Strengthen Your Company Through Community

No matter what niche you're in—rods, restoration, racing, restyling, reps, trucks or wheels and tires—there's a SEMA council or professional network that's right for your company. SEMA councils and networks offer members a variety of niche-specific programs and activities designed to provide educational and networking opportunities while promoting their particular market segment.

Visit TORA's website.

TORA to Host Media Preview at the 2014 SEMA Show

TORA will host a Media Preview for a limited number of manufacturer members at the 2014 SEMA Show. Participants will have the opportunity to meet with a wide variety of truck and off-road editors and writers in a designated area, Monday, November 3, from 1:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

These focused meetings ensure that editors and reporters can ask their most pressing questions and photograph new products while manufacturers give the full story.

By participating just before the start of the SEMA Show, media members gain an early scoop on the latest products, and manufacturers have quality time with editors and reporters without sacrificing valuable floor time with customers. Participating manufacturers will be provided with various media training resources through the SEMA Education Institute to help them prepare and maximize their meetings. To give manufacturers the best chance for success, participants will be asked to meet media kit production milestones.

To be considered for participation in the 2014 TORA Media Preview, your company’s application must be received by 5:00 p.m. (PDT), Friday, May 30, 2014. Review the rules and regulations and apply today.

Not yet an TORA member? Join today to become eligible for the 2014 Media Preview.

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Visit YEN's website

Launch Pad Competition to Return for 2014 SEMA Show

By Bryan Harrison

After the success of last year’s Launch Pad competition, SEMA has announced that it will return for a second year.

This competition offers innovators under the age of 40 an industry platform to showcase their business for marketing a new automotive product or service.

Industrywide Awareness


The top 10 competitors will vie for the most votes on SEMA’s official Facebook/YouTube voting platform. The top five will receive an invitation to pitch their businesses in front of an industry-packed crowd during a live event at the SEMA Show.

Tools to Fuel Your Biz


The winner’s prize package will take their business to the next level, including a 10x10 booth at the 2015 SEMA Show, a one-page ad in SEMA News, an ad in Hot Rod magazine or 4-Wheel & Off Road magazine, a rep consultation with the Manufacturers’ Representative Network (MRN), public relations and social media consultation from Kahn Media, an event-level sponsorship package to either a Family Events truck and off-road group property or a Family Events performance car group property and much more.

Access to Decision Makers


This year’s event will feature another judging panel composed of industry experts who will offer coaching and advice to the contestants. Returning from the 2013 event will be Doug Evans, executive vice president and group publisher at Source Interlink Media, and SEMA’s chairman-elect of the Board, and Ron Coleman, president and CEO of COMP Performance Group. Joining them will be Tracie Nunez, president of the Performance Warehouse Association (PWA); Todd Ballard, director of sports marketing at GoPro; and Glenn Rogers, partner at Beyond Marketing.

Interested? It’s time to launch the next young automotive entrepreneur. For more information and to fill out an application, visit www.sema.org/launch-pad. If you have questions, please contact Bryan Harrison at bryanh@sema.org.

For association-related travel, contact Manya Petropaki (manya.p@travelstoreusa.com) at Travel Store USA, 949-930-9268.

By AJ Carney

	SEMA will hold its last Town Hall Meeting of the year, June 4, at Weld Racing LLC in Kansas City.

SEMA invites industry professionals to its Town Hall Meeting in Kansas City, where members and prospective members will gather at Weld Racing LLC, Wednesday June 4, from 6:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m. for an evening of networking with local industry leaders and SEMA staff, including members of the SEMA Data Co-op team.

SEMA's Town Hall Meetings provide both members and prospective members with the opportunity to learn about the association's current programs and objectives while networking with automotive aftermarket professionals from the same geographic region. These personal interactions give members a chance to share the business challenges and opportunities they face. As SEMA staff interacts with attendees, they also gain valuable feedback, which helps identify how current benefits can enhance members' business operations to better meet their needs.

SEMA has led Town Hall Meetings in several cities across the United States. We invite you to attend a Town Hall near you. 

Register now or contact Andrea “AJ” Carney at 909-978-6697 or andreac@sema.org. For more information about the SEMA Data Co-op, visit www.semadatacoop.org.

By AJ Carney

	SEMA will hold its last Town Hall Meeting of the year, June 4, at Weld Racing LLC in Kansas City.

SEMA invites industry professionals to its Town Hall Meeting in Kansas City, where members and prospective members will gather at Weld Racing LLC, Wednesday June 4, from 6:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m. for an evening of networking with local industry leaders and SEMA staff, including members of the SEMA Data Co-op team.

