Justice Petes' Build Lounge

[JusticePete]

Originally Posted by thespymaster

The Pedders Beast has arrived at SEMA

Thank you very much Kelly!

BIG NEWS for the Pedders Nation to be released tomorrow 9:00 Pacific Time. The only thing that could make today and tomorrow better would be to have Deb and my kids here with me in the morning.

As my good friend would say, it is good to be among the blessed.

I'll explain tomorrow, but there is a passing of the torch that will occur. My very good friend that has been so good to me is retiring. He
'll leave a hole that no one will ever fill. No one. Another friend is taking his place and will make his own mark, do things his own way and be incredibly successful. Both will be there when when Pedders USA moves to a new level within the industry.

All I can say is THANK YOU to the people closest to me that believed in me and my vision for Pedders USA. WOW! Really? I am very lucky man.

[speedster]

Congratulations to you Pete !!!

I am sure that it is well deserved. You are truly a mover and a shaker. Good things come to those who...KICK BUTT !!!

[armysig]

Good luck this weekend!! I can't wait to see the results of your racing.

You are truly blessed to have people that care about you so much. Even with the limited time i had visiting you I could honestly say I'm honored to meet and spend time with you.

Keep up the good work, I cant wait to see you next cool product.

[JusticePete]

[Redemption]

Congrats Pete and team Pedders!! Much deserved.

[Dangeruss]

Amazing Pete...it's always good to see someone recognized for their hard work and dedication.

[RED DEMON SS]

Congratulations Pete, i have watched in the wings and you guys deserve this award for all your hard work and dedication!

[Mr Twisty]

Sweet!

Congrat's Pete

[armysig]

Dude!!!! That's awesome, I can't wait to hear about the final results of the event.

[mlee]

WELL DESERVED Pete!!!! You earned this one and have a lot to be proud of.

Hope to tip a cold one with you very soon..

[PQ]

Pete, you deserve all that you are getting.

I've never met a person that I want to, and believe will, succeed.

Your excitement about all of this is fun to watch. Not just about your own product but the whole thing.

[IOM Black Diamond]

Congrats Pete!!! It was nice to meet you today, to bad we didn't have time to talk

[JusticePete]

Originally Posted by IOM Black Diamond

Congrats Pete!!! It was nice to meet you today, to bad we didn't have time to talk

Same here. Next time!

[JusticePete]

The build up to SEMA, SEMA and the OUSCI were the best ever. Each year we are at SEMA I try to make it better for us. Last year was pretty amazing. I left this year wondering how we would live up to last year. We were under the pump from the start. We had two special projects with GM and were also doing coilovers for the all new Ford Fusion. On top of that we were supporting a number of SEMA builds and of course preparing three cars for the OPTIMA Invitational. The Sonic was the last car on the priority list. You take care of your clients before you take car of yourself. These are the Bridgestone S04 Pole Positions Thursday morning before SEMA.



The final ride height adjustments, corner weighting and alignment were completed Friday morning. I was ready to leave and a small storm knocked out the fiber optic line coming into the building and damaged some of our networking equipment. I stayed until those services were restored and started out for Vegas in the 'cargo' version of the Sonic at 7:30 Friday night after a quick detail with my youngest.



With the rear seat removed for weight savings, the Sonic made a great cargo van.



Friday night I pulled into a Holiday Inn Express about 2 in the morning. I met up with MSW444 and his son for breakfast. That is the best part of what I do. I don't think there is a city in the USA where I don't have a good friend. Being car guys we know the best part of what we do is the people we meet. Big Mike is one of the best.





We are in the front row at the LVH.



Ford was late on getting the Fusions out to the builders which meant we were late gettng the Fusion parts. The Fusion coilovers arrived Thursday before SEMA when the two SEMA Fusions were already in transit to SEMA. I promised both builders their Fusions would be on coilovers for the show so my plan was to install them at a Ford Dealer on Saturday before move in. The coilovers arrived on Friday instead of Wednesday. So we moved to Plan C. Plan A was to have them to the builders the day before the vehicles shipped. Plan B the Ford Dealer. Plan C -- the Silver Parking lot.

Things just don't go as planned. We were supposed to get started at 8:00 sharp. The first Fusion was not unloaded until 10:45. It doesn't matter because I brought my A TEAM: Bruce Raymond, Clayton White, Andrew Sanders and Richard Raymond.













