25th
Annual Performance Racing Industry Show, Orlando FL, December 2012
Welcome
to our Dragtime News On Location coverage
from the 25th Annual PRI Trade Show,
held November 29th - December 1st, 2012 at the Orange
County Convention Center in Orlando, FL. What a time.
There was a lot of excitement on the show floor about
the upcoming racing season, and we got to see some great
new products. I attended an innovative business seminar
called Winning The eRace on Wednesday,
and we also attended the Wind Tunnel with Dave
Despain featuring John Force opening breakfast
on Thursday.
It's
apparent from everyone we work with at Performance Racing
Industry that they truly care about the industry. For
example, in addition to the exhibits on the show floor,
there are a number of seminars provided by PRI that are
full of useful information to performance businesses.
This
25th Annual PRI Show was a big success. According to PRI,
"Approximately 38,000 racing business people from
all 50 states and 72 countries attended this year’s
show to get current with the latest in racing technology
courtesy of the 1,000 motorsports companies introducing
new lines in racing products, machining equipment, motorsport
engineering solutions and more. 'A lot of racing people
throughout the world look at the PRI Trade Show as a place
that they can take a measurement of the racing industry
right now,' said John Kilroy, PRI Trade
Show producer. “Anyone that participated in this
show, as an exhibitor or a buyer, has to be impressed
with the amount of business that went on here. That says
something very good about the state of the racing industry
today.'
Buyers
and sellers from around the drag racing world were on
hand for the three busiest business days in racing. “The
PRI show is just amazing for drag racing customers, said
Joe Kriviskas of Precision Turbo Engine: “We see
people from all over the world here – we’ve
seen people from Europe, from Asia, it’s just a
great show. Drag racing is a world-wide sport –
Australia, US, South America, Europe, anywhere you go
today, you see drag racing. “
Exhibitors
from throughout the drag racing industry echoed that thought
as buyers filled the aisles. The performance of the show
is a strong indicator of just how strong the drag racing
industry is and how well it’s held up through recent
tough economic times.
“We’re
real happy with this year’s show,” said long-time
PRI exhibitor Carl Schultz, owner of Five-Star Race Car
Bodies, which displayed own of their Pro-Stock bodies.
“We’ve had a lot of success and a lot of people
coming around looking at our bodies. There are a lot of
drag racers at the show. We look for other opportunities
outside of our core market of body parts and we’ve
had some of those contacts, too. Overall, we’ve
been very pleased with the show.”
Drag
racing buyers appeared to be just as pleased, with the
group containing a number of the sports’ top drivers
on hand. In addition to Force, fellow Funny Car driver
Tim Wilkinson was making his yearly visit to the show.
A number of others also were on hand.
So
let's get to it - our Dragtime News On Location
coverage of the 25th Annual Performance Racing
Industry Show.
Getting
There Is Half The Fun
We
chose to drive our way to Florida so we could make some
stops along the way. What would our coverage be without
some of the sights we saw ...
By
the looks of it I'd say we're not in the country of New Jersey
any more.
I
can tell by the pets. These are the craziest looking dogs
I've ever seen.
Happy
Hour 12-7 (followed by Hungover & Depressed Hour 7-12)
They
also just added Tommy Dorsey to the jukebox.
It's
nice that the local authorities tip you off to the speed trap
ahead!
I
hope it's been on ice.
Genetically-engineered
snacks like the citrus pecan are big here.
Knock
Knock. Who's There? Orange...
How
in demand are drive thru peanuts? The Closed sign is a hint.
Remember
the big sign for the speed trap? This guy didn't read it.
Don
Garlits' Museum Of Drag Racing
One
of our stops was in Ocala, FL at the shrine of drag racing,
Don Garlits' Museum of Drag Racing. When you're in central
Florida, it's a must.