SEMA's Town Hall Meetings provide both members and prospective members with the opportunity to learn about the association's current programs and objectives while networking with automotive aftermarket professionals from the same geographic region. These personal interactions give members a chance to share the business challenges and opportunities they face. As SEMA staff interacts with attendees, they also gain valuable feedback, which helps identify how current benefits can enhance members' business operations to better meet their needs.

SEMA has led Town Hall Meetings in several cities across the United States. We invite you to attend a Town Hall near you. 

Register now or contact Andrea “AJ” Carney at 909-978-6697 or andreac@sema.org. For more information about the SEMA Data Co-op, visit www.semadatacoop.org.

By AJ Carney

	SEMA will hold its last Town Hall Meeting of the year, June 4, at Weld Racing LLC in Kansas City.

SEMA invites industry professionals to its Town Hall Meeting in Kansas City, where members and prospective members will gather at Weld Racing LLC, Wednesday June 4, from 6:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m. for an evening of networking with local industry leaders and SEMA staff, including members of the SEMA Data Co-op team.

SEMA's Town Hall Meetings provide both members and prospective members with the opportunity to learn about the association's current programs and objectives while networking with automotive aftermarket professionals from the same geographic region. These personal interactions give members a chance to share the business challenges and opportunities they face. As SEMA staff interacts with attendees, they also gain valuable feedback, which helps identify how current benefits can enhance members' business operations to better meet their needs.

SEMA has led Town Hall Meetings in several cities across the United States. We invite you to attend a Town Hall near you. 

Register now or contact Andrea “AJ” Carney at 909-978-6697 or andreac@sema.org. For more information about the SEMA Data Co-op, visit www.semadatacoop.org.

By SEMA Editors

	Tim Martin	Rick Trudo
Steve Wolcott	Greg Adler	Larry Pacey

The 2014 SEMA Board of Directors' nominee page is now live, complete with detailed biographies and a candidate questionnaire. Voting will take place online between May 14–June 10, 2014, and is open to current SEMA-member companies. Votes must be cast by each company’s primary contact. Details with ballots and links will be sent to the member company’s designated primary contact in May.

Winners will be announced in June and formally inducted into the SEMA Board of Directors at the SEMA Installation Gala in July.

SEMA has partnered with Survey & Ballot Systems (SBS) to administer the 2014 Board of Directors election. To assure that the election-specific e-mail reaches the appropriate inboxes on Wednesday, May 14, 2014, the main contact for each SEMA-member company is encouraged to add the following e-mail address as an approved sender: noreply@directvote.net.

The following slate of candidates are vying for a seat on the SEMA Board of Directors:

Manufacturers Category (one open seat available)

• Tim Martin – COO, K&N Engineering Inc.
• Rick Trudo – President/CEO, SCT Performance LLC
• Steve Wolcott – President/CEO, ProMedia LLC

Distributor Retailer Category (one open seat available)

• Greg Adler – CEO, Transamerican Auto Parts
• Larry Pacey – President/CEO, National Performance Warehouse

For more information about the 2014–2017 SEMA Board of Directors election, contact Judi Ritchie at 909-978-6671 or judir@sema.org.

By SEMA Editors

	Tim Martin	Rick Trudo
Steve Wolcott	Greg Adler	Larry Pacey

The 2014 SEMA Board of Directors' nominee page is now live, complete with detailed biographies and a candidate questionnaire. Voting will take place online between May 14–June 10, 2014, and is open to current SEMA-member companies. Votes must be cast by each company’s primary contact. Details with ballots and links will be sent to the member company’s designated primary contact in May.

Winners will be announced in June and formally inducted into the SEMA Board of Directors at the SEMA Installation Gala in July.

SEMA has partnered with Survey & Ballot Systems (SBS) to administer the 2014 Board of Directors election. To assure that the election-specific e-mail reaches the appropriate inboxes on Wednesday, May 14, 2014, the main contact for each SEMA-member company is encouraged to add the following e-mail address as an approved sender: noreply@directvote.net.

The following slate of candidates are vying for a seat on the SEMA Board of Directors:

Manufacturers Category (one open seat available)

• Tim Martin – COO, K&N Engineering Inc.
• Rick Trudo – President/CEO, SCT Performance LLC
• Steve Wolcott – President/CEO, ProMedia LLC

Distributor Retailer Category (one open seat available)

• Greg Adler – CEO, Transamerican Auto Parts
• Larry Pacey – President/CEO, National Performance Warehouse

For more information about the 2014–2017 SEMA Board of Directors election, contact Judi Ritchie at 909-978-6671 or judir@sema.org.

