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Racing Legend Don Schumacher & DSR Team Kick Off 2019 PRI Trade Show
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Legendary drag racer Don Schumacher and the Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) team helped kick off the 2019 Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade Show as special guests for the event’s Thursday morning Grand Opening Breakfast in Indianapolis.
An exclusive event for Trade Show attendees, the annual catered breakfast featured a live talk show styled program during which host Ralph Sheheen of SPEED SPORT interviewed Schumacher and his team before an audience of some 3,000 industry professionals.
PRI General Manager Bill Miller set the tone with opening remarks touching on the uniqueness of the hardcore racing gathering. “We certainly hope you have a great week and that you will come to realize this event blends the best that the industry has to offer—great products, personalities and networking all in one amazing week,” he said before handing the stage over to Sheheen.
For his part, Sheheen noted the passion that brings racing industry professionals to the PRI Show. “PRI gives you all the tools you need to make your business a success, but the one thing that will really give you the lift is that passion, so don’t lose that,” he said.
Sheheen then introduced Schumacher, the 1970 US Nationals Funny Car champion at the head of a team that has won 17 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) championships and more than 325 NHRA national events. And although Sheheen’s interview with Schumacher covered his racing success, it also touched on the champion’s advocacy and innovations for racer safety.
“It started really from getting my own tail burned,” quipped Schumacher. “When you’re the driver, the mechanic and the builder of the car and such, you very quickly get tired of getting burned. Back in the '60s and '70s these cars caught on fire all the time.”
Life during those early days was also quite different for match racers, he said. “We were gypsies then. We wandered the United States from place to place… But it was really a wonderful way for young people to learn business and step out and create their own world.”
The Grand Opening Breakfast and guest interviews proved inspiring for PRI Show attendees like Duff and Rebecca Haremaker of H&E Performance Parts in Wapella, Illinois—industry buyers who said they’ve only missed one show in 30 years.
“It’s just amazing how these guys can put something like this together. The evolution of what has changed and the technology that’s here now is amazing,” said Duff.
“We enjoy the show,” added Rebecca. “There are so many different things here that pertain to racing and business, which is what we like to see.”
Young people starting in the industry found the breakfast equally inspiring as they looked forward to hitting the show floor.
“We’re super stoked to have this opportunity to be here,” said Issac Dearcos, one of about 40 students attending the show from the School of Automotive Machinists and Technology in Houston, Texas. “It’s an honor to see what’s here, all the great minds that are here. It’s insane.”
Billed as the gateway to the worldwide racing marketplace, the PRI Trade Show continues through Saturday at the Indiana Convention Center in the historic hometown of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
An exclusive event for Trade Show attendees, the annual catered breakfast featured a live talk show styled program during which host Ralph Sheheen of SPEED SPORT interviewed Schumacher and his team before an audience of some 3,000 industry professionals.
PRI General Manager Bill Miller set the tone with opening remarks touching on the uniqueness of the hardcore racing gathering. “We certainly hope you have a great week and that you will come to realize this event blends the best that the industry has to offer—great products, personalities and networking all in one amazing week,” he said before handing the stage over to Sheheen.
For his part, Sheheen noted the passion that brings racing industry professionals to the PRI Show. “PRI gives you all the tools you need to make your business a success, but the one thing that will really give you the lift is that passion, so don’t lose that,” he said.
Sheheen then introduced Schumacher, the 1970 US Nationals Funny Car champion at the head of a team that has won 17 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) championships and more than 325 NHRA national events. And although Sheheen’s interview with Schumacher covered his racing success, it also touched on the champion’s advocacy and innovations for racer safety.
“It started really from getting my own tail burned,” quipped Schumacher. “When you’re the driver, the mechanic and the builder of the car and such, you very quickly get tired of getting burned. Back in the '60s and '70s these cars caught on fire all the time.”
Life during those early days was also quite different for match racers, he said. “We were gypsies then. We wandered the United States from place to place… But it was really a wonderful way for young people to learn business and step out and create their own world.”
The Grand Opening Breakfast and guest interviews proved inspiring for PRI Show attendees like Duff and Rebecca Haremaker of H&E Performance Parts in Wapella, Illinois—industry buyers who said they’ve only missed one show in 30 years.
“It’s just amazing how these guys can put something like this together. The evolution of what has changed and the technology that’s here now is amazing,” said Duff.
“We enjoy the show,” added Rebecca. “There are so many different things here that pertain to racing and business, which is what we like to see.”
Young people starting in the industry found the breakfast equally inspiring as they looked forward to hitting the show floor.
“We’re super stoked to have this opportunity to be here,” said Issac Dearcos, one of about 40 students attending the show from the School of Automotive Machinists and Technology in Houston, Texas. “It’s an honor to see what’s here, all the great minds that are here. It’s insane.”
Billed as the gateway to the worldwide racing marketplace, the PRI Trade Show continues through Saturday at the Indiana Convention Center in the historic hometown of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
