The Jet Tools booth featured a range of the company’s sawing, milling, turning and fabricating equipment as well as this sharp silver Caddie.
Early this month, I attended the 25th edition of the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show in Orlando. The vast majority of exhibitors at PRI manufacture or supply racing equipment including engine parts, suspension components, data acquisition, safety gear, race electronics as well as advanced metal alloys and coatings. Many of these are good leads for articles in Modern. In fact, I’ve written articles about two such companies that attend the show: Comp Cams (which installed a twin spindle/twin-turret lathe to bring camshaft machining work in-house) and Diamond Racing (which uses laser scanning technology to design and machine custom sets of pistons in short order).
That said, PRI also features “Machinery Row,” an area where machining and manufacturing equipment OEMs display their wares. Check out this slideshow featuring some of what caught my eye in this year’s Machinery Row.
The estimated total value of the U.S. racing market is $13.5 billion, according to a survey conducted by Motorsport Industry Association, a British racing trade organization. This figure does not include OEM motorsport engineering investment. That’s why it’s no surprise that nearly 38,000 racing business people from every state (and 72 countries) attended this year’s show to get current with the latest in racing technology from the 1,000 motorsports companies introducing new lines in racing products and solutions. However, this is the last year PRI will be held in Orlando. SEMA, the Specialty Equipment Market Association, recently purchased PRI and the International Motorsports Industry Show. Starting in 2013, the combined shows will be held in Indianapolis.