By SEMA Editors

	Tim Martin	Rick Trudo
Steve Wolcott	Greg Adler	Larry Pacey

The 2014 SEMA Board of Directors' nominee page is now live, complete with detailed biographies and a candidate questionnaire. Voting will take place online between May 14–June 10, 2014, and is open to current SEMA-member companies. Votes must be cast by each company’s primary contact. Details with ballots and links will be sent to the member company’s designated primary contact in May.

Winners will be announced in June and formally inducted into the SEMA Board of Directors at the SEMA Installation Gala in July.

SEMA has partnered with Survey & Ballot Systems (SBS) to administer the 2014 Board of Directors election. To assure that the election-specific e-mail reaches the appropriate inboxes on Wednesday, May 14, 2014, the main contact for each SEMA-member company is encouraged to add the following e-mail address as an approved sender: noreply@directvote.net.

The following slate of candidates are vying for a seat on the SEMA Board of Directors:

Manufacturers Category (one open seat available)

• Tim Martin – COO, K&N Engineering Inc.
• Rick Trudo – President/CEO, SCT Performance LLC
• Steve Wolcott – President/CEO, ProMedia LLC

Distributor Retailer Category (one open seat available)

• Greg Adler – CEO, Transamerican Auto Parts
• Larry Pacey – President/CEO, National Performance Warehouse

For more information about the 2014–2017 SEMA Board of Directors election, contact Judi Ritchie at 909-978-6671 or judir@sema.org.

By SEMA Editors

	Betty Senter

Betty Senter (Calderon) passed away April 18, 2014. She was born in New York City and raised in Los Angeles from the age of six months where she spent her entire life. Shortly after graduating from high school she married Louis Senter; they would have celebrated their 70th anniversary in November.

In 1947, Betty and Louis built Ansen Automotive Engineering—a founding SEMA-member company—into one of the leading high-performance automotive manufacturers in the country. Betty founded the Credit Managers Association for the high-performance/hot-rod manufacturers industry, which later evolved into SEMA. As Ansen developed into a leading industry company, in 1969, they decided to sell the company to Whittaker Corp., where at the time of sale she was the chief financial officer.

Betty and Louis have one child, Marsha Senter Scully and son-in-law Rodney Scully; grandchildren Lindsey Scully, Shane Scully and wife Roxanne Scully; and great granddaughters Brooke and Hannah Scully. A memorial celebration of Betty's life will be announced by the family at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Skirball Hospice, Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging, or the American Cancer Society.

SEMA News—May 2014

HERITAGE

Stu Hilborn

By Drew Hardin
Photo Courtesy Petersen Archives

When Stu Hilborn passed away in December, the performance industry lost not only one of its most innovative minds but also an original hot-rodding pioneer.

Hilborn was among those who raced on Southern California’s dry lakes in the years prior to World War II. Ironically for a man whose name is now synonymous with fuel injection, Hilborn had little mechanical knowledge when he bought his first hot rod in the ’30s. But he had a neighbor who did—Indy 500 veteran Eddie Miller. Miller helped Hilborn build a flathead-powered Model A that could hit 120 mph on the lakes, and Hilborn proved to be a quick study, in all senses of the word, and he soon wanted to go faster. To do so, he bought a narrow streamliner that had been raced by Bill Warth.

Hilborn picked up the ’liner on December 7, 1941, so he had only a couple of opportunities to run it before entering the Army Air Corps during World War II. While in the service, Hilborn began development of mechanical fuel injection, a system he tested on his streamliner once the war ended. He would swap the induction on the ’liner’s flathead back and forth between injection and multiple carbs, looking for peak miles per hour. During a carbureted test in August 1947, one of the car’s rear wheels collapsed, causing the ’liner to tumble several times at speed. Hilborn suffered back injuries that put him in a body cast. While he recovered, Eddie Miller Jr. rebuilt the racer.

Once out of the cast, Hilborn again went after high speeds on the lakes, though he had Howard Wilson drive the car (to keep a promise he made to his mother to not race again). The streamliner’s potential for speed caught the attention of the editors at the then-new Hot Rod magazine, which put it and Hilborn on the cover of just its fourth issue in April 1948. (The photo seen here is the one used for that cover.) At that time, the car was good for about 136 mph, but in July of that year, Wilson became the first to break the 150-mph barrier with a 150.5-mph pass across El Mirage.

It wasn’t long before Hilborn’s injection systems were in such demand that he had to give up racing to devote all his attention to what had become a new business. Many more race victories would follow, including 34 wins at Indianapolis and countless more at oval tracks, dragstrips and other racing venues all over the world. Hilborn was inducted into the SEMA Hall of Fame in 1996, and Hilborn’s Fuel Injection Engineering Co. still supplies dedicated enthusiasts with precise—and race-winning—fuel metering systems.