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PRI is the only place in the world where you get the entire ecosystem of motorsports in one place at one point in time.
If you're talking about tracks that are 40, 50, 60 years old, multi-generationaly ran, they are still paycheck to paycheck. If we can help understand what it is that's going on at these tracks, and we can help them put butts and seats. Developers come in and they put in $9 homes on 100 acres, a half mile or two miles away.
Once those homes get built, two years after those homes are built, there's now a lawsuit filed because the track is making so much noise, 20 days a year or whatever, and they're with the track shut down.
Those things are happening. There's actually a motorsports nuisance protection bill in the works right now. Year 12 year old son, you give him 800 bucks to build a SEM. He can go online and race against a guy that's got a $100,000 SEM sitting next to his Ferrari in his garage.
And they're equal. I think we've all been surprised at what people watch online. So can I ask you're in my shoes, you get to decide what to do with the PRI show. What do you think is missing or what would you like to see a PRI that maybe you're like, why don't they think of that?
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Go to Weathertech.com to check out the cargo liner today. This week we've got none other than president of PRI. That's the performance racing industry for those in the know. Those letters actually stand for something.
Josh or acronym master. That's right. I looked it up beforehand. I would have just put it together. I just made sense. It says it right under there. Mike good. Mike. Glad to have you, man.
Thanks. Thanks gentlemen. It's an honor to be on the show. I appreciate it. And as I said earlier, long time less than their first time colors. So it's hopefully be a fruitful and somewhat memorable conversation.
It always is. Or sometimes you don't remember it at all.
There you go. How deep in the burger again. You bring up that first time listener or for a long time listener, first time collar. We keep thinking that maybe next year is going to be the year we do open up like for call ins.
But we also know this industry well enough to know. That's probably not the best thing. They can always be edited, but I know what's going to come.
Yeah, it's opening up the floodgates right there. We'll give it a shot. Yeah, things interesting.
The reporter that went viral for like doing the on the in the cat that runs up behind her. That's what I just I see that kind of stuff happening in this industry.
Well, Mike, you mentioned a little bit before we got going. You mentioned your roles at dynamite. You're also with a high up with finished master before then.
I know we've got a lot to talk about with PRI and do the whole plug there. But let's let's let's get to know you first of light. Who are you?
Yeah, no, it's good question. I, you know, it's my career paths been a.
It's not been a straight line. That's for sure. It's jugged a variety of different paths and always well born in northeastern Ohio, youngstown Ohio.
And dad was a general motorist guy forever. And I spent my youth being dragged to the tracks. And then I was dragging him to the tracks once I figured out what was there.
And, you know, we moved to Indianapolis in 1984 with a general motorist move. I was a young kid.
And I went to my first Indy 500 and saw a whole other spectrum from track track to pulls and dirt tracks to, you know, the two and a half mile oval and just kind of anything with the motor.
I was in it and I was I was chasing it and I couldn't afford to do the cars early on. So I got in the motocross.
And I wanted to buy a dirt bike. My dad said, well, I'm not going to buy you one. And I was, I was a young kid, not even old enough to drive and got a paper out, saved my money, bought a Honda CR80.
This was back when two strokes were alive and thriving and saved that upgraded, went on to ride CR125s for a while and had a blast doing that.
If I had grown up anywhere other than flat Indiana, I would have tried to do it probably as a career like I just was deeply passionate about it.
But life goes on went to college and always stayed close to it, but I got out of college and, you know, I guess to be candid and just be fully transparent.
In your 20s and 30s, a lot of times you find yourself chasing titles and in salaries and kind of the wrong things and I started the company in my late 20s and grew that company and was able to exit that company and stayed kind of up in the corporate management suite, if you will.
And it wasn't until I was probably 41 that I actually branched into the automotive sector where I had been trying to get to my whole career.
And you know, God's got a plan in all of our lives and I feel like it's just kind of navigated and doors opened and opportunities created themselves.
And I kind of knew when to run through a door or when to shut the door and go the other way and, you know, it's been a rocket ship ever since.
And now with two kids in college and one in high school, you know, the big, the big lesson that I'm teaching them because they're thinking about their future lives is like aligned your passion with your careers, man.
And you won't even, you won't, you won't feel like you're working at all. And I'm hoping and I would think outside looking in that you guys might be living a little bit of that, but it's it's been pretty cool and I.
