LAS VEGAS, Nov. 7, 2019—Amid a packed ballroom with intermittent musical interludes provided by The Blue Man Group, the 2019 SEMA Industry Awards were doled out on Thursday night at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort.
Several awards were given out, and three collision repair industry luminaries were inducted into the SEMA Hall of Fame: Bob Chandler, Bruce Crower, and Marla Moore. Recent hall of fame inductees included Ed Pink (in 2018), Chip Foose (2017), and NASCAR icon Bill France, Sr. (2012) to name just a few.
Chandler is the creator and owner of the Bigfoot—the Ford F-250 pickup that is credited with starting the monstertruck craze. Crower is credited with advancing the industry's speed, safety and innovation; he opened Crower Racing Cams & Equipment in 1955. Moore has chaired SEMA councils and committees and guided an all-female Mustang build that received coverage on CBS Evening News.
Among others honored on Thursday night in Las Vegas were: Matthew Boice of Motortrend Group (Vanguard Award); Tim Dietz of Standards Testing Laboratories (WTC Hall of Fame); Joel Ayres of the Automotive Aftermarket Charitable Foundation (Tora Hall of Fame); Jennifer Lafever of Roush Yates (SBN Woman of the Year Award); Dino Perfetti of Automotive Concepts (Person of the Year); John McLeod of Classic (Industry Recognition Award), Chris Crecelius (Ambassador Award).
“The SEMA Industry Awards Banquet is the ideal place for celebrating and connecting with industry friends and family,” said Tom Gattuso, SEMA vice president of events.
An estimated 3,000 industry professionals attended Thursday's awards ceremony at the Westgate.