We must have done something right.



Monday evening we attended the GM Preview with Neil Tjin, Rick Bottom, Mrk Pedder and Ron Pedder. Just before the event kicked off I found out that Bob Kern, Mr. GM SEMA was really retiring. Bob has become a very close friend and I will miss him at these events. Literally minutes after that Tom Gardner comes by to tell me he has a new position at GM. Tom is taking Bob's place. I don't remember what cars they showed or the celebrities they introduced.

Tuesday morning started off with meetings and ended with meetings, though I did take off enough time to attend key press conferences: Ford, GM, Lingenfelter and Chrysler.









I was invited to another GM ****tail party that confirmed I really was in Vegas.



Leaving the ****tail party Dave Ross passed me in the stair well and 'reminded' me to be at the GM SEMA Awards Breakfast. I thought that was really nice. The breakfast is for the GM SEMA award winners. For a number of years I have wished I could attend the event and watch my builders receive their wards. How cool is this going to be. I saw Tom Gardner as I walked out of the GM display. Tom, 'reminded' me to be at the breakfast with a big grin. About an hour later Bob Kern called me. "Pete it is my honor to inform you that Pedders has been selected as the Best New GM Performance Product for your work on the Spark".

I had no idea Pedders was even eligible to compete for a GM SEMA Award. Not a clue. Then I get calls from Rick Bottom and Neil Tjin. WOW! There is a back story to all of this. Suffice it to say that I never expected to even be recognized for the Spark coils. The wheel stand by the Spark listed the coils as a GM part TBD. We dd those coils for our friends at GM behind the scenes. Over the last number of years GM has done a great deal for Pedders and we have tried our best to be good partners. I never expected to receive an award like this as a thank you.


Jim Campbell, U.S. vice president Performance Vehicles and Motorsports


David Ross, Design Manager Styling at GM


Bob Kern, Look up Old School and you'll see Bob's picture there.

Pedders Build TEAM



Rick Bottom



Neil Tjin


Roger Tessman, Fear One


Bob Kern, Me, Mark Pedder and Jim Campbell


Tom Gardner


Bruce Raymond

TEAM Chevrolet





My Chevrolet SEMA Swag: 2013 Hot Wheels Edition Camaro, Autographed COPO Camaro Book and 2012 GM SEMA Best New Performance Product Award.

The rest of Wednesday and Thursday were spent smiling and and in more meetings. All the meetings went well. 2013 will be a very good business year. I have to admit the rumor is true. I carry my blue velvet bag and 2012 SEMA trophy almost every where.



SEMA is a great opportunity to see our Dealers. I used to be much better at getting pictures of all of us. This year I only have a few to post.



Tuesday night Bruce and his brother joined us for dinner.




Wednesday night dinner with Ron Pedder, Mark Pedders, Andrew Sanders and our international guests friends from Isreal was excellant. Thursday night's Camaro5 dinner brought the close of SEMA for me. My Aussie mates handled the booth on Friday while I shifted focus to the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational.

John Buttermore, Lead Development Engineer for the Sonic and Back-to-Back SCCA T1 Champion prepares for his interview.



The first question is: Have you lost your mind? You brought 1 1.4T to the OUSCI. Is this some kind of joke? No, the joke will be on those we beat with gorgeous purpose built cars with engines that cost more than our complete OUSCI ready Sonic. We have two bad axx Camaros running in the event in addition to the Sonic that we believe will can win the event. The Sonic is here to prove that a very good off the showroom floor economy Chevrolet, well setup with GMPP Pedders Xa coilovers and a very good driver can compete with the biggest baddest dogs around. Suspension and Driver Make it Happen

We did pause to savor the event.




Ms. Optima, Rob, Richard, Bruce, Me and Ms. Yellow Top Optima


Ms. Yellow Top, John, Me, GM Best New Performance Product and Ms. Optima



Danny Popp and Goldberg with the Lingenfelter / Pedders L/28. We had the winning combination of car and driver, but had the misfortune of breaking on the road course.

