PRI Show Features Mix Of Everything Racing

The Performance Racing Industry show was held in the 1,300,000 square foot Indiana Convention Center. [Russ Lake Photo]

by Mary Champion

Indianapolis, Ind.- It has been said that racers, regardless of what type of motorsports they may participate in, are one big family. If this is truly the case, then it must have been the world’s largest family reunion that was held at the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show held December 9-12 at the 1,300,000 square foot Indiana Convention Center.

Over 58,000 people registered for the three-day event that featured over 1,100 exhibitors of anything and everything related to the high-performance industry. The event is the world’s largest performance related show and attracts attendees from around the world.

Each registrant’s badge has their name and city and state or country of origin. As would be expected, there were a number of attendees from Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. I talked to people who had seen badges from Ireland, France, Japan and Italy and I actually saw a man from Pakistan.

I think the international flavor of the event can be best summed up by my observation of a vendor from Australia extolling the virtues of his company’s coil spring to a customer from Kuwait.

The show kicked off on Thursday morning with a welcome breakfast at which Dave Despain and Brad Keselowski were the keynote speakers. The discussion centered on ways to bring young people into the stands and build attendance back up at tracks.

In addition to the exhibits there were a number of seminars at the show including safety seminars and a seminar on using social media to benefit your business.

A number of big name racers could be seen wandering through the exhibits without being mobbed by fans and autograph seekers. This was due in large part to the attendance being limited to those with an actual connection to the industry and to the fact that no one under 16 was permitted in the exhibit halls except on Saturday morning.

There were question and answer sessions with some top name drivers at various booths as, for example, Kyle Larson made an appearance at the Chevrolet booth and Bobby Unser and Juan Pablo Montoya spoke at the IndyCar booth.

The show is so expansive that it is virtually impossible to take in everything in the three days of the show and there are too many things to discuss in just one short article, so coverage of the PRI show will be continued in the next few weeks.

RacingNation Crew

Related Posts

• 
  Sebring 2024
• 
  Giuseppe Victorious
• 
  Car or Driver