Special Motorsports Event - PRI Week Kicks Off In Orlando

ORLANDO, Nov. 28, 2012: The week-long Race Industry Week kicked off its busiest program ever with the Advanced Engineering Technology Conference (AETC) and Claude Roelle’s Optimum G Advanced Vehicle Dynamics Seminar hosting events at the Orange County Convention Center Monday and Tuesday in advance of the opening day of the PRI Trade Show on Thursday in Orlando, Florida. This year’s Race Industry Week will feature eight major events among 35 seminars and conferences that will take place in conjunction with the PRI Trade Show, which will run Nov. 29- Dec. 1. The AETC drew engine builders from a wide variety of motorsports disciplines including stock cars, drag racing, road racing, short track, off-road, hot rods, motorcycles and marine.

“Attendance is strong and everyone’s ready for another PRI Trade Show,” said conference organizer Brian Reese, of the Comp Performance Group. “We continue to have the latest trends in advanced engine performance and the top engine builders and engine minds giving us the current trends. It’s all about our attendees being able to take away something. From the small engine builder to the biggest teams, there’s something in there to help make more power. Things have gone so well, there’s already a buzz about next year in Indianapolis.” Conference attendees were just as pleased as Reese with this year’s AETC.

“Within the first couple of hours in the first day you get your money’s worth,” said noted engine builder Jon Kaase. “It’s a lot of information packed into two days that you’re just not going to get anywhere else. In the first hour or two somebody’s going to say something that sparks the thought, ‘I can use that in my everyday business’. You have 10 or 11 speakers and you’re going to learn something from every one of those speakers - and from some of them, you’re going to learn a lot. You also have five or six meals where you’re eating at a 10-person table where you can learn almost as during the presentations. Where else are you going to go eat lunch with Tony Stewart’s crew chief or Lake Speed, Jr.?” The overall theme of the day was the desire to learn and go faster.

“It’s been very good,” said Roelle, who’s career includes experience in Rally, Touring Cars, Formula 3, F3000, Formula One and the CART series. “It’s interesting because our composite audience includes a wide variety of the spectrum - amateurs and professionals, students, professionals in aerodynamics, data acquisition and tires – but all desiring more knowledge. Our attendees learn not only from me, but from each other. It’s all about connecting the dots, they may be specialists in one area, but this is about learning to connect the dots from one area of the car to another. Personally, I really enjoy coming to PRI. It gives us the ability to meet different people and there’s a market for us here, and PRI allows us to better understand the market.” The 25th Annual PRI Trade Show features the latest product lines of over 1000 manufacturers of racing and high-performance automotive components, as well as precision machining equipment. It will be attended by approximately 38,000 racing business people from all over the United States, and more than 70 countries. For more information, go to www.performanceracing.com/tradeshow.