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October
5th, 2021:
I am saddened by this news out of Performance Racing
Industry:
 Industry
Mourns Passing of John Kilroy, Longtime PRI Editor
John
Kilroy, the former longtime editor of Performance Racing
Industry (PRI) Magazine and later General Manager of PRI,
has passed away after a years-long battle with cancer.
Kilroy, who started his career with PRI in 1990, led the
company’s editorial operations for 22 years until
he was elevated to GM following PRI’s sale to the
Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) in 2012. For
the next four years, he oversaw the day-to-day management
of PRI and produced the annual PRI Trade Show while guiding
the overall direction of PRI’s media and communications
efforts.
A
graduate of Cal State Fullerton, he was widely known and
respected throughout the industry as an honest, hard-working
professional with a passion for motorsports and those who
made their living in the trade. He maintained countless
friendships among PRI staff even after his departure from
the company in 2016.
'John really was a pioneer in the industry,” said
PRI Trade Show Director Karin Davidson. “Everyone
knew him, whether you were at the Show or at the track.
John was the go-to guy here for so long, and for so much.
It’s hard to put into words the impact he had at PRI.”
In
his final editorial for PRI Magazine titled “The Next
Turn,” Kilroy spoke of his pride in having taken the
concept of a trade show and business publication for racing
professionals to “previously unimaginable heights."
'I’ve
had a great run here at PRI,” he wrote. “Along
the way, I had the great fortune to work in an industry
that taught me a lot about how to live this life. Thank
you all for chasing after it the way you did. You inspired
me throughout my 26 years."
 A
resident of Orange, California, Kilroy leaves behind a wife
and three children. He will be missed by all of us who knew,
worked with, and learned so much from him through the years.
I was
fortunate to have met John on a number of occasions at the
PRI Shows that I attended over the years. He was a gentle
man who warmly welcomed me and The Dragtime News. He would
graciously take time out of his busy schedule for a video
interview that would be part of our show coverage. He and
his entire staff—people I view to this day as friends—always
treated me with kindness; they made me feel like family.
Those
are the memories I’ll forever have about John and
my visits to The PRI Shows. |
