MOORESVILLE, N.C. — The motorsports trade show season was a successful one.
The first stop for this writer was the 50th annual RPM Workshops at the Eldorado Resort and Casino in Reno, Nev.
Joe Skotnicki is the man behind the Racing Promotion Monthly organization and its two annual events, with the second held during Speedweeks in Daytona Beach, Fla.
RPM Reno was well attended with promoters from across the country participating in the numerous workshops designed to educate on every facet of modern race promotion.
We had the chance to sit in on many of these workshops, as well speak at a few. From what we experienced, RPM Reno was extremely beneficial for all of those who attended. We expect the West Coast version of RPM to continue to grow back to its status as a must-attend event for racing promoters. Well, done Joe!
We look forward to being a part of the Feb. 12-14 RPM Workshops at the Shores Resort and Spa in Daytona Beach. If you would like to attend, details are available at promotersnewsletter.com.
■ The very next week we were in Indianapolis for the famed Performance Racing Industry Show. It is without a doubt this country’s biggest offseason motorsports event. Held every year at the beginning of December, the 2022 PRI Show was packed, with practically every genre of racing machine on display and participants walking the aisles.
The week kicked off with the Grand Opening Breakfast, which I was honored to host with Tony Stewart as my guest. The breakfast is a huge event with more than 3,000 people filling the Sagamore Ballroom inside the Indiana Convention Center.
“Smoke” enjoyed telling stories and had the crowd laughing throughout the morning. One of our favorites was when his old Little League coach called to compliment him on his helmet-throwing technique after he tossed his lid during a NASCAR race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
The PRI Show was overflowing with displays and it was great to hear so many attendees comment on how they were having a successful show. It was the same for SPEED SPORT as we made the official announcement of our new SPEED SPORT 1 television network.
The response was overwhelmingly positive and our booth was slammed all week with different racing series representatives looking to explore broadcasting options for their events.
The coming weeks will see our team busy building sets and programming the network as we work toward a network launch in late March. Stay tuned as we will have lots of announcements coming soon.
■ Randy Lanier won the 1984 IMSA Camel GT Championship and was also named the 1986 Indy 500 rookie of the year. He funded it all through one of the world’s biggest drug smuggling rings. It’s all documented in his new book, “Survival of the Fastest.” A book we thoroughly enjoyed! It’s part racing book and part crime thriller.
There have been lots of stories and documentaries about the era of the 1980s and life in South Florida. As well as the numerous racers who got caught up in the smuggling world as a way to fund their expensive passion. Lanier was in the middle of it with the Whittington brothers as well as John Paul and John Paul Jr., all of whom he discusses in the book.
“Survival of the Fastest” is a fascinating trip into the dark, high-speed world of the 1980s’ smuggler as they used planes, high-horsepower offshore boats and even barges to bring exorbitant amounts of marijuana from South America to the United States.
Eventually, Lanier’s world and those of the Whittingtons and Pauls came crashing down. They were all fast behind the wheel of a race car, but law enforcement was faster. You can order a copy from Hachette books.
■ Well-known West Coast author Dennis Mattish has done outstanding work chronicling the history of some of the left coast’s most famous tracks. His most recent edition, “The Infamous Altamont Speedway,” recently arrived on our doorstep.
The northern California short track is known for its racing, but it’s legendary as the site of The Rolling Stones concert that tragically turned into a murder scene. I am a huge fan of The Stones and I have read numerous books and have watched many documentaries about that fatal concert. The section in Mattish’s book about that fateful night is some of the best coverage I have read.
That, however, is just a small portion of the history of Altamont. As is expected from one of Mattish’s books, it is loaded with fantastic color photos that capture the machines and people that raced there from the 1960s until the facility closed in 2008.
Mattish also lists every feature winner in the track’s history. It is a tremendous reference book for anyone who loves the history of our sport. Excellent work Dennis!
This story appeared in the Dec. 28 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
