StopTech turns virtual heads in Forza Motorsport 3

Perhaps the most common car at SEMA this year was a virtual one.

Several booths turned into arcades with playable displays of racing videogame Forza Motorsport 3 for the Microsoft Xbox 360. Whipping by too fast to notice unless you are looking for it is the StopTech logo adorning the race barriers.

One helpful reader sent this photo in...

Don't try this if you happen to spot a StopTech logo during your real track day.

Some displays went overboard with their affection for Microsoft, including this Toyota's Tacoma All-Terrain Gamer (ATG) concept which features four on board Xbox 360s...

FYI - were still editing out footage from SEMA but look for something new in the Centric Parts YouTube channel in December.

Happy Thanksgiving!

See ya Las Vegas

Another SEMA/AAPEX show is in the books for Centric Parts, but not before rolling out one more piece of news. This one from Power Slot.

You may recall that last year Power Slot introduced the Power Alloy Enhanced Brake Rotor in and picked up a Best New Product award for it at the AAPEX show.

This year Power Alloy is back but with a brand-new eye catching black finish. You can read the details here.

Dino Crescentini also had a chance to stop by the SEMA booth on Friday after wrapping up the AAPEX show a day earlier. While there, we shot an interview with him about his race season that we'll edit and post to the Centric Parts YouTube channel later in the month.

Thanks to all of you who stopped by. For those of you who missed it, we'll post a video recap to the Centric Parts YouTube channel later in the month.

Dino Enters AIA Hall of Fame - Alive!

Another big day for the Centric Parts family in Las Vegas for SEMA and AAPEX. Today Centric Parts CEO Dino Crescentini was inducted into the Aftermarket Industry Association Hall of Fame, which is the highest honor handed out by AIA. You can read the details in this press release.

The quote of the day has to be the one uttered by a visitor to the StopTech booth at SEMA when she heard that Dino was at AAPEX getting this honor.

"I thought he was dead."

Ouch!

The story behind this is that last year another race car driver named Dino Crescentini perished in a track accident during a race in a different series than the one the Centric Parts CEO races in. Obituaries showed up all over race media - with a picture of the wrong Dino - our Dino.

The journalists had used Google Images to find a photo of the deceased. They typed in "Dino Crescentini race car driver" and, not knowing there were two people with the same name in this community, ran the first photo they found.

The situation was compounded by the fact he was scuba diving in a remote part of the world when the news broke. Therefore he was uncharacteristically not returning phone calls.

Over a year later, it turns out there are still a few people out there who did not see the corrections and retractions that ran a days later.

Kudos for Centric Parts website at AAPEX

Calling it "truly a fine, fine work of art," the Auto International Association (AIA) today handed Centric Parts a Best Website 2009 award at AAPEX in Las Vegas. You can read the press release for the details.

Not bad for the first day of the show. The Centric Parts family has now earned each of the major awards given away over the years. Technically, Centric Parts had a perfect record this year, as Dan Lelchuk revealed to The Brake Room after the ceremony that this was the only award Centric Parts put an entry in for. With all the effort that went into making the site a reality this year, it was a safe bet the site would come out on top at AAPEX.

SEMA and AAPEX 2009 Begins

The biggest US event for the automotive aftermarket is under way. Stay tuned here for daily blog updates from the plus don't forget to drop in our sister blog, The StopTech Blog.

Centric Parts has a booth over at AAPEX in the Sands Convention Center (#9232) while StopTech and Power Slot are co-habitating at SEMA (#22387 - Center Hall) in the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The StopTech / Power Slot booth at SEMA looks fabulous this year with a new location and a new layout. Dino Crescentini's race winning Porsche is parked right up front.

Centric Parts is in the same location at AAPEX but with some great new news. After nearly 10 years of focusing on brakes, Centric Parts is also adding wheel bearings and seals to the lineup with two complete lines.

So if you are in Vegas stop on by, otherwise, keep checking back for more updates.