Remembered as the force behind the founding of SEMA in 1963, then known as the Speed Equipment Manufacturers Association, Ed devoted much of his time to the association and its organizational start-up. He was a partner in Elliott-McMullen Advertising, an agency serving the fledgling performance market, representing high-performance clients. It has long been said that the concept of SEMA was first discussed in the Elliott-McMullen offices.

Roy owned and operated one of the first speed shops in Southern California. Roy’s innovative character inspired him to expand into manufacturing. He formed Cragar Wheels, one of the most popular aluminum alloy wheels to be sold in America from the 1960s on. Bell Helmets produced state-of-the-art head protection; Bell made its first helmet in 1954, known as the 500, and it was quickly accepted by the racing community. The original Bell 500 helmet and Cragar S/S Competition wheel are two products for which he’s best known. Cragar was one of SEMA’s 36 charter member companies, and Roy filled a number of positions within the association, including president from 1969-1971.

Acknowledged as the “Father of the Corvette,” Zora was a longtime employee of Chevrolet. He became popular as the designer of performance equipment for the ubiquitous small-block Chevy V8, including parts that carried his name, such as the Duntov high-lift camshaft. He also is credited with helping to introduce fuel injection to the Corvette in 1957. Showcasing the Corvette, Zora drove Pikes Peak in 1956 in a pre-production prototype Chevy, setting a stock car hill climb record. He also is credited with helping to bring fuel injection to the Corvette in 1957 and for introducing four-wheel disc brakes on a mass-produced American car. Zora is a member of the Drag Racing Hall of Fame, the Chevrolet Legends of Performance, the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame, the Automotive Hall of Fame and the National Corvette Museum Hall of Fame.

Former auto mechanic Roy Leslie partnered in business and racing with longtime friend Bill Kenz—the Kenz & Leslie parts business in Denver, as well as a streamliner of the same name that set records on the Bonneville Salt Flats. In fact, he had set a new world’s land speed record, and had the quickest speed on record for an American driver in an American car. Roy imparted the integrity and virtue of an honorable businessman.

Winfield carburetors were commonly found on race cars of the 1940s through 1970s, as were cams for Indy Novi engines, all uniquely designed for all-out competition by Ed Winfield. Ed’s innovative design earned him the title “Carburetor Wizard.” He’s considered by many to be a performance pioneer; the Winfield Carburetor Company began in 1924, and its carburetors were an Indianapolis 500 staple. Ed also dabbled in fuel systems and is credited with designing the first harmonic balancer. He was also at the forefront of the high-performance camshaft grinder.

“Honest Charley’s” was one of the first speed shops to distribute a “wish book,” an accessories catalog. “Honest Charley” Card was an innovative marketer and celebrity of the speed and custom equipment trade. Charley, a life-long car guy, grew his local speed shop into a successful coast-to-coast mail-order business. As a pioneer of the retail business, he was one of the first to publish a parts catalog—back in 1948. He also was among the earliest adopters of computers, proud of the IBM 360 his company used to track inventory and orders.

A speed equipment industry pioneer, Paul developed the earliest flywheels and clutches for all-out racing and high performance. He owned and operated Schiefer Manufacturing Company; it became the largest manufacturer of specialty drivetrain components in the world. Paul was also instrumental in the formation of SEMA and some of its earliest initiatives. He was the recipient of the first SEMA Hall of Fame Award in 1969. He so much embodied the directives set down by the Board of Directors to honor the founders of the industry that the award was originally called the “Paul Schiefer Old Timer's Memorial Award.”

Profiles of SEMA Hall of Fame inductees are not typically love stories. But you cannot tell the journey of Jim Bingham without it being one: Love of father. Love of wife. Love of aftermarket.

It began in Indiana. Bingham grew up on a farm in Enos, which was small-town life to the fullest.

“I went to a two-room schoolhouse for the first eight grades, and there were only two of us in my class,” Bingham said.

His first employer was his dad, Leonard James. At the age of nine, Bingham was driving a hay baler on the family farm. By about 13, he was doing everything, acting as Leonard James’s right arm.

