Add the Bresnahan family to the list of people and things that have put Pekin on the map. In March, Tom, Christy, and Josh Bresnahan brought renown to themselves and their hometown when they won the Ridler Award, the most prestigious prize in the custom car building world. The award is given each year to a sleek, custom hot rod that exhibits a unique combination of creativity, design, engineering, and innovation.

For 2025, the judges agreed that the Bresnahans’ 1955 Chevy Nomad, known lovingly as Gray Madder, embodied just the right blend of beauty and technical perfection. It was a stunning win considering it was the first time the Pekin family ever entered the high-end competition. It’s even more impressive considering the tricked-out station wagon was 10 years and a great deal of money in the making.

Tom Bresnahan said he has been passionate about custom car building since he was a student at Pekin High School, and he has built many custom cars over the years. But he never dreamed the Ridler Award would actually be sitting on the hearth of his Pekin home.

“It’s such a tremendous honor, I still can’t believe it’s sitting there in my living room,” he laughs. “I have to go in there once in a while and touch it just to make sure it’s real.”

He calls it “the Nobel Peace Prize of hot rodding.”

The family faced its fair share of hurdles on the way to this national recognition. Early on, Tom remembers the biggest challenge was anonymity — no one in the custom car world knew them. Well-known builders wouldn’t take a chance on unknowns from Illinois. But he didn’t let that get in the way.

“I don’t want to call anyone a bunch of nobodies, but we were a bunch of nobodies,” Tom says. Without a reputation or track record to speak for him, he had trouble finding specialists to help make his vision a reality — from seat and interior designers and 3D printers, to machinists, painters, chrome platers, and custom glass and tire makers. Then he hooked up with Southern Comfort Customs and Interiors, a small, family-owned, three-person shop in North Carolina.

Tom says the owner, Jeff Shores, and his two sons, Dylan and Jacob, ended up being one of the keys to the team’s success. The two families collaborated for ten years in an effort that paid off at the top of the custom car game.

Southern Comfort Customs and Interiors had never taken on such a large project. Tom traveled south as often as his full-time job in logistics would allow, contributing thousands of hours and purchasing special equipment to make some of Gray Madder’s unique features possible. His son, Josh, was also heavily involved in the build while going to Pekin High School and playing football.

“He is an amazing son,” Tom says. “We absolutely couldn’t have done this without him.”

“I always dreamed that one day I would like to compete for this award,” said Tom. But that dream was nearly shattered in 2020 by a diagnosis of malignant melanoma, an especially deadly form of skin cancer. And if that wasn’t enough, his wife Christy received a similar diagnosis six weeks later. Then came COVID, which made everyday living a challenge and shut down the shop in North Carolina. Things were further complicated when Christy, a nurse, was hospitalized for more than a week with COVID.

Gray Madder went on hold while Tom and Christy underwent treatment. Tom says they are now both healthy and optimistic that cancer is behind them. The decision to attempt an entry in the 72nd Annual Autorama cranked up the pressure again. It came down to the wire as some finishing touches were completed just days before the show. The dream was almost sidelined again when an axle sheared off on the brand-new trailer towing the car to Detroit.

More than 800 cars were entered in the competition. Of those, 32 were chosen to compete for the Ridler Award. Gray Madder then made it to the Great Eight and the final round of judging.

Tom says it was a “huge, huge honor” to reach such a high level on their first attempt. He met one custom builder who has had eight cars accepted for the competition over the past 25 years but has never won. Tom says the man shook his hand to congratulate him, but then asked, “Who are you?” 

If custom car enthusiasts didn’t know the Bresnahans at the beginning of the show, they know them now, and they are still in awe of the winning vehicle.

Tom says the only piece of Gray Matter that was part of the original 1955 production car is about three feet of the roof. Virtually everything else was designed and painstakingly fabricated to enhance this take on the classic. Many of the parts are one of a kind. The distinctive gray color, chosen by Christy, was formulated just for this car. Even the tires, with sidewalls matching the color of the car’s merlot red interior, were fabricated to Tom’s specifications.

One design element that shows up throughout the car begins with the one-off chrome wheels designed by Tom and based on the hub caps on a friend’s ’55 Chevy. That simple but distinctive design is carried over to dozens of other details, including the steering wheel, the serpentine belt pulleys on the engine, interior speaker covers and the nine-inch LED headlights. Look closely and you will see that every bolt holding the car together is custom forged with the same design.

“That’s the kind of attention to detail that gets the judges to really pay attention to a car,” Tom says. “It was a tremendous amount of work.”

It’s important to note that the car is not all show and no go. Rules require that the engine be started, the front wheels turned, and the car moved forward and in reverse. If the car fails these tests, it is disqualified.

Tom says most of the winners at this level of competition are from places like Southern California, not Pekin, Illinois. But he remains proud of his central Illinois roots.

“I’m just a simple guy with a passion for cars,” he says. “People said this couldn’t be done, but we did it.” He says his whole family is grateful and humbled by the experience.

You won’t see Gray Madder cruising the streets of Pekin or any other city in the near future, even though its 700-horsepower engine can “shake the windows in the house.” The car is currently on tour to top auto shows across the country. Millions will soon be able to admire the Bresnahans’ handiwork on the cover of June issue of Hot Rod magazine — another childhood dream fulfilled. 

Never one to rest on his laurels, Tom says he is currently restoring a 1969 Dodge Daytona with a partner and has some other projects waiting in the wings. Judging by the time it took to build this one-of-a-kind, prize-winning car, he might be ready for the 82nd Autorama in 2035.