Back from Barrett-Jackson, Justin Nichols is getting ready for the premiere party for “Wrench’d”.
The show, which airs on the MotorTrend Network, formerly the Velocity Channel, is filmed in Watseka and features Nichols and his crew as they do what they do best: build custom vehicles.
This is the second season for the show, with the first season taking off and getting Nichols and company national exposure.
It was just Nichols and Maegan Ashline at the Barrett-Jackson gig. The classic and antique car auction was conducted in Scottsdale, Arizona recently.
The rest of the crew had to stay back in Illinois to work on the car they are building for a Detroit show in the last week of February.
“It was really cool,” he said of the trip. “There were just so many cars there.” About 1,800 cars went across the block to be sold.
A camper truck his crew customized a few years ago for SEMA was purchased after that and had made its way to the auction block for Barrett-Jackson this past weekend. “It’s always neat to see stuff that you’ve done,” he said.
“We were there and invited to sign,” he said, noting that he and Ashline met a number of fans of the show and signed autographs during their time at the auction. They were located in the Matrix Paint booth, which is the paint Nichols and crew use.
People were very receptive to them, he said, and complimentary of the show and the work they do.
“They say it’s a nice clean show and they appreciate seeing the build process, and we’re not just there screaming, yelling and throwing stuff or acting or anything like that,” he said. “That’s our most common response is that it’s real.”
The kickoff party for Barrett-Jackson included a lot of people from other shows and some of the high bidders that take part in the auction. It was anothe networking opportunity, he said.
The Scottsdale area is a central location for motorcycle parts, he said. During this trip they were able to meet up with some people they had been buying parts from for their many custom builds.
“We finally got to meet a lot of them,” he said. “It was cool. We talked about the show and it was nice to meet face to face.”
During that time, too, he said, the first promo for season two of “Wrench’d” also was released.
The show is running in repeats at the moment as it leads up to the Feb. 6 premiere.
“We did the SEMA build and a really cool drag car,” he said of work they have for the show. This last car for Detroit, he said, will also be shown, but he didn’t want to elaborate on it much since it hasn’t been seen anywhere yet.
“It’s a real testament to what we do,” he said. “It’s pretty much the highest quality we can do. There’s tons of fabrication, and we actually show chopping it. We cut the car in half and brought it back together shortened.There’s a ton of learning. There’s a ton of what we do in that car. The finished piece is going to be really cool.”
The public is invited to the premiere party Feb. 6 at Traditions in Watseka. There’s no fee to get in but food and drink will be available for purchase. People will start showing up about 7 p.m.
This second season kind of takes up where the first season ends, but has some other elements to it.
“We do a lot of fun stuff in this one. We race go karts through town and really kind of showcase the town a little bit,” he said. “This season is a little more entertaining than the first one. We know what we’re doing now as far as the TV side goes.
“Our personalities come out and it’s definitely a bit more entertaining,” he said.
Nichols invites the public to attend the party and view the premiere with them.
“I just keep telling people ‘wait ‘til you see season two’,” he said. “It’s a totally different show.”