“I was his best bud,” Bingham said. “I was everywhere he went. I was always assisting him in whatever he did, and I think that’s where I learned to help people.”

Bingham went to nearby Morocco High School, and he pondered a career as a civil engineer building roads and bridges. But after a tour of Purdue, he told his father his plan, “and I could see the look in his eyes,” so Bingham stayed on the farm, then enlisted in the U.S. Army and served three years, specializing in missile defense.

Outside the farm work and the military, Bingham had brief stints piecing together electronic circuit boards, working at a steel mill, putting up farm buildings across America, and as a specialty collection teller at a bank. But around 1966, he had an itch to come back to the farm. Thanks to that decision—as well as an opportunity to go along with his father to look at some farmland—he met his future wife, Linda. Soon, she would act as his right arm.

By 1968, Bingham realized that he wasn’t making it financially by farming and joined a construction company that was building highway I-65 in Indiana. But it was not what he wanted to do.

“I always thought it would be neat to look up parts,” he said. “Whenever I went to a parts store or an implement dealer, I thought the guys who went through catalogs had a really neat job, an important job.”

He answered a help-wanted ad for a counterman trainee at Lang Auto Parts and got the job.

“Lang had performance parts, and when those customers would come in, the other guys didn’t want to wait on them,” he said. “They thought it was a fad, and because I was young and those customers were young, it was my job to wait on them. I didn’t know what headers were or even intake manifolds.”

But Bingham did recognize supply and demand and suggested that the owner expand the store to ensure that parts were always in stock. The owner did not share Bingham’s vision, but a drag racer named Don Wiley did.

“If you took our business plan to a bank today, they’d laugh you out,” Bingham said. “But I’ve always been a risk taker.”

By now, Bingham was 26 years old with a wife and twin daughters. So he and Wiley immediately found a building—directly across the street from Lang, their competition. They opened Winner’s Circle Speed and Custom in 1970 in Kankakee, Illinois.

“That first summer, we were so determined, our hours were 8:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.,” Bingham said. “We were young and willing to work tons of hours.”

The business took off fast, and they opened a second store in Joliet later that year. A few months later, they had a third in Peoria.

Bingham and Wiley parted ways about a decade later, and now Jim and Linda own three retail stores: Joliet, Peoria and East Moline. Linda is the controller and has been working at the company since day one.

“I think it’s improved our marriage,” Bingham said. “She raised our kids, she’s been my bookkeeper, and she’ll sometimes stay behind with the business to make sure there are no problems when I travel. God brought me the best woman in the world.”

Bingham’s father passed away in 1993. “All of a sudden, the light started clicking,” he said. “I’m next and haven’t done what I want to do.” That translated into helping get Route 66 Raceway in Joliet built, followed by Chicagoland Speedway, also in Joliet. Bingham is one of the owners.

He attended his first SEMA Show one year after Winner’s Circle took flight, and through the years, he has volunteered with the SEMA Membership Committee and various other committees, and he has been a board member for the Performance Warehouse Association. He has been active on the SEMA Board of Directors and received the association’s Chairman’s Service Award.

One of his greatest passions is his involvement in the Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Engine Challenge.

“I’m selfish—I love this industry and I want more people to come to this industry,” he said. “I want them to go work for performance people.”

In fact, Bingham currently has four members of the Hot Rodders Joliet team working for his company. And he is lucky enough to have members of his family at his side, too. His son Rodney James has taken the reigns of the Challenge, and grandson Noah works in the store.

Despite his significant contributions, being inducted into the SEMA Hall of Fame was not on his radar.

“I thought it would be neat, but I didn’t feel I was on that path,” he said.

Deep down, he is still simply an industrious farm boy. Yet he will have been in the aftermarket industry for 45 years in June, noting, “I’d like to make it to 50!”

Joel Ayres has a reputation. A shrewd businessman and salesman, he has had a successful aftermarket career for more than 40 years. But his reputation is not hard-as-nails or barbarous. Joel Ayres is known for being one of the nicest guys in the industry.

