Drag Illustrated Issue 114, October 2016 | Page 86

DEVELOPING ROLE Kyle Fickler jumped at
an opportunity to serve a second term on the
SEMA Board of Directors. Fickler, the Director
of Business Development at Aeromotive, has
broadened his own horizons when it comes to the
industry, which could pay dividends during his
next term. In his eyes, the RPM Act remains the
biggest issue the industry continues to face.

KF: I would almost equate to a baseball game.
I would say we’re in the second or third inning.
We’re still early on and I don’t know that it will
ever be solved. I hate to mix up sports analogies, but they’re going to move the goalposts on
us. We’ve made some progress, but we still have
plenty of work left to do and some of it’s going to
become an ongoing part of what our industry is
confronted with and has to overcome.
As today’s standards change and just emission
standards change overall in these new vehicles,
the technology changes. We probably wouldn’t
see direct injection in OE-domestic vehicles at
the rate we do if it wasn’t for changing emission
standards. As an aftermarket, we get the opportunity to develop aftermarket components that
work within that direct injection framework. So,
it’s not going to be a short game.
CD: This is just kind of the tip of the iceberg,
if you will. There are other segments that are
less visible to you and I, but the truck suspension
market has already kind of went through it. They
went to them and said you can’t do anything to
modify the suspension because it’s a safety hazard.
So you’re going to see continued pressure from
a legislative standpoint. I believe that there’s a

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way to work within that and still have a healthy
industry, but it’s going to require us to compromise at times and it’s certainly going to require
us to quit leaning on the way we’ve always done
things and look at everything with fresh eyes. 
One of our industry’s greatest challenges is
we’re really an industry of small mom-and-pop
type companies. There are exceptions, but by and
large, the industry is made up of small companies
so we’re very entrepreneurial. That’s a challenge

“They’re going to move
the goalposts on us.
We’ve made some
progress, but we still
have work to do,” says
Fickler, referencing
the RPM Act.

from the standpoint of we
don’t do a good job of marketing ourselves collectively as
an industry because we’re so
independent and competitive.
But I believe that it will also
help us when it comes to these
legislative pressures because
we’re resilient, it’s made up
of some very smart entrepreneurs and I think you’re going
to see that the industry adapts
with whatever pressures come,
just like they’ve done for 4050 years and comes out of
it probably stronger than
it went in.
Overall, what is your take or what jumps
out at you in regards to the good things going
on in drag racing?
KF: I think what we’re seeing is kind of a shift,
if you will. I think the NHRA is doing a lot of
good things right now and has kind of turned the
corner. We’ve seen good crowds at some events
and I think overall the change has been positive.
But we’re seeing a shift from more traditional
NHRA-style cars to the outlaw cars. 
I don’t want to characterize them all as outlaws,
but that’s probably the most-used term when it
comes some of these more untraditional events.
Certainly we’ve seen a lot of growth in autocross-type activities. Those guys are already car
enthusiasts to begin with, but rather than building, whether it’s a more traditional street-rod or
kind of a retro-mod cruiser, the competitive DNA
is starting to come out and you’re starting to see
those guys compete as well.
As a business on the Aeromotive side, we’ve
seen a lot of growth in our off-road business,
whether it’s open course or closed course.
CD: We’ve seen a steady jump in the outlaw/
drag radial-type sector. There’s no doubt about it,
that’s absolutely exploded over the last few years. 

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