Thank you for your continued interest and support of the PRI Trade Show. I have been attending the PRI Show for over 20 years, but there has never been a year like this. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has hit all aspects of American life, including the racing industry. This letter is intended to help inform you of the latest news on the 2020 PRI Trade Show, as well as to help you understand what the PRI team is working on to ensure that the Show can go on. Above all, I want you to know that we will do what is right for the industry.
I know that you have a lot of questions and concerns right now, and I want to help answer those. To be clear, at this moment, the 2020 PRI Trade Show will be held at the Indiana Convention Center on December 10-12 as scheduled. We have over 940 exhibitors who have registered in anticipation of displaying their racing products. We are working closely with the Visit Indy team, the Indiana Convention Center staff, and other Indianapolis officials including the Office of the Mayor of Indianapolis to ensure that we can offer you a safe and productive Trade Show.
There is a lot of momentum in the racing industry, and we intend for the PRI Trade Show to continue that momentum into the 2021 racing season. NASCAR, NHRA, Street Car Takeover, NMCA/NMRA, and SCCA are all running events in the Indianapolis area with planned crowds of several thousand people. While many local and national crowds are being limited in size, these racing events are still going on, safely.
Currently, the city of Indianapolis is at Stage 4.5 (out of 5) through August 27. What this means to PRI is that we could not hold an event larger than 250 people without approval of the Marion County Public Health Department. Fortunately, the Visit Indy team has already had great success gaining this approval for events that are being held at the Indiana Convention Center right now. This includes several weekend high school basketball tournaments with over 7,000 people in attendance. These events have been held with sensible safety measures in place, and with no outbreaks of COVID-19 reported. In addition, the entire city of Indianapolis (hotels, restaurants, transportation companies, and many more) is looking forward to, and preparing for, the PRI Trade Show.
Here is the challenge that the PRI Trade Show is facing: We will have to obtain the approval of our safety plan from the Marion County Public Health Department. The PRI safety plan will include the use of what are now regularly accepted health precautions like wearing a mask, sanitizing your hands, going through a health screening, and social distancing throughout the event. This assumes that Indianapolis stays at Stage 4.5, and, as we all know, these safety guidelines can be changed at any time to adjust to changes in COVID-19 cases.
I liken these safety guidelines to the rules of any racing sanctioning body. You are required to wear safety equipment as part of normal precautions to competing in your race car. You will be asked to follow similar safety guidelines and wear safety equipment to participate in the 2020 PRI Trade Show.
I wish you the very best during these uncertain times, and I ask for your patience and support as we all work through the challenges that I have presented to you. As racers have always done, we will be optimistic, realistic, and win together. As a follow-up, if you have additional questions, please direct them to us at the following email: [email protected]
Sincerely,
Dr. Jamie Meyer, President
Performance Racing Industry Trade Show & Media Company
