As the name of the show reads, this is a show in memory of Greg Welch.
There are many of you that knew Greg personally or knew of him through the show circuit. For those of you who did not have the opportunity of meeting or hearing about Greg, here is a small bit of information on why we are putting on a show every year to honor him.
Greg Welch was a cut above. He was a man who cared about many people. He was a wonderful husband and a wonderful father. He was the head of "Team Welch" which initially consisted of Himself, his wife - Cinda and his daughter - Natasha.
Greg touched many lives in the short 3 years of his competition career.
Greg started competing in August 2001 and competed at the last competition of his career in Nov 2004. After which he spent most of the 2005 competition year traveling to help other competitors better their rides and improve their scores. His intentions of beginning a new competition project that winter,was halted when he was taken from us on
October 1, 2005 by a massive heart attack.
During their career, Team Welch won countless trophies and titles, broke many world records, held the loudest SPL record in Georgia for many years, toured with Alma Gates, owned, built and competed with 2 consecutive USACi world champion extreme vehicles - "MAXIMUS" which now resides at Kicker Headquarters in Stillwater, OK & "The Tank" , was featured in numerous magazines and articles,both in the US and abroad, and the list goes on.
But if you to ask Greg,
"What was your biggest accomplishment?" - he would tell you, "getting to meet new friends, hanging out with them at every possible chance & getting to help people."
Greg loved to WIN, but he loved to help others more. It was not uncommon for him to set aside the prep work needed for his own vehicle, just to make sure another competitor did well, even when it meant him taking 2nd or 3rd place. On several occassions he took needed things from his vehicle & gave to his opponent, he said the comp had to be fair !! He was always there to help other competitors, load & unload, tweak & tune, change a sub, wire an amp... you name it, if you needed help - Greg was the go to man !! Some of our fondest memories were spent in his shop at his home - tweaking everybodies ride for an upcoming big show.
It did not take long for others to recognize that he was an exceptional person. His first time on the scene he scored an invite to IASCA world Finals, where he picked up Kicker - Stillwater Designs as his major sponsor.Shortly after Tsunami / Metra, Powermaster, and later Kinetic followed suit. And although through the years he was propositioned by many other major companies, he stay loyal to Kicker. Greg promoted his sponsors to everyone he spoke to, whether it was a fellow competitor, a spectator or just someone around town that he knew. Greg truely lived, breathed, & bleed - Kicker.
He also loved kids dearly. They always seemed to be drawn to him. If there was a child around anywhere, he was befriending them. And was truely an advocate for their well being.This is the reason for our charity choice being Toys for Tots.
And although Greg spent most of his later years competing in the stereo realm. He enjoyed anything to do with automobiles. "Maximus" was a tribute to that, a '88 Ford Aerostar (family grocery-getter turned SPL extreme vehicle) had a 302 mustang engine and 5 speed in it !! And back in the mid '80s he spent most of his time on the dragstrip in his Vega GT. Greg owned the first lowrider in town, yet loved to go 4wheeling in the mud in his jacked up Silverado. So, this year's show will include all automotive and sound elements at one location. It will include a variety of classes ranging form classics to mini trucks, from motorcycles to sound competition and much more.
