A couple of weeks later we went to Myrtle Beach, SC, of all places, to run Trifecta at the Funkmaster Flex Car and Bike Show. Flex was a generous host and our thanks to him and his crew. Luckily for us they made the logistics easy. It would've been too much to deal with any hassles and then be confronted with the dilemma of choosing from the mix of highly modded-out rides at that event. We had Peter Colello and his Celica, Jeff Gregory's chop-top tC, the Buick Regal, previously owned by Gary Biggs, and another surprise, a Hyundai Tiburon built by Mike Edens. The judges had a difficult time putting aside their personal opinions about certain cars and scoring vehicles according to the set criteria. In the end, Carlos Machuca, who now owns the Regal, and Edens edged out the competition. If it were permissible and practical, we would've allowed for more direct entries. Frankly, the Celica and tC also deserved to be at the Finals. The points just weren't there, however.
With the stage set, everyone gathered in Las Vegas for the last round of judging. The competitors made it tough on one another. Machuca had been busy and painted almost everything that hadn't been painted on the car as yet. That meant the underbody and parts of the engine compartment, all matching the pre-existing motif on the exterior. Roberts completely re-painted his xB with Maserati Blue and updated his interior with newly covered seats and touches of neon light. Watkins was again set to make a top three finish with a new body kit on the RSX and meticulous craftsmanship.
At SEMA, in between fulfilling their various obligations at the show, our judges still managed to spend some time with the competitors, get the rundown on the cars and systems and lay down the points. Troy Sumitomo actually had some doubles at the show in order to make all of his appointments and meetings. Or so we have surmised, considering everything he had going at the show. Keith Turner again helped out Chip Foose and the Overhaulin' crew on the big build outside the Convention Center. Mike Vu, of course, built about a hundred cars for SEMA but still made time to judge the cars for Trifecta. In between getting interviewed by Barry Meguiar for Car Crazy, running around the various halls of the show, or uh, recovering from massive hangovers (just kidding), our judges got it done and we're all very grateful for that.
In the end, like last year, we had a couple of surprises. Perhaps no one should be too surprised that Machuca and his Regal finished first. But Roberts' xB finished very close in terms of SQ. And Syner could have won it all if his Civic were built for sound quality. A side note as it relates to Syner: this was the first time, in all his years of competition, that he won any money at all. Our apologies, Jason, that that your first prize money was but $250. But that did pay for one or two dinners in Vegas, we hope, or 20 drinks. Had it not been for the peak dB portion of the scoring Watkins would have once again been in the top three. Fellow competitors should be thankful that he will not be competing next year; rather, he will be one of our Trifecta judges. He definitely has earned that.