To get a little more to present day, COVID was going on at the time I was working for finished master.
And in March of 2020, we all remember this time when the world kind of stopped.
That was a collision and repair industry product line.
And there were no cars on the road. So there were no collisions happening and amazing.
Yeah, exactly. It's all right.
It gave them kind of pause to stop and look at the company and around that same time.
I got a phone call from a gentleman named Scott Whitaker that you guys might know just through the roads for shop days.
And your lives in your other, your other job, if you will.
No, we can forget that hairdo. That's right.
And then industry and log story short Scott called me and said, hey, I sold the company and they're looking for a CEO.
You know, the industry, you know, my product line.
And I'm not Scott most of my life and through my name in the hat and I took over dynamite in June of 2020.
And we had a rocket ship ride. There's a lot of aftermarket companies did through the early COVID wave. I'll call it.
And then I was, I had an equity stake in it and was growing the company was in a great place and got a text from somebody that worked for me in a previous life.
And she's now on my team and she said, hey, PR eyes looking for a president based in Indianapolis.
There's a third name in the hat. And I immediately I said, hope you're doing great. No, thanks. It's and didn't think anything of it.
And by the grace of God, she called back or she texted back and she said, what would you at least have a conversation with somebody in the executive management team in a such a.
And one thing led to another and that was. I want to say August of 23 and I was standing in the Phoenix Airport talking to a gentleman that's now on my team.
Jim Laugh and we talked for like an hour and a half and I was like, OK, I get it. I see what they're trying to do.
And through my name and the hat and Mike's Magnol and several of the board members and one thing led to another and about, I don't know, 20 months in and it's been a ride. It's been pretty cool.
That's awesome.
You were a finished master in exalted days, not DuPont days, right?
Correct. Yes, sir. Yeah, exalted days.
Yeah. So you all the finished masters up here. Yeah, we were just finished master for years.
Yeah, they were acquired by OK Q a couple of years ago after after I left, but.
And I think they're still going great. I think you know, all those folks, a lot of those same folks are still there under the OK Q umbrella.
I think they're thriving. OK, Q is obviously a Goliath and, you know, they continue to do their thing. So.
Yeah, it's and there's a whole bunch of racing and crazy car stories along the way through that whole storyline that I just gave you, but.
That's kind of how I got here from a corporate perspective, I guess.
What would your dad do GM? So he started out on the floor and he was a double E from Kettering.
It's called GMI when he was there. Now it's called Kettering and.
He went into like who engineering got on the floor and then kind of evolved his way up and he ended up when he retired.
He was the, I think his title was manager of organizational development.
And so in the 80s, he was a lot one way he was kind of the liaison between the union and corporate.
So he was, it was pretty crazy. It was a pretty crazy role, especially in Youngstown, Ohio. I don't know what you guys know about Youngstown.
You know, so a lot going on there and we moved here in 1984.
At the time, Alison guest turbine was owned by General Motors.
And he came over and worked for Alison. And then Rolls Royce bought Alison in 1992.
He took a payout and retired and became a management consultant.
But yeah, yeah. So he did a lot of different things.
He started out on the floor and then got up to a foreman and then kind of climbed his way up and had a really good ride.
He mentioned in your 20s and 30s chasing a title and stuff.
Was that, at that point, did you not think that automotive had it?
And once you go through that, if, I mean, especially from PRI and your experience now,
you're dealing with a lot of, you know, the younger generation that is wanting to get into this field for a living.
So what do you tell them different than what you told yourself?
For me back then, so I'm a brand guy like I build brands.
I came up really through marketing and operations roles and was CMO companies and were that type of hat.
And I'd always tinkered with cars and played with them and ripped them apart and tore them apart in my garage.
And I never, my dad, even though he was with GM and loved racing, he wasn't like a car guy.
He didn't want to just lay down and get under the car and start rinsing on it.
And I did.
You know, it was a little bit of like I didn't, this was let's say early 90s.
I didn't really understand the best way, the best avenue to go down and to try to create an opportunity.
Looking back, I would have gone and just knocked on somebody's door and said,
let me empty your trash cans for 10 bucks an hour and I'll find my path.
And I've told my my kids the same thing, like whatever your dream is, just get your foot in the door doing anything.