The rubber drive shaft coupler failed on our first hot lap. The fastest road course time was 1.46 and change. That is measured on the fly start line to finish. A top car at this year's OUSCI past the start / finish line at a minimum of 110 MPH. On our warm-up lap from a dead start Danny posted a 1.49.5. We all know the L/28 is fast, very fast. Let's just say the L/28 goes from ZERO to 110 MPH in 4 seconds flat which would be a very optimistic number. You can do the math to see what car would have been the fastest. The L/28 standing start warm-up lap was the 5th fastest hot lap of the day!!! This was a bitter disappointment to a great season. Running only two of the three timed events placed the L/28 7th in the final standings.


Shoulda, coulda, woulda...

As disappointing as this is, we were still the fastest 5th Gen in the field blowing past a very well prepared LG / Pfadt equipped Davidson Racing Camaro that posted a 01:57.894

Bruce Raymond's Raymond's Performance Camaro did well.

With a first year OUSCI driver behind the wheel they placed 22nd overall. Todd put four wheels off on his road course warm-up lap and never really settled in after that, but still posted the 11th fastest Road Course lap of the day at 01:52.440. On the Speed Stop they made a tactical error running all out on all three runs. We needed one conservative run with no cones to score. We'll do better next year, but 22nd out of 56 with points in only two events is a very good outing.

We came to win. We also come to enjoy the time we spend track side with our friends.


Murray Pfaff, Ken Lingenfelter, R.B. Bull and Dave Ross


Mr. R.B. Bull and Ms. Optima









Our Sonic LTZ 1.4T AUTOMATIC ran with OE wheels, OE tire size, OE Brakes and was stock with the following exceptions. The all season tires were replaced with Bridgestone S04 Pole Position rubber the same size as OE. Advanced Racing Dynamics did the tune with a mild increase in boost for a FWHP gain of only 25 ponies. GMPP Pedders Xa coilovers with a race ready set of coils 6kg front and 8kg rears. The ride heights were 580mm with 17" wheels all round. This setup allowed the car to rotate in the turns with the OE front sway bar and toque tube rear axle based on speed or just breathing on the brake pedal. 34 pounds in the front tires and 38 pounds in the rear. We did remove the rear seat and cargo area materials for weight savings. John drove with the windows up and the heat on high.



1.08 Gs steady state in the turns
23 rd in the AC
30th in the Speed Stop
33rd on the Road Course

While were were disappointed we did not break the Top 20 we realize that the field for this year's OUSCI is stronger and deeper than ever before. We went out to prove that Driver and Suspension are the key to on track performance. There can be no doubt we succeeded.

I cannot thank John enough for coming out to Vegas and participating in this event. It all comes back to the people.




Bruce Raymond and driver Todd Rumpke


John Buttermore and Danny Popp


John Buttermore and Greg Davidson



Congratulations to this year's Champion Mark Steilow!




Full OUSCI Results


At the end of the day we gathered back at the host hotel. We should have taken pictures. John, Danny, Todd, Bruce, Rob, Richard, special guest Brandon, Eric and me for a few beers car guy style in the parking lot. We ordered pizza and shared a toast to a great TEAM effort and the friendships we forged this season.

We did stop by the hotel bar. That was an interesting experience. I don't think they liked us. After two rounds our waitress came by the tanle with one of these for each of us.



They came with instructions. You cannot open or drink these in the bar. That is the most gracious way I have ever been invited to leave an establishment.

In the morning our Sonic was converted from race car to cargo van. First the tools of the trade, data logging gear, suitcases and Bull Bag.




20 hours 10 minutes and 1,279.5 miles. I drove home straight through and made the trip in 19 hours and 30 minutes including fuel stops. What did I learn at SEMA 2012?

I have more friends in the industry than I could have imagined.

Competing in the OPTIMA Qualifying Events and the Invitational is exhausting, but worth every minute of effort.

No matter how hard I try to plan the month before SEMA it will always come down to a last minute fire drill.

I should have my car done in time to send it by transport so I can fly in and out. Hey I can dream can't I?

It is impossible to do all the work required for SEMA, the OUSCI and my day job at Pedders.

I have a brilliant idea for SEMA and the OUSCI for next year. If I can pull it together, I'll be twice as busy with that project as I was this year, but my clients will love our new products.

There are so many people I left out of this recap of SEMA 2012, but it is already far too long. I am still worn out from my SEMA - OUSCI MONTH, but it already feels like it was a month ago. I am happy to be at home, but miss my home away from home in Vegas for SEMA week. Thank you for reading this far. It proves you are just like me. A certifiable Car Guy.