About Kents Hot Rod Garage
Mike Kent, Owner
Mike Kent was like any other kid growing up during the 70’s and 80’s who was fascinated with cars and trucks that were cruising the streets and showing up in popular car magazines. As a kid he was either playing with die-cast cars, building 1/24 scale Model cars, reading comic books or car magazines. It was the combination of these things that led Mike to teach himself how to draw and work on his own cars. He went on to take mechanical drafting courses and ended up working for the number one engineering firm in Overland Park Ks.
In 1996 his world changed when he accepted a job at WELD RACING, with the understanding that he would only be allowed to create manufacturing prints and parts drawings for the production floor and no design work, since this was and had only been done by Greg Weld. He was given an opportunity to create his first wheel design for Greg within his first 6 mos., this was the VR-14 Flame wheel, then the Flame steering wheel, then the Flame motorcycle wheel for Custom Chrome, and so on………
From 1996 to 2006 he worked along with Greg to design over 200 wheels that made it into production which included 2pc billet hot rod and sport truck wheels, steering wheels, 1 pc forged car/ truck/ motorcycle and racing wheels.
From 2006 to 2008 he worked alongside Greg again with the Greg Weld Design company until Greg passed away in late 2008. Since 2008 Mike has continued to do wheel design work for BMF wheels, Race Star Industries and a few other wheel companies.
2013 started another chapter for Mike, as an opportunity arose that he would sell Race Star Industries wheels along with Hoosier Tires and Mickey Thompson Tires. In the near future, Kent’s Hot Rod Garage will offer services for one-off wheel designs and other fine automotive accessories to help you take your ideas and create a one off look to meet the needs of today’s car builders, whether for themselves or others.
Our Products
Race Star Industries is a manufacturer and supplier of high performance alloy wheels for Cars, Trucks and a variety of racing vehicles, located in the Kansas City area. Our wheels are no weld, cast aluminum alloy, engineered to truly fit popular Late Model Muscle applications featuring large diameter brake packages.
Mickey Thompson Tires are built for a variety of ultra high performance applications. Compounded for both dry and wet traction and the M/T’s will improve the look and handling of your muscle car, get you down the track in record time and drive you home with sure handling and an excellent ride.
Hoosier Racing Tires has been producing winning race tires for over 40 years in different sizes and compound combinations and are used at over 400 race tracks across the world. The Hoosier Tire Motto, “Tires designed for Champions”, is an understatement!
We also offer a variety of high quality lug nuts, wheel locks, and more from McGard Innovative Security Products. McGard Tough Nuts are designed to last for life. No chipping, peeling or rusting. Guaranteed to keep on shining for years and every one is backed by a written lifetime guarantee.
Design Factory Art was established in 1970 as the Industrial Design office of Art Center trained designer Jim Gerdom and remains active in automotive and product design for our client manufacturers. Jim’s design work has been seen in numerous automotive enthusiast magazines, including Autoweek, Hemmings, Hot Rod, and Mustang Monthly.