun,” conceded Brown. “So we started to focus on actually connecting people with parts instead. Since then, the business model has continued to evolve from parts broker to connecting people with parts based on our knowledge to inventory and installations.”

Hay added: “We started as a BMW aftermarket accessories company. We’ve recently begun to branch out into all sorts of cars: Nissans, Infinitis, Mercedes-Benzes, Scions, Camaros and Mustangs. We’ve just been expanding. Back then, there was a lot of fragmentation in the market. There weren’t a lot of shops specializing in what we were doing, and the prices seemed really high. Were they really the best products? Where were the reviews, the information? There weren’t a lot of product details out there.”

Filling that gap became the pair’s immediate goal, and social media seemed the ideal way to attain it. They worked with both manufacturers and customers to gather product data, photos and video and then harnessed multiple forms of social media to deliver that information to consumers. Essentially, ModBargains.com has positioned itself as the expert “middleman” that connects manufacturers with the public. The company often fields hundreds if not a thousand consumer inquiries a day. Ultimately, the goal is to help potential customers find exactly the right product for their particular applications. To that end, the staff is composed of employees who specialize in different vehicles, brands and scenes, from sport compacts to American muscle.

“Not everyone we talk to buys from us,” said Brown. “Some people call us, get information and still end up buying from their local shops. There are things that local shops do that we don’t, and there are things we do that they don’t. Each of us has different roles and contributions, and there are a lot of customers to go around. We try to have more alliances than enemies.”

That attitude has led the company to tremendous growth in only a few short years.

“For the first year and a half, there was no office space,” Brown recalled. “I was working on a laptop while I was attending classes.” By 2010, however, the company had moved to its current 5,000-sq.-ft. headquarters, which boasts a reception area, work stations for 26 employees, an installation bay, a shipping department and plenty of inventory space. An
additional 8,000-sq.-ft. warehouse is located close by, and the company works closely with about 50 specialty manufacturers to meet customer demands. Moreover, ModBargains.com is highly organized. Its departments encompass administration and accounting, online and social media, sales, processing and customer loyalty, shipping, receiving and installation.

“Installations are the newest part of our business, but they really work for us,” said Brown, who estimated that the company does between 15 and 20 installs per week. “We get to learn more about our customers, interact with them and take that knowledge and pictures and videos of their installations and feed that to tens of thousands of other consumers who need information about products.”

Hay explained that ModBargains.com uses before-and-after pictures, videos and sound clips to get information out to the masses through Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, online forums and other
social media.

“It’s also about us contributing—not only with our customers by giving them the right information for their vehicles, but also with our manufacturers,” he said. “We have direct information about customers that we have to get to manufacturers: ‘This is what customers want; this fits or doesn’t fit; we’ve tested it here in our installation bay and it doesn’t work; or customers don’t like this or that color....’ We can help the industry grow because we’re helping the manufacturers.”

Inspiring the Staff

“We’ve carefully picked the staff who connect with our customers on the phone, through e-mails, on forums, message boards and social media,” said Brown. “Over the last year and a half, we’ve spent a significant amount of effort on maximizing the strengths, abilities and character of everyone.”

One strategy has been to use book groups. Brown and Hay choose personal and professional-improvement titles, ask employees to read 20 pages per week, then break the staff into weekly discussion groups of five.

“I was nervous when I first started the groups,” said Brown. “There was probably a little bit of ‘what the heck is this’ at first, but as people started to actually see an impact not just at work but in their personal lives, and see their relationships start to change; they really got behind it.”

Brown said that the company has developed a list of 10 core values that the co-founders believe in strongly and would like to see their employees adopt,
behaving in ways they’d like to see their customers treated.

“Instead of focusing on things like part numbers and what’s the new product, we like to focus on our people and ourselves, trying to become the best people we can be,” he explained. “We like to develop a culture where people enjoy coming to work and feel like there’s some sort of purpose. We’re not here to be this big company and sell parts. We’re here to help fellow car enthusiasts modify their cars in a smart, fun way that makes them happy.”

Like every young retail operation, ModBargains.com has faced more than its share of challenges. One has been convincing manufacturers and WDs that they’re legitimate retailers amid a world of drop-shippers.

“The name of our company—especially as we’ve evolved—leads to a lot of misconceptions,” Hay explained. “We’ve enjoyed a good reputation with our customers, but we haven’t always enjoyed that same reputation with the industry. Explaining our company has always been a challenge.”

Brown and Hay enjoy working with all types of aftermarket companies. They don’t lead out by undercutting prices and prefer manufacturers with healthy distribution networks that maintain and enforce their minimum advertising pricing.

In the end, ModBargains.com strives to “be memorable” to customers.

“We’re a really specific, boutique expert retailer that just happens to get a lot of customers from the Internet,” Brown concluded.