His father, Boyd Lee, was a farmer (who later joined an upstart company called Winnebago RVs), so Joel was born on a farm in Forest City, Iowa, later moving to Waterloo, Iowa. He grew up with four brothers and a sister and loved school (an honor-roll student) and sports—although at 5 ft., 10 in. and 125 lbs., his football career did not last long.

Ayres said that his family had always been around racing and cars. For example, Boyd would take them to Tunis Speedway to watch races every Sunday night. Ayres refers to himself as “the least mechanical of my family,” yet when his older brother Dean became a stock-car racer after high school, Ayres would sometimes help in the pits.

At 16, Ayres got his first car, a VW Bug, and he piloted a ’69 Mustang while at the University of Northern Iowa, although “our family was a pickup-truck family.” Joel intended to study education, with the goal of becoming an elementary-school counselor, but he switched to business.

“I’ve actually had a little regret that I didn’t teach,” Joel admitted.

By now, Boyd had started his own company, Ayr-Way, which manufactured various items that included fiberglass truck caps. So Joel, his younger brother Jerry and his older brother Jim went to work for their dad. Boyd sold the company in 1978, but Joel and Jim had to continue in their positions for another year as part of the sale. When competitor Rigid Form called, Joel said yes to a job offer, and he moved up from sales manager to general manager over the years. He also oversaw a chain of nine truck-accessory retail stores in the Midwest.

Ayres eventually landed in California, working for truck-cap and tonneau manufacturer Leer, first as a sales manager and then as national marketing director. The company became part of Truck Accessories Group (TAG), where Ayres stayed for 20 years. In 2010, he moved to Tākit Inc., the maker of Bedslide, as vice president of sales and marketing and as a partner.

Those who know Ayres understand why he was perfect for a job offered in 2015: executive director of the Automotive Aftermarket Charitable Foundation. The organization provides financial assistance to those in need within the aftermarket industry from problems such as sickness, catastrophe or accident. The foundation is more than 50 years old, yet Ayres became the first to hold that position. And it speaks to the core of who Ayres is: that nice guy.

“My volunteer work started when I was very young,” he explained. “My whole life has been about volunteerism and charity work. It’s been my passion.” He’ll tell you that his father “gave me my business and selling side, and my mother and stepmom gave me my loving, caring and charitable side.” As such, he cofounded the first Big Brothers of Northeastern Indiana and has been a volunteer teacher and had a nearly lifelong involvement with various children’s charities.

“Someone told me back in my 30s, ‘You can make an impact every day on people’s lives that you work with, and that has a ripple effect. You may not be out there curing anything, but you can say the right thing, be the right example and make a difference,’” Ayres reflected. “It finally hit me that I could be in business and didn’t have to be a stereotypical businessman. And that’s why I’ve become good friends with all my competition. It’s not a war or a battle; it’s a game. And when the whistle blows, you share a beer.”

His colleagues and peers learned that attitude quickly, as he helped the truck-accessory aftermarket industry grow by becoming a founding member of the Truck Cap Industry Alliance that became the Light Truck Accessory Alliance (LTAA). Beyond that, he was “off to the races.” His involvements with multiple SEMA councils, committees and task forces are too numerous to list, but they have included the SEMA Board of Directors for multiple terms, the SEMA Businesswomen’s Network (SBN) board liaison and the SEMA Show committee. “I love the industry,” he said. “I’m a hand-raiser, and I just enjoy it.”

But he managed to mix business with heart as only Ayres could do. He is perhaps most associated with SEMA Cares, the charity arm of SEMA: He was instrumental in its formation and was its original chairman.

His devotion to the industry and community has resulted in many accolades, including the LTAA Hall of Fame, the SBN Athena Award, the Professional Restylers Organization Jim Borré Lifetime Achievement Award and the SEMA Person of the Year. Still, Ayres feels unworthy of his SEMA Hall of Fame induction.

“I’m still in a cloud,” he confessed. “To think about the legends who are in this—the people I grew up hearing about or people I’ve known—it’s just…wow. I shouldn’t even be here. I’m very honored and very proud. The biggest achievements in my life are my children and grandchildren, but as far as the industry and this association, this is huge!”