CONCORD, N.C. - It was an extremely close battle fitting of a championship finale to close out this year's Randy Dorton Hendrick Engine Builder Showdown presented by Valvoline.
Hendrick Motorsports engine builder Danny Emerick and Hendrick Certified Master Technician, Jeremy Aimi, brought home the 2025 championship with a clean build time of 21 minutes and 53.48 seconds. Aimi is the lead Corvette technician at City Chevrolet, the flagship for Hendrick Automotive Group. It was the first victory for the legendary Charlotte-based dealership.
RELATED: See the new Chevrolet body for 2026
It wasn't easy though, as Kevin Moler (Hendrick Motorsports) and Kyle Kittel (Hendrick Chevrolet Shawnee Mission (Kansas)) were nipping at their heels the entire build, landing a final time if 22 minutes and 9.9 seconds.
"That was about as exciting as I've seen in a while," Emerick said. "We were side by side, but there were a 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."
It was a historic win for Emerick, who grabbed his eighth Showdown title, extending his overall competition lead. Longtime Hendrick Motorsports builder Scott Vester is second all-time with six victories.
"I was nervous," Emerick said. "I'm a City Chevrolet guy. I love Days of Thunder and I bought my truck there. I had heard they hadn't won this trophy, and that was some extra motivation. I feel like I've made a really, really good friend in Jeremy. I think I've got a friend for life there. He was terrific."
As for Aimi, he won the Showdown in his first try.
"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."
Ironically, Emerick was going up against a former partner in Kittell, as they joined together to win the competition in 2016.
"Kyle is lethal," Emerick said. "We were partners in 2016, and we have stayed good friends since. I was probably the first person he texted when he found out he was coming back. Part of me was ... if I don't get him, I'm in big trouble and here we are in the final round. I know how good he is with the speed handle and everything else. They kept us honest the whole way through."
Kittell was pleased with how his final build went, just barely missing his second Showdown title.
"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 this afternoon.
"It's kind of a competitive advantage to having done this before," Kittell continued. "It felt great and I'm really glad to be here."
His partner Kevin Moler first participated in 2008, and he's won numerous championships and races throughout his decorated Hendrick Motorsports career. He was going for his first Showdown title.
"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."
RELATED: Randy Dorton Hendrick Engine Builder Showdown kicks off
Qualifying builds were equally intense. Moler and Kittell made a strong opening statement to start the competition, reeling off an impressive penalty free first build of 23 minutes and 13.64 seconds to take the top overall spot. Setting an early benchmark for the contest.
Emerick and Aimi followed Moler-Kittell with a very strong time as well, clocking in at 23 minutes and 6.54 seconds. A move that placed the duo at the top of the board.
However, once teardown was complete, the judges found an issue with a loose fastener, costing a 30-second penalty and dropping their overall time to 23 minutes, 36.54 seconds, the second quickest overall time. It was still good enough to allow Emerick and Aimi to advance into the championship build.
RELATED: Hendrick Motorsports' Maxim talks NASCAR horsepower increase
"There was so much energy this year, the intensity was up there right when we stepped into the room," Emerick said. "With that 23, I thought we had a really good shot at getting bumped. I sweat and crossed my figures all the way through (qualifying). But I knew once we got in, we had a lot left in the tank."
What is the Randy Dorton Hendrick Engine Builder Showdown?
Annually, builders from the Hendrick Motorsports Engine Department join together with the best-of-the-best Hendrick Certified Master Technicians from Hendrick Motorsports in a yearly engine build competition to recognize each other's accomplishments.
The Showdown, in its 24th year, pairs 12 Hendrick Automotive Group technicians with 12 Hendrick Motorsports engine builders to see who can construct a 358 cubic inch NASCAR inspired V8 in the quickest amount of time with the least number of penalties. In total, the builders are working with 243 parts.
A brand-new, fully stocked NAPA toolbox was awarded to each of winning builders, while the runners-up grabbed a mobile NAPA tool cart.
To be eligible, Hendrick Automotive Group competitors have to be the top-scoring Master Technicians overall within the company, while passing a yearly, one-of-a-kind Hendrick Automotive Group-tailored Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) exam.