Emerick Tops Vester for Seventh Hendrick Engine Builder Showdown Crown
For 38 weekends throughout the 2024 season the focus in the NASCAR Cup Series garage was solely on the drivers, the pit crews, and the on-track product. On Wednesday and Thursday, the Hendrick Motorsports mechanics got their chance to be the stars of the show in the 23rd annual Randy Dorton Hendrick Engine Builder Showdown Presented by Valvoline.
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In all, 12 teams comprised of a Hendrick Motorsports team mechanic and a Hendrick Automotive Group technician gave it their all through the qualifier rounds, and in the end, two familiar names stood above the rest.
Danny Emerick, partnered with Shane Flake of Hendrick Toyota of Concord, and Scott Vester, partnered with Joe Gagatch of Hendrick Lexus of Charlotte would square off in the championship build round.
Heading into the event, Emerick and Vester were tied as the winningest mechanics in the history of the competition with six victories each. In a hotly contested final round, it was Emerick and Flake who came out on top with an official build time of 24 minutes, and 2.44 seconds, while Vester and Gagatch completed their build in an official time of 24 minutes, and 33.88 seconds. Both teams had one loose fastener, which resulted in a 30-second penalty, which was included in their official times.
Reaching the sacred number of seven in the Hendrick Engine Builder Showdown is a truly special mark for Emerick.
"I remember last year talking to you pretty much on this same date how six was special, but I told you that number seven -- just in racing, as you know, Petty, Earnhardt, Johnson. I mean, not that this is on that same level, but that number seven carries a lot louder through this sport," Emerick explained. "That plaque I mentioned last year that's on our wall, to have my name up there a seventh time is, on these walls here, these are hallowed grounds, right? Shane, you know, we've come really good friends since we first partnered in 2021. To have his name there with me. It's just, my family is here. I can't say how awesome and special this is."
Not only was it special that Emerick took home his seventh championship in the prestigious engine-building competition, but to do it against Vester, who he considers the best to ever do it, only made it more impactful.
"Competing against Scott, it's kind of like when you win against Scott, it takes on a whole new meaning because in my book, he's the best. I would say if you ask a lot of other people, they would say the same thing," Emerick stated. "And sometimes I like to do things the hard way, and I've learned a lot from Scott. You know, we've worked side-by-side for many years here. He's been a great friend, and competitor, and contributed so much to Motorsports. So, anytime I can combine with Scott on anything, it's really special."
The level of respect between Vester and Emerick was on full display as Vester handed Emerick the trophy at the conclusion of the event, an honor typically reserved for team owner Rick Hendrick. With this being Vester's final time to compete in this event, as he has moved from Hendrick Motorsports to a property management role within Hendrick Automotive Group, he wanted to pass the torch to his colleague.
While they ended up hoisting the trophies at the conclusion of the event, just getting to the final round was a struggle for Emerick and Flake, as Emerick attempted a new method of constructing their engine, which he felt would save his team a few precious seconds on the build floor.
It cost them more than two and a half minutes as they fumbled around to fix the issues caused by the attempt to short cut things. Emerick says he was glad that his mistake didn't cost Flake and himself a chance of competing for the championship.
"I felt like we left the door wide open in the qualifying round. I made a mistake, not Shane," Emerick admitted. "But I would use that as motivation if I was the other guys. Fortunately for us, but not for them, nobody else was able to capitalize on that window. I told Shane, if we got our way back in, it was game on. I knew what we were capable of, we stepped up and executed, and here we are."
When asked if he attempted the new method in the final build, Emerick laughed, "Absolutely not. I'll never do that again. Sometimes those kinds of things bite me, and they've bitten me before. You try to come up with a new trick that's going to save you 10 seconds, and it costs you two and a half minutes. It was time for me to learn a lesson, but thankfully, our time stood the test, and we had a second chance. That's what I'm really thankful for."
Flake, who competed alongside Emerick in this event in 2021, an effort that ultimately resulted in a runner-up effort said of the Hendrick Engine Builder Showdown, "It's pretty intense. Very intense," and that he personally feels, "like it was a great achievement. I'm glad it has finally come through."
The automotive technician for Hendrick Toyota of Concord is proud of his win, and is excited to see how he is regarded around the shop when he returns to work.
"There will be a little bragging rights," Flake gleamed with pride. "I don't know if they want the trophy back at the dealership right yet or not, we'll see. We're going through a lot of remodels right now."
With all due respect, I think the dealership will make room for the trophy.
Prior to the final build, while Vester was seen walking the room, and talking to folks within the Hendrick organization, Emerick was fixated up on the build floor. The mechanic tirelessly looked over the parts, pieces, tools, and even kept an eye on how much lubricant was applied to each part so he would have a better grasp for how the equipment would go together as he and Flake began working on their build.
In the end, Emerick thinks the pre-build studying made the difference.
"It really was. I knew that we were looking at the lubes and everything else, those are the things really, I knew with Scott things always down to a second, and sure enough, it did again," Emerick said. "It just really takes looking at every detail, or the ratchets swinging the right way. But yeah, Scott, he's legendary in this competition, so we needed every bit of energy, and tricks we could find."
While Emerick chased his record seventh championship in the event, Vester and Gagatch got off to a rousing start as they were able to assemble the bottom half of the engine, and flipped the engine over first. While Emerick knows he usually specializes in a faster top half build, while Vester is typically faster on the bottom half, he was slightly worried about the distance that Vester's team had built on them.
"For me, 45 seconds is kind of the window. Scott has told me before, that he's always better on the bottom end, and typically I'll reel him in maybe 45 seconds worth on the top end. And I looked at the clock when he did that, and I looked where we were, and I was like, 'Okay, let's see some magic.' It was a minute and a half like you said," Emerick explained. "Fortunately, they had a problem, and that opened the door for us to capitalize on that. So, it was just super exciting. We were really pumped, it's just amazing."
Here are the full results for the 2024 Randy Dorton Hendrick Engine Builder Showdown Presented by Valvoline
Rank | Hendrick Motorsports | Hendrick Auto Group | Penalty | Official Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Danny Emerick | Shane Flake | +30.00 | 24:02.44 |
2 | Scott Vester | Joe Gagatch | +30.00 | 24.33.88 |
3 | Derek Seyerle | Donovan Smith | -- | 26.21.82 |
4 | Chris Moroch | Ben Turner | +30.00 | 27:59.78 |
5 | Tom Karas | Jeremy Miller | +30.00 | 29:07.74 |
6 | Tyrus Gillen | Chris Baggott | +30.00 | 29:50.04 |
7 | Joshua Speir | Tyler Johnson | +2:30.00 | 30:38.55 |
8 | Sam Vernatter | Phillip Rice | -- | 30:42.00 |
9 | Kevin Moler | Daniel Symeon | -- | 31:38.00 |
10 | Brian Franklin | Jeff Heinz | +4:00.00 | 32:34.21 |
11 | Gage Wenzel | Lee Steffensen | +6:00.00 | 36:17.20 |
12 | Darren Fulk | Richard Ihlanfeldt | -- | 37:44.90 |
Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.