A full crowd gathered at the Hendrick Motorsports Campus witnessed a thrilling finish to the 2025 Randy Dorton Hendrick Engine Builder Showdown presented by Valvoline.
The annual competition, now in its 24th year, pairs 12 master-certified technicians from Hendrick Automotive Group dealerships with 12 Hendrick Motorsports engine builders. Their goal? Work as two-person teams to construct a 358 cubic-inch NASCAR-inspired engine consisting of 243 parts in the quickest amount of time.
A successful build requires not only speed but also precision, as errors result in 30-second penalties. In a competition where victories are often decided by mere seconds, time is precious.
This year’s Showdown was no exception, but at the end of the day, a familiar face emerged victorious. The team of Danny Emerick (Hendrick Motorsports) and Jeremy Aimi (Rick Hendrick City Chevrolet) claimed the 2025 title with an impressive build time of 21 minutes and 53.48 seconds.
But their path to victory did not come easy. The runner-up team of Kevin Moler (Hendrick Motorsports) and Kyle Kittel (Hendrick Chevrolet Shawnee Mission) stayed right on their heels throughout the build, finishing in 22 minutes and 9.9 seconds, just 16 seconds shy of winning pace.
"That was about as exciting as I've seen in a while," Emerick said. "We were side by side, but there were quite a few times I looked over, and we might have had a header on and they didn't. Visually they were a little bit ahead, but I knew we had about a 40-second buffer. It ended up being 15 seconds or so."
For Emerick, the win was historic. It marked his fourth consecutive Showdown title and eighth overall, extending his all-time competition record.
As for Aimi, the lead Corvette technician at Rick Hendrick City Chevrolet, he made history in his own right. Not only did he win the Showdown in his first attempt, but it was also the first time a technician from Hendrick Automotive Group’s flagship location brought home the coveted title.
"It was amazing, and I couldn't have asked for a better partner," Aimi said. "Great communication from him. He's so knowledgeable and so particular about everything. It was everything I thought it would be coming into it because if there is no communication, that's where the breakdowns occur."
Despite the second-place finish, Kittel, a former Showdown winner himself, was pleased with his team’s final build.
"I thought the build went fantastic," Kittell said. "We cleaned some things up from the qualifying build, taking over a minute off (of that time). We really put on a show,”
His partner, Kevin Moler, has won multiple races and championships as a member of the Hendrick Motorsports engine department but was looking to add an Engine Builder Showdown victory to his resume.
"That was all we had," said Moler. "We left it all out there on the table and I felt it went better than our first build. We cleaned up some of our issues from that first build, and we picked up about what we thought we would pick up between the two. We were pretty happy."
As the winning builders, Emerick and Aimi each received a brand-new, fully stocked NAPA toolbox, while Moler and Kittell took home a mobile NAPA tool cart.
Celebrating Skill, Honoring a Legacy
The competition is certainly fierce, but the annual Randy Dorton Hendrick Engine Builder Showdown serves a greater purpose. The event honors the legendary Hendrick Motorsports lead engine builder and his leadership and influence on the organization’s innovation and success.
It’s a time when the best-of-the-best from both the racing and automotive retail sides of the business unite to celebrate each other’s remarkable skill, craftsmanship, and achievements.
In total, technicians from 11 different Hendrick Automotive Group dealerships participated in this year’s Engine Builder Showdown, 10 of which were first-time builders.
- Cameron Averitt – Rick Hendrick Toyota
- Caleb Thomsen – BMW of Southpoint
- Chris Schneider – Hendrick Lexus Charlotte
- Craig Swanson – Darrell Waltrip Subaru
- Greg Paolazzi – Rick Hendrick Chevrolet Duluth
- Jeremy Aimi – Rick Hendrick City Chevrolet
- Kyle Kittell – Hendrick Chevrolet Shawnee Mission
- Matthew Hyman – Hendrick Toyota North Charleston
- Nick O’Conner – Hendrick Toyota Merriam
- Peter Matofiy – Hendrick Lexus Northlake
- Ray Buzzard – Hendrick Lexus Kansas City
- William Heimel – Rick Hendrick Chevrolet Duluth
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