There will be booths at the PRI Show for attendees to sign up for PRI memberships. “We’ll have some cool giveaways for folks who sign up at the show,” Dr. Meyer said. “But the bottom line is that people should know that their money and their votes are going to protect the racing industry and protect our right to have racing in the future.”
As far as COVID goes, Dr. Meyer said the PRI Show will follow the Marion County (Ind.) Health Department’s rulings and recommendations, and at this writing there is no requirement for wearing masks or showing proof of vaccinations.
“We don’t foresee any new health requirements,” he added. “We’re in touch with the city of Indianapolis every day and its leaders are not interested in a mask mandate or a vaccine requirement. There are big conventions happening in Indianapolis right now, and so far we have no capacity limits. We’ll have 10-foot aisles and we encourage social distancing, but we are making no requirements. People can take whatever precautions they feel are necessary, but nothing will be imposed at this time, and we don’t anticipate it.”
In addition to the usual exhibits, this year’s show will feature a special display centered on electric vehicles.
“Electric is really hot in Detroit; it’s driving the entire automotive industry, and PRI wants to showcase it and get the rest of the racing industry up to speed,” Dr. Meyer said. “It’s a great opportunity for shops that aren’t thinking about electric vehicles to get in on the ground floor. We’ll have major companies like Ford, GM and Tesla. We might even have to get a bigger room. It’s going to be really hard core and really racing; these are hard-core racing companies.”
Another new exhibit Dr. Meyer mentioned was one on content creation.
“Our goal with it is to showcase how the story of the racing industry is being told, and to share new techniques and new equipment being used as we take racing into the different platforms that are available now,” he said. “Show-goers will be able to see new equipment and how other folks are using it. We’ll have some of the biggest influencers in the automotive industry, and media members at the PRI show will be broadcasting and reporting on the stories they see. There will be more coverage of the PRI Show than ever before.”
Last year when the PRI Show was canceled, PRI visited many different locations by van and brought news to the industry through the PRI Road Tour. That effort continued through 2021 and will culminate at the PRI Show, where exclusive content will be shown to attendees.
What else should attendees know?
“They should know that the city of Indianapolis and the staff of PRI have their safety as their number one priority,” he said. “We’ll have 1,000 exhibitors, and we could have up to 70,000 attendees. Indianapolis has a vibrant downtown, and this is an opportunity to get new ideas and network with people face to face. It’s going to be a great show, and we’re excited to get the racing industry back together again.”