Eddie Pettus wins SEMA 2026 Battle of the Builders with his Chevelle

A five year Chevelle takes the overall crown

The SEMA Show ran at the Las Vegas Convention Center from November 3 to 6, 2026, and as always the trade only event closed its week with the Battle of the Builders, presented by Mothers. Judges picked a top 12 across four classes, Hot Rod and Hot Rod Truck, Sport Compact and Import Performance, Off-Road, and the under-29 Young Guns, before narrowing the field to a final four who judged each other for the overall title.

Eddie Pettus of Eddie's Rod and Custom won it with his 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle, a wedge-sectioned, stretched-wheelbase build running a 1,300 bhp twin-turbo LS3 V8 paired to a 4L80 transmission. SEMA's own writeup called it a five-year build with more than 15,000 man-hours across the body and interior. "It means so much to me and my team to do this, and to finally get the overall is an honor," Pettus said.

The other three class winners who made the final round were Buddy Hale with a 1955 Volkswagen Ghia in Sport Compact and Import Performance, Mark Giambalvo with a 1974 Chevrolet K10 in Off-Road, and Jesse Rieger with a 1969 Ford Mustang in Young Guns.

Motorcycles get their own shootout for the first time

SEMA added a second contest this year, the Battle of the Builders Bike Builder Shootout, judging custom motorcycles on their own stage for the first time at the show. Steven Iacona of Iacona Custom Cycles in Brooklyn won the inaugural title with a custom Harley-Davidson Knucklehead built around a 1945 engine. "I began with a 1945 Knucklehead engine that we had, and I just needed to find the right customer that would let me do what I wanted with it," Iacona said. Robert Zeolla's Indian In-Line Four took second place and James Crosby's Harley-Davidson Pan Head took third. Judges Zach Ness of Arlen Ness Motorcycles, Jeff Holt of V-Twin Visionary and Pat Patterson of Led Sled Customs scored the bikes on craftsmanship, design and execution.

What this means for the Indian custom scene

SEMA is a trade only show, closed to the Indian public except through its one general admission day, which this year sold advance tickets at 130 dollars, or roughly 12,000 rupees at November's exchange rate. For most Indian builders and fans, the way to follow it is SEMA Live, the show's own livestream presented by AutoZone, which ran 32 hours of coverage across the four days.

There is no Indian name yet among the Battle of the Builders finalists, bikes or cars, though India has its own growing scene of custom motorcycle builders working on Royal Enfields, Jawas and modern commuters. SEMA also used this year's show to point to the scale of the industry behind it.

The numbers show why global parts brands, including several that sell into India, keep sending builders and products to Las Vegas every November. For Indian custom shops, the Battle of the Builders remains a benchmark to watch rather than enter, at least for now.

Sources