Although Hendrick Motorsports fell short of its 15th NASCAR Cup Series championship in the organization’s 40th anniversary season, the team isn’t done celebrating its ruby ​​anniversary yet. This week, Hendrick Motorsports technicians will be paired with Hendrick Automotive Group technicians at the 23rd annual Randy Dorton Hendrick Engine Manufacturer Show.

Held over two days on the Hendrick Motorsports campus, the competition will be about seeing who can build the fastest engine, but will also be about strengthening the bond between the Motorsports team and the two sides of the Hendrick empire. Automotive Group.

“The energy around this event and the opportunity to spend special time with (Hendrick) Motorsports makes it extra special for (Hendrick Automotive Group),” Roger Meisimore told Racing America on SI. “But Mr. Hendrick had a vision, a dream. He wanted to do something that no one else in the industry was doing and give technicians recognition at another level, and we try to make that better every year.”

While many talented mechanics have competed in this prestigious event over the years, two stand above the rest. Danny Emmerick, the defending champion of this event, and Scott Vester, who will compete in this event for the last time this week, are six-time champions of the Hendrick Engine Builder Showdown and had an epic showdown last year. They found themselves fighting each other for the championship.

Emmerick and the Hendrick Automotive Group technician took the honor by less than a second. While the format does not guarantee a meeting between Vester and Emmerick in the final build, there is hope that a rematch of last year’s extremely close final could be repeated.

“We are very excited to potentially see these guys go head to head again,” Meisimore said. “It all depends on the draw, it all depends on how the path to the championship goes. But you know, Scott and Danny and all those guys there have been really good about working on the previous film.” , previous video to catch best practices Maybe catch some things you shouldn’t do, but how can you improve overall, right?

When you watch the Engine Builder Show, it is a very interesting show. You see the mechanics working almost surgically as they assemble the engines, all the while wrenches are jingling and ratchets are working at a breakneck speed, and the mechanics are calling for the components and tools they need.

Before you know it, the engines are reversed, finishing touches are applied, the engines are started and that patented guttural NASCAR engine growl is heard for 60 seconds.

According to Meisimore, both sides of the team need to work together to get a fast time in showdown setups, and a big part of the performance comes down to how good the Hendrick Motorsports technicians are at creating a strategy for their Hendrick Automotive Group teammates. .

“Once you match with a Hendrick Automotive Group partner, they’re really good at talking about strategy, talking about what makes the most sense for the role. You’re coming into this as an automotive technician, and you need to know the tasks you’ll be getting throughout that structure. Danny and Scott are so experts.” “They know what challenge they have and they know they have to do their best. But they make it so fun and they really go with it. It’s amazing to see.”

The Randy Dorton Hendrick Engine Builder Show is a team-building exercise on steroids and one of many events throughout the year that showcases the family atmosphere between Rick Hendrick’s two companies, Hendrick Motorsports and Hendrick Automotive Group.

“Yes, it is, and that’s definitely something that the Hendrick family encouraged and created. I mean, we could never achieve that unless they built that culture of family atmosphere, and we’re grateful for that.” Meisimore is in question. “The Hendrick family loves to take care of our teammates and treat them like family. No matter how large we are, we always want to have special events where we can come together, enjoy the camaraderie and have fun together. Something for the community to come together and keep the family atmosphere going. That’s really it.” It helps with chemistry, with bonding, with motivating each other, with enriching each other.”

The first day of the Hendrick Engine Manufacturer Showdown is currently underway on Wednesday, November 13, and Available to stream at HendrickEBS.comwhere all the structures of the qualifying engines can be watched on the first and second days of the showdown. Latest engine build of the championship Available to watch for free on RacingAmerica.tv on Thursday, November 14 at 2pm ET.