Danny Emerick Earns Record Eighth Hendrick Engine Builder Showdown Win

Are you capable of putting together an engine in the runtime of a half-hour television show on Netflix? If so, then you might just have a shot at winning the Randy Dorton Engine Builder Showdown.

The Showdown, which held its 24th annual contest on Thursday and Friday (November 13-14), pairs 12 Hendrick Automotive Group technicians with 12 Hendrick Motorsports engine builders to see who can construct a 358 cubic-inch NASCAR-inspired engine the fastest, with the least number of penalties – working with 243 total parts.

Even with all those parts and pieces to assemble, and the technical know-how required to quickly (and properly) assemble a behemoth of a powerplant, the battle in the Finals came down to the wire, in an unprecedented way.

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 dealership for the Hendrick Automotive Group. It’s the first time that dealership has triumphed in the contest.

“This is incredible. These trophies get better each year, it seems like,” said Emerick, who has won the last four Engine Builder Showdowns and a record-extending eight all-time. “To have me on the wall in the engine shop on that plaque, to have made an amazing friend, a lifelong friend who is very deserving, too, I can’t explain how exciting this is.”

On the other end of the experience spectrum as Emerick was his teammate, Aimi, who in his first appearance in the Randy Dorton Hendrick Engine Builder Showdown, found himself celebrating a special victory.

“It’s all so cool,” said Aimi. “To win it for Mr. [Hendrick] at his flagship shop, that’s the most important part. Learning he’d be paired with Emerick, Aimi said he definitely got excited about what could happen in the contest.

“I was amped for it,” he added. “In the back of my mind, I was hoping for it. To somehow get that on a blind draw, it just gave me every confidence and the right mindset. I came here to go hard and go home.”

Even with the flawless build, there was no room for error whatsoever, as the other finalists from the 2025 Hendrick Engine Builders Shodown, Kevin Moler of Hendrick Motorsports and Kyle Kittell of Hendrick Chevrolet Shawnee Mission in Kansas, were just 15.6 SECONDS behind the eventual contest-winners.

“It makes us hungry to come back and get that last rung on the ladder,” said Moler. “It was still a phenomenal event, and a phenomenal build for both of us. To decrease our time from the qualifying build to the final build, we left it all out there on the floor. We’re proud of it.”

“[The adrenaline] is as high as it gets,” said Kittel. “You’re full-on, the muscles are burning, legs are burning, arms are burning, dry mouth. You’re just pushing through it, go, go, go, until that engine is running, and go, go, go for those 60 seconds.”

Throughout the contest, both Moler and Kittel were aware that things were close and heard the lead switch back and forth multiple times, before ultimately coming up short to Emerick and Aimi. But, there may be some solace in the fact that Emerick is the winningest engine builder in the competition’s history.

"There's some sounds, some things you hear along the way," said Moler. "The emcees talk about some things. I knew we beat them on the flip. I knew he was watching me, also. I think we traded the lead back and forth a few times based on what I heard. It was a great show, and that's what we're here for."