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12/12/2017
This year’s Specialty Equipment Market Association Show saw record attendance and a strong presence from American Racing and all of the Wheel Pros family of brands.
The Wheel Pros display in the Silver Lot outside the convention center was the main draw for buyers, but the company’s significant presence in the industry was evident from its huge presence throughout the show.
There were lifted trucks on KMC XD Wheels, race cars on Motegi forged products, and modern muscle featuring throwback American Racing styles. Featured at the Toyota display were a trio of modified 2018 Camrys built by leading NASCAR drivers.
The Custom Shop worked with racers Kyle Busch, Martin Truex, and Denny Hamlin to equip each show vehicle with custom forged wheels. Every custom build poses challenges but it was Hamlin’s vehicle (shown here in photos from Autoweek) that put the team to the test.
“I wanted the wide-body look: lighter, lower, with the biggest tires I could get on it,” Daytona 500-winner Hamlin told Autoweek.
Hamlin spared no details for his build, incorporating the stock Camry seat leather into the vehicle’s custom Recaro racing seats. A handmade wide-body kit, furnished by customizer Steven Klitsch, called for careful wheel fitment and American Racing delivered wwith gloss red tinted VF502s that perfectly complimented the vehicle. Autoweek magazine named it a standout of the show.
Busch’s Camry was fitted with VF498s in satin black with contrasting bright silver painted accents to match the black and chrome theme of his car. The Truex Camry’s “murdered out” theme was completed by its VF503 in satin black.
This year, more than 70,000 international vendors, buyers and media descending on the Las Vegas Convention Center for SEMA the largest automotive aftermarket trade show in the world. American Racing, founded in 1956, was one of the first members of the trade association and has been involved in the annual convention since its inception.
