Just got back from this year's Performance Racing Industry show, and really had a great time. Some of you guys here ought to figure out how to attend; all you really need is to show up with a business card with your name on it, and a story about how your business services or buys from the performance racing industry, and you can get it in with no trouble. I'll bet I saw about 50 badges with somebody's name on it, and under the badge it said "Somebody's Name Racing". You get the idea. All it takes is a business card to see 1200 of the best companies in the performance car market.
For me one of the highlights of the show is seeing all the FE luminaries in person, and this year was a banner year. Seemed like every half hour somebody who I've watched and admired for years showed up at the booth. Ohio George Montgomery, Ray Paquet, Jon Kaase, John Calvert, Jim Waldo, Blair Patrick, Kurt Neighbor, etc. etc. We were also visited by some of the other manufacturers who I really like, such as Larry Tores (from T&D Machine). I spoke with Larry about the rocker arm setup on my new heads, and may work a deal with him so that he actually will manufacture them for FE Power, which would give me supreme confidence in the valvetrain.
We had lots of interest in the new cylinder head package, and even generated some interest from the press, including John McGan (sp?, former editor of Hot Rod and Car Craft), and a production company that was interested in putting an engine with the crossram injection package on a show car in a few months. Kevin, Jeff and I were constantly talking to people at the show, which made it fun but exhausting at the same time. Nevertheless it was a worthwhile endeavor, and I expect we will be back again next year.
Pictures tell the story, so the first few photos are of the many FE luminaries who stopped by during the show (yes, Jon Kaase falls into that category, he used to run a tunnel port!). This is a picture of me and Ohio George Montgomery. George is a great guy, and I love talking to him. He's very enthusiastic about the cylinder head project:
Here's Jon Kaase looking over the new heads:
Here's a couple of photos of Ray Paquet. I had a great talk with Ray about how I might be able to get the heads approved for NHRA Super Stock competition; it would be pretty cool if we could actually pull that off:
John Calvert and Jim Waldo stopped by the booth on Saturday. I had never bet Jim before, and only met John once, but of course knew immediately who they were. I used to watch their exploits all the time when I was a fledgling FE guy:
And of course I had to go corral my friend David Freiburger at the Motor Trend booth, where he and Finnegan were signing Roadkill posters and handing them out. I invited them to come to the booth and see the products, but my guess is that EVERYONE in the show did the same thing, so of course they didn't show up:
The next photos show all the parts in the booth that I displayed this year. Last year the booth was only 10X10, but this year we went up to a 10X20 booth, with all the new parts we had to display, and it worked out much better. It gave room for people to stand in the booth and talk, without blocking everyone else who might want to come in. I hope you guys enjoy the pictures, and try to make it to PRI next year if you can. You won't regret the trip!
