Joe St. Lawrence started RTM, the industry's first production company for auto how-to shows in the mid-1980s. He created PowerBlock, television’s first two-hour, auto theme-block featuring how-to shows that introduced SEMA-member products to million of viewers. St. Lawrence’s shows sparked parts-buying on Monday, and gave DYIers the confidence to bolt-on aftermarket parts and customize their vehicles. He introduced broad audiences to cool cars and helped change the image of the backyard mechanic into a tool-wielding expert.

John Gaines was an early pioneer in automotive aftermarket warehouse distribution. His company, G&M Performance Parts, was one of the first of its kind in the automotive aftermarket. Gaines’ distributorship was one of the first in the country to utilize a fleet of vehicles to distribute product direct to local speed shops, truck accessory stores, car dealerships and machine shops, creating a much quicker and more streamlined process from manufacturer to end user. Gaines is credited with forward-thinking early on that helped many manufacturers grow to where they are today.

Jack Chisenhall is credited with making climate-control systems accessible by founding the San Antonio, Texas, company Vintage Air, and also helped create what is now the Hot Rod Industry Alliance (HRIA), among other innovations and contributions. His work made enthusiasts’ cars more comfortable and easier to drive, and that meant more miles logged behind the wheel, more money spent on modifications and more time on the road wrenching, driving, building and enjoying these cars. It was a cultural shift and a game changer.

Rich Barsamian has been actively volunteering and helping to improve our industry since he joined the Young Executives Network (YEN) in 1995. He has helped bring many educational programs to SEMA members and worked tirelessly as an ambassador to help grow SEMA membership. Over the years, Barsamian has earned numerous recognitions for his continued work in the automotive aftermarket, including SEMA Person of the Year in 2014, and exemplifies the SEMA Hall of Fame criteria with regard to professionalism, dignity, integrity, stature and growth of the industry.

As the son of the first SEMA Hall of Fame recipient Paul Schiefer, Carl Schiefer built a legacy of his own by founding one of the first marketing agencies dedicated to automotive brands. Schiefer Media was created in 1985 as an enthusiast media agency with an original focus on automotive aftermarket and related enthusiast categories. With an impressive list of clients, including Edelbrock, Mother’s, Bilstein, and Royal Purple, Schiefer Media was instrumental in bringing motorsports brands to the mainstream public.

Bob Moore appropriately authored a monthly column in Aftermarket Business magazine entitled “Ahead of the Curve.” As electronic catalogs evolved and the internet began to dominate the way consumers researched and purchased products in the early 2000s, Moore was a pioneer in establishing standards for product data in the automotive aftermarket. As a SEMA Board member and the co-founder and chairman of the SEMA Business Technology Committee (which has evolved to what is now the SEMA Data Co-op), Moore was instrumental in the adoption of standardized data for the specialty-equipment industry.

While freelancing as a writer/photographer for Rodder’s Digest magazine in 1982, Rick Love created a home workshop and leaned on his electronics degree to do wiring and air conditioning installations for other hot rodders. It was this A/C work that caught the attention of SEMA Hall of Famer and founder of Vintage Air Jack Chisenhall. Chisenhall asked Love to assist the company at rodding events, and continued to promote him over the years to his current position of president, in charge of overseeing the day-to-day operations of the entire company.

Jessi Combs built an accomplished career in the automotive industry as the host of several television programs, founder of a variety of businesses, and an accomplished fabricator and racecar driver. With an infectious passion and youthful enthusiasm for the industry, Combs served as a host for many SEMA events, including the SEMA Installation & Gala and the SEMA Awards Banquet at the SEMA Show.

Robert Eugene “Gene” Winfield is an American automotive customizer and fabricator who has been involved in the industry for over 70 years. He started building hot rods in the backyard of his mother’s house in the 1940s, and came to national prominence in 1959 with a stunning quad-headlight take on a 1956 Mercury two-door hardtop immortalized as the Jade Idol. Besides fashioning his own unique brand of customs, Winfield became famous for inventing the fade paint job.

For more than 40 years, Jack Roush has been committed to winning on and off the race track. Early in his career, he founded Roush & Gapp -- a race team he formed with Wayne Gapp that won multiple championships in NHRA, IHRA, and AHRA Pro Stock drag racing. Later, he established Jack Roush Performance Engineering and began supplying racing engines and components for drag, oval-track, and hill-climb cars as well as for offshore power boat contenders. In 1984, Roush was commissioned by the Ford Motor Co. to develop cars and engines for the SCCA Trans-Am and IMSA Camel GT racing series.