And then you can make your own way.
You've got the grit and hard work.
And you know, it wasn't.
I think it was just lack of vision on my part, really.
And it wasn't until I got a little older.
You know, I rolled the dice.
I started my own company and that was a software company.
And we took off and but I wasn't passionate about it.
I just, I was good at it.
And I didn't think about it when I was off hours, you know, like we live in an industry that's so rooted in passion.
You know, it's my show that at the grand opening breakfast last year, I was like, you know,
even though I don't know the 4,000 people in this room, we all have one thing in common.
We all are here based on the passion of something.
And that is the one uniqueness of motor sports for sure.
And definitely the automotive aftermarket is that there's that common thread that goes through all of us.
And you know, in no other sport, do you see competitor A, say, hey, competitor B,
you're going to be up against me on the line later at the tree.
And but I noticed you need a park for your engine.
I've got it.
Let me let me up you out.
Like, you know, that's what it's the community of the industry.
But as you can't replicate it.
And, you know, I've worked in healthcare and I've worked in tech.
And, you know, it's just a different thing.
You can't really describe it unless you're in it.
And that's a long-winded answer to your question.
But I, you know, it's been a serendipitous ride, I guess.
And it's been a lot of fun, though.
And, you know, now that we're in it, driving a massive change, I spent a lot of time.
There's three big initiatives we're focused on.
But one of them touching on this point is around our next gen initiative.
It's like, how do we attract the next generation into the motorsport segment?
And, you know, I use my son as an example.
You know, I bought a Fox body back when COVID started because I wanted to teach him how to work on cars.
And that, that 302 is a perfect car to like tinker on.
And a Fox body you can find parts for.
What trend, what trend level?
It was a 93 GT convertible.
It was a GT.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, no, I would have loved an LX NASDAQ for sure.
It's cool.
No, I know what's up.
I just could find what.
No, this was a car's a coffee car.
This was not a take it to the drag strip.
And, but what I learned, what he learned in that was he loves everything about cars,
but he just didn't like working on them.
And it wasn't his thing.
And I don't fault him for that.
But, you know, he's a sophomore in college right now at Indian University.
And he's looking at accounting.
And I'm like, OK, so play that out for me.
What's 10 years down the road look like as an accountant?
And he's like, I don't know.
Maybe I'm on a partner track at a firm.
And I was like, OK, that's pretty cool.
But what if you got out of college at 21, 22 years old and you take your degree and you go knock on,
I'll use Android global because they're building this 450,000 square foot and,
Android global headquarters here about five miles from where I live.
And I said, what if you go knock on their door and you say,
let me empty trash cans and let me do some mini work in your finance department.
And then at 25, you're a junior controller at 28, you're a controller at 35,
you're the CFO of Android global.
You've taken your accounting, you've taken what you're good at,
your studies, and you've aligned it with this passion that you have.
And you're able to kind of marry the two.
And that's a totally different path in your life.
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Yeah, that.
And it's telling that story a lot because, you know,
I spent a lot of time talking about Purdue
and I'm going to meet with Auburn University and Marion University
and many others.
And, you know, I tell them I'm like every race team,
manufacturer, sanctioning body, track.
They all have marketing, sales, finance, HR.
You know, they have all this stuff.
So don't put blinders on and think because you can't do the things
that the guys at Roach's Shop do from an engineering perspective
that you don't have a path in motorsports.
Obviously, the technical team, the technical path,
like motorsports, Purdue Motorsports engineering programs, crazy.
I think it's the only accredited motorsports program
in the United States.
And those guys are doing, you know,
state-of-the-art aerodynamic testing.
And, you know, it's a foreign language to me
when I go in there and see what they're doing.
Are you a lot of Purdue or your son goes to IU?
Well, I got a daughter at Purdue as well.
So, yeah, we are truly a divided house.
I've got a senior at Purdue, a sophomore at IU,
and a sophomore in high school.
So, yeah, I've just thrown the money all over Indiana, I guess.
But, yeah, so...
Well, you said something of the money.
I don't want to derail.
I want to add, I think that you just laid out that career path.
You're speaking about your son as succinctly and eloquently
as anybody has ever done, right?
And it's just a very clear...
Yeah.
And you can...
