Canadian Young Guns named to Top 12 in SEMA Battle of the Builders

by Andrew Ross | Nov 3, 2021 | 0 comments

SEMA Battle of the Builders throttle thrashers

Cole Marten and Chelsie Lesnoski, owners of Throttle Thrashers Garage in Penticton, B.C., both had projects selected in the Young Guns Category. Marten built a one-of-a-kind high horsepower, AWD Nissan Skyline. Lesnoski entered a 1993 Mazda RX-7 FD.

(UPDATED) Throttle Thrashers Garage partners Cole Marten and Chelsie Lesnoski both made it to the prestigious Top 12 in the SEMA Battle of the Builders competition.

In the end, the Ultimate Builder prize went to Robert Matranga’s ‘55 Bel Air; a purported million-dollar custom creation known as “Brute Force” that has been taking top prizes across the custom car competition world.

Still this is a great showing for these Canadian builders.

Marten and Lesnoski, owners of Throttle Thrashers Garage in Penticton, B.C., both had projects selected in the Young Guns Category. Marten built a one-of-a-kind high horsepower, AWD 1991 Nissan Skyline R32 GTR. Lesnoski entered a stunning 1993 Mazda RX-7 FD.

Both had been named to the Young Guns Top 10 as the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) announced the Top 40 builders in the SEMA Battle of the Builders competition.

Industry experts narrowed the field to select the Top 12 finalists, who judged one another on Friday at the SEMA Show and voted to determine who was named the Ultimate Builder of the 2021 SEMA Battle of the Builders competition.

The SEMA Battle of the Builders winner was announced before the start of SEMA Ignited, held after the trade-only SEMA Show closes, on Friday, November 5, in the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) West Hall Parking Lot.

Battle of the Builders is a competition to honour and recognize builders at the premier automotive trade show, the SEMA Show.

Check out our recent podcast featuring Cole and Chelsie, recorded just before SEMA.

HERE ARE THE TOP 12 SELECTIONS IN THE BATTLE OF THE BUILDERS

HOT ROD

Mike Fillion

1956 OLDSMOBILE 98

BOOTH: WIZARD PRODUCTS

BOOTH/LOCATION: GL16

Mark Giambalvo

1930 FORD MODEL A 2-DOOR SEDAN

BOOTH: HRIA

BOOTH/LOCATION: 23295

ULTIMATE BUILDER WINNER

Robert Matranga

1955 CHEVROLET BEL AIR

BOOTH: KEYSTONE

BOOTH/LOCATION: 21249

SPORT COMPACT

Samantha Frazier

1973 NISSAN DATSUN 240Z

BOOTH: MOTHERS

BOOTH/LOCATION: 81040

Eddie Pettus

1961 AUSTIN HEALEY SPRITE

BOOTH: BASF

BOOTH/LOCATION: V034

Simo Veharanta

1982 PORSCHE 911 RSR

BOOTH: CSF RADIATOR

BOOTH/LOCATION: 21725

TRUCK/OFF-ROAD