Roger Reporting

The name of veteran drag racing photo-journalist Roger Gorringe will be known to most readers. Roger makes frequent trips to the USA taking in as many of the major meetings as he can. It is filthy work standing trackside with endless Top Fuel Dragsters and Funny Cars thundering past you but someone has to do it. Fortunately Roger has very kindly offered to share his experiences with us in his illustrated meeting reports.

The Specialty Equipment Market Association or SEMA has been around since its formation in 1963 with the first SEMA Show taking place in 1967, it now represents a $30 billion specialty automotive worldwide industry comprising more than 6,500 member companies. The Las Vegas show along with the AAPEX show are held annually at the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Sands Expo & Convention Center respectively, generally at the end of October and into November. It is a non-public show inviting only manufacturers, and associated trades. The many halls were packed by both exhibitors and attendees with over 2,000 exhibiting companies that manufacture thousands of products designed to improve performance, safety and convenience, as well as those that enhance appearance and comfort.

This year’s SEMA Award for the top trending vehicle models in four categories were the Ford Mustang named Hottest Car, the Scion FR-S took the Hottest Sport Compact honours, the Ford F-Series won Hottest Truck and the Jeep Wrangler received the Hottest 4x4-SUV award.

The huge shows were once again a great success with stands and display booths being packed with information, new and existing products and stunning vehicles that ended with the annual SEMA Cruise to end the show as many exhibition vehicles drove out of the complex. The gallery of photos include dragsters, new models, monster trucks, custom cars, rods and pretty girls.

Courtney Force's Funny Car