I got excited about it here.
I can imagine...
So, I was curious how that resonated with him,
how that sat with him, if that ever...
If you ever rolled around that concept
or if it ever even clicked, that...
100%.
He's now like...
You know, he's sophomore in college, he's 19 years old.
So, it's changed all of the targets he has
for doing internships next summer.
You know, because now he's like,
okay, let's chase that.
Let's pursue that and see if I can get in there.
And, you know, conversely, my daughter,
just to stay out after a second,
she spent the summer in Rochester, Minnesota
doing an internship at the Mayo Clinic.
And she was one of four kids.
This is a dad brag for a second.
She was one of four kids at like 906
that were chosen to do this internship.
Wow.
And what she learned from it was,
maybe I don't want to do healthcare.
You know, so that's what the internship's about, right?
As much as learning the skill of whatever you're going to learn,
but it's also learning...
It's a dry run.
Is this the right...
Right, it's a free dry run
that you get to try when nobody's keeping score.
And so...
Well, where I was going...
I think that it's so important the way you laid it out
and how you can mirror those, you know,
marriage...
Mary.
Damn.
Mary of those passions and with skill set.
And you can plug and play.
You can take the CFO part out.
You can put CMO.
You can put engineering.
You can put anything in there, fabricating.
Whatever.
The only caveat to that is just for any kids listening,
you're going to have to get out of that empty and trash phase
pretty quick to pay off those student loans.
That's the only...
That's the thing that we're living in today
that is the only wrench, so to speak,
and the plan is like,
100% you need to do it.
Just...
I mean, you can push those loans off.
Like...
Pay the minimum.
And you can agree more.
There's a whole other path that we haven't discussed
but to touch upon it quickly.
As much as I...
You know, I told my kids,
I think you don't have to go to college to have a great life
and be happy and whatever.
However you define success,
you can achieve that without college.
As if the college degree just gives you one.
It just gives you some options that you wouldn't have otherwise.
But you can create opportunity in any path,
but now more than ever, I feel like.
And I'm 53,
so I graduated high school in 1990.
And it felt like...
I was more directed.
I don't know if it was just the outside influence.
It was pushing me to go to college and...
You know, and I bombed out.
And I had pinned on the paper at the Marine Recurter.
1991 when the Gulf War was going on.
And looking back, I should have done it.
My dad was a Marine and I went home and talked to my dad.
And he...
He talked me out of it because we were out of time of war.
And I didn't do it.
But either way, life's played out.
But where I was going with that whole thing was around skilled trades.
You know, I told Jake my 19-year-old.
I said, Jake, when you're 30,
the wealthiest guy in your neighborhood is going to be the welder.
Because nobody wants to do your generation.
We're having a hard time attracting your generation
to doing these skilled trades jobs.
And you find somebody that can take weld or fabricate
or do a roll pan.
I mean, some of it's a lost art.
It's a world you guys live in more than I do right now.
I'm sure of trying to find talent.
That's excited about it.
And they're not just trying to get a paycheck,
but they want to thrive and become experts
and subject matter experts and whatever that trade is.
And so I think that's a whole other thing
that we're going to have to have.
It's going to go through a reinvention, I believe,
of some sort, because it's going to have to.
We've talked about it a couple of times on here.
It's we...
I think the vast majority of people who are age
are seeing that now and are giving their kids
that real advice.
And they are seeing it more on social media
and influencers, people talking about that.
There is a clear path to success outside of college.
I think that it's probably a half a generation
or a full-generation late.
Because, especially from cars,
we talked about this in depth
and we took ownership of it,
especially in the automotive industry
for the most part,
everybody's kind of made it by grit.
And there's so many things that you've sacrificed
along the way to make it to where you're making it.
And just like your dad talked you out of going on the Marine
because of the time of war,
he wanted better and safer for you.
And we do the same thing
for the past generation,
or two, where it's been like,
yeah, I've figured it out.
I want you to have better.
I want you to have it easier.
I want you to have the hard way.
Yeah, I did the hard way.
There's a smarter, better way.
But we've chasing the money a little bit too
on seeing how everybody else got successful
and thinking that's the...
Yeah, but it's behind the eight ball.
And now, like you said,
if that advice to your son about the richest person
in the neighborhood is going to be the welder,
had it happened 15 years ago on mass.
