Jesse Yoder, the owner of Jess Performance in Shipshewana, Indiana, was the grand-prize winner of the inaugural MAHLE: The Choice of Champions promotion. Of the two custom-designed vehicles up for grabs in the ultimate giveaway – a Vaughn Gittin Jr.-inspired RTR Spec 5 Mustang and a Casey Currie off-road-ready Jeep – Yoder opted to select the RTR Spec 5 Mustang. This drawing took place on the first day of this year’s AAPEX in Las Vegas during an in-booth award ceremony.

Gittin, Currie and The “King,” Richard Petty, along with several other notable motorsports personalities and hundreds of eager spectators, were present when the four finalists each selected a key from Petty’s signature Charlie One Horse cowboy hat – one of which unlocked the lockbox holding the fobs to the two one-of-a-kind vehicles. And in true Vegas fashion, Yoder had the “luck of the draw.”

“We all congratulate Jesse for being the grand-prize winner of the Choice of Champions promotion and want to thank the other three finalists, as well as all of the participating technicians around the country, for helping to make the program such a tremendous success,” said Jon Douglas, president of MAHLE Aftermarket North America. “Without a doubt, there was no wrong decision in choosing one of these incredible vehicles! Vaughn, Casey and their teams truly outdid themselves in building the Mustang and Jeep; and I want to thank all of them as well for bringing such a great energy to this year’s promotion. We have been doing these vehicle giveaways here at AAPEX now for a number of years, and the excitement just never gets old!”

The four finalists were randomly selected from entries submitted throughout the promotion. Each of the four finalists received a complimentary trip to Las Vegas to participate in the special grand-prize ceremony held at the MAHLE booth on the opening day of AAPEX 2022.

In addition to the four finalist trips to Las Vegas and the grand-prize vehicle, merchandise from Team RTR, Casey Currie Racing, Petty’s Garage and MAHLE was also awarded randomly throughout the program in the form of “swag bags.”

The company is at booth #2661.