The idea for the 48-hour contest known as the "Installer Challenge" came about seven years ago at Spring Break Nationals in Daytona. I was working for Foss Car Audio in Tacoma, WA. and had been working on a truck for six months, but I needed one more week to finish it. The owner and a friend drove from Tacoma to Daytona, while I took a plane ride and met him there with all his tools in a gym bag. Once they caught up with each other, I began to try to pull off a miracle by working 48 hours straight. While the owner and his friend took off partying, I was left alone (and with only a flash light to light the way) to go to town on the truck in order to get it ready for Sunday. I worked two days straight getting this truck ready and finished it Sunday. It went through the judging lanes and still manage to take third place. It was after this marathon that the idea came about for this grueling and intense contest.
As the years went by, I noticed the shows started getting smaller, like last year's IASCA Finals, which was pretty small in comparison to other finals. I realized this would be a good idea to help create excitement at the shows. An idea like this would be something that might even generate interest from cable networks like ESPN. With TV programming being what it is you're not going to get anyone to put it on TV unless you present them with an extreme idea. In this case, a contest that by its very nature stirs excitement from beginning to end. It wasn't till the Car Audio and Electronics' publisher, Joe Rafael, agreed to back up the idea with advertisement that we were able to put the Challenge together.
The purpose behind this contest was to place a time constraint on the installers as they tried to create a competition level audio system. Given enough time a talented installer can do wondrous things; but what if that person had a limited period? Let's face it, that's the way the real world works. Installers always work against the clock and usually pull it off. So given their dedication and skills it's funny that the industry looks down on us as just installers. Without us there is no industry. In a sense we create products that make the industry go around, not unlike manufacturers of the equipment we use. Without us there would not be any of these enthusiast magazines. Who would buy a magazine without an install?
Once we had the advertisement locked down I turned my attention to some manufacturers for sponsorships. Keith Lehman, president of MB Quart, was the first to come on board. He was excited about the idea and was willing to help in any way. Other manufacturers like Stinger, Panasonic, Audio Control, Kicker and Code Alarm also became sponsors and were excited to be part of the Challenge.
The preliminary rules I came up with were that both teams had to have the same equipment, same vehicle, and the same materials. The two teams were to be composed of five installers each. Once word of the contest spread installers submitted resumes in order for Select Products' Robert Garza and I to choose the two teams - Team Tweeter and Team Thunder. Robert Garza was chosen to organize the contest. He got Porter Cable and Delta to donate tools for each team. There was plenty of Stinger wire; MB Quart provided the subwoofers, mid and highs; Kicker submitted amplifiers; Audio Control took care of the signal processors; and Code Alarm would protect the vehicles.