Right.
We would be in a different situation.
You know, but everybody's kind of to blame
of like, no, you know,
go do better.
I'm stupid.
And I got lucky and had to work hard
to get where I met.
Go get smarter.
Be a school,
and you'll have an easier path.
It's wrong.
It's the wrong...
Right.
...as a whole anyway.
It was a wrong advice.
Right, yeah.
It's interesting to see how that is shifting,
you know, culturally even looking at...
It dawned on me today.
Just out of the blue,
I was on the road.
I'm on the highway.
I went over at a really clean rig,
like a Peter built.
And you can tell it was owner operator.
There was some sort of sign on the trailer
he was holding.
Right.
And you look over at the guy you can see,
you know, like classic truck driver.
Right.
The Vaston, like, dude,
cool glasses, trucks.
Clean as a whistle.
The Marble Man.
Yeah.
Like, man, like what young man
in today's world is going to go out
and take a load out
and go buy a Kenworth or a Peter built.
And decide that I'm an owner operator.
Yeah.
And like what happens?
And the amount of shit that needs to be moved.
Right.
I mean, obviously it's, you know,
it offsets it with, you know,
massive logistics companies and things.
But...
Was it a cattle truck?
No.
Those are pretty good.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But it just caught me for that minute.
And I started thinking about it.
Like, man, I mean, that's,
it's just dead.
It's got to be dead, right?
Right.
That's a buy-go.
It's the pendulum's shift, you know.
It is.
It's once the gaps continue to be there and get deeper.
I mean, I would love them to stay in the automotive trades.
But those trades go construction industry, you know,
or anything else.
I mean, plumbers, electricians.
I mean, there's gone are the days of, you know,
being able to, you know,
look through and find 10, like experts.
Right.
Right.
And now it's like, you gotta, everybody's word of mouth.
And no, a guy, no, a guy.
Well, don't use this guy.
You know, didn't show up.
He didn't do this job.
Good.
If you find anybody in the trades that's that guy that's word of mouth,
like, you, that's, that's like gold.
Like, oh, this is going to do a good job and quality.
Yeah, there's a, there's a school out of Italy.
It's called MTS Motorsports Technical School.
And they just opened up the earlier this year in Indianapolis.
They're first, I don't know school, I'll call it on North American soil.
And it's here in Indy.
They've already had one graduating class.
And it's a vocational trade school.
And it's all about learning how to work on race cars
and how to work on fabricating and all aspects of it.
And they've got, I don't know.
Let's, maybe it's 40,000 square foot building.
And I went to the grand opening about a month ago.
And they had already been open for probably six months
and they finally have this grand opening party.
And it was packed.
And the buzz about it is spectacular.
And this is a company that's been doing it.
I think since 2004 or five in Italy.
And so they've got the process down.
And their folks are going to work for companies like Delora
and, you know, Ferrari and Lamborghini.
Over there in Italy, and they brought that model here
to test it because they're like, they see the gap
that nobody's addressing this.
And now this one is specific to motorsports.
More so than maybe what you guys would be looking for.
But it's that same.
They're teaching that mindset, right?
And so I'm hopeful, you know, that we're going to see more
of that start to happen.
You know, Dave Kindig partnered with.
It's called the Kindig.
I don't want to say studio, but he's teaching fabricating.
Is it Ivy Tech or ITT?
It's one of the schools out in Denver, I believe.
And it's called the Kindig Academy.
And it just launched about, well, I was at Dynamat
because that's how I met Dave Kindig.
I called him and said, we've never done business together.
I don't know if you use my product.
But I see what you're doing at Kindig Academy.
And I'm all in.
I'll give the school as much dynamat as they want to teach.
And that's how we ended up becoming partners with him.
And it was all to help the next gen.
And we've gone on and developed a heck of a friendship
and put his cars in our dynamat booth
for, you know, three years running.
But that all stemmed from that,
from helping somebody bring an academy
to life to attract the next gen.
And it's pretty cool.
You mentioned, good segue.
I was going to go over there.
You mentioned Delara.
You mentioned Ferrari.
You mentioned the Italian Institute.
Indianapolis is a always been an odd place.
For me because it's one, it's Indianapolis.
Right?
So you know, not throwing any shit.
No, no, no, no.
You're good.
It's a Midwest town.
Right?
It's Indianapolis.
Right?
There's nothing there that's just like.
Across roads of America.
It's just non-descript.
It's Indianapolis.
It's another town.
You know, it's Cleveland.
It's Cincinnati.
It's the most stuff in the Midwest.
Right.
There's not a lot of like great attractions.
So you've got landscape.
You've got the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Right.
And you've got the Indy 500 that, you know, obviously has its generational.
It's a little history there.
A little history, right?
But then around Indianapolis in fairly non-descript, you know, office parks and, you know, distribution
centers and massive warehouses, you have places like Delara.
You have all of these.
I'm going to, I'm butchering what I'm trying to say.
But you've got this, you've got this, you've got this such a high brow, foreign,
way smarter motor sports engineers.
Most everybody with accents, they already sound cooler, right?
When they're talking about what, then they say things like bonnet, right?
And they say, they use all types of different automotive terminology.
They don't know hood.
And it's been around Indianapolis for so many years.
And it's so weird when you get into those, you know, circles are talking to somebody.
And you see that this, some of this manufacturing and some of this technology that's in Indianapolis.
But it also hasn't changed Indianapolis that much.
It's just, if you know, you know, in these things, the only thing I can relate it to would be Huntsville, Alabama.
Right.
Because Huntsville, Alabama is Huntsville, right?
It's not Birmingham, right?
It's not, it's, but it's, if you go, if you're in the area with NASA and all of the space
exploration type of technology, it's crazy.
The amount of engineers, the amount of, you know, multinational companies that are based in Huntsville.
And Indianapolis is the same way.
It's like it's this little secret thing.
And every, you run into these circles and people like, oh, yeah, so and so and so.
And then you got Delara there.
And you got these are huge, you know, multinational companies that do things on a different level than what are traditional motor sports, you know, drag racing and NASCAR.
And some of that stuff does.
It's weird.
No, it's cool.
I mean, we have, you know, Gnasi, you know, we have so many different race teams based here in HRA, Brownsburg, Indiana, which is just a tad west of Speedway.
You know, I don't even know how many up team number of top fuel NHRA teams are there.
And Tron Brown, John Forrest, you know, all the names are on caps.
I'll have a huge presence there.
And yeah, Delara, they're our next door neighbor.
I don't know if you've been to Main Street in Speedway.
That's what it looks like.
It looks nothing like it did 10 years ago.
I assure you that it's pretty cool.
PRI bought a building three years ago this past May.
So let's call it three and a half years ago.
And it was, the building was built in 2012 by Sarah Fisher.
And it was her race team, Sarah Fisher Racing.
And then it moved on to become Harding Racing.
And then we bought it three years ago.
And that's now the PRI headquarters.
And right next door to us is Delara's North American headquarters,
which is ran by gentlemen in Stefano de Pante.
And as a tiny accident, I could never do justice.
But they're unbelievable.
And we get to really understand how they think, how they work.
And you're right, though, there is a level of sophistication.
And how they run their operations that I think are good to model off of.
And it's good to bring our ways not always the best way.
Let's look at how others are running their companies and learn and share best practices and deploy those.
And that's definitely been a model of that.
Indiana does build itself as the racing capital of the world,
obviously because of the landmark of the IMS.
But there's so much going on in technical innovation related to speed in Indiana.
And it's pretty crazy.
And then you go to the out you got who's your tire?
You know, based up in Northern Indiana that, you know, if you're on a drag strip,
just probably got their rubber on your car.
And, you know, so there's all kinds of pockets of really cool stories like that
of all these innovators and disruptors.
And, you know, when Seema bought PRI in 2012, coincidentally,
part of the deal at the time the PRI show was in Orlando.
And they part of the deal that scooter brothers and the one at the do was the make sure that it was back in Indianapolis.
And it came back to Indie in December of 2012 and hasn't left and we put our headquarters here and.
We're locked in.
We're locked in on Indie.
And now we're we can talk about the show as much as you guys want, but you know, that's now become.
It's the largest trade show in the state by square footage,
1.2 million square feet.
You know, we take over all of the Convention Center, all of Lucas Oil Stadium
and bringing about 70 million bucks in economic impact in a week in December in Indiana.
And so, you know, an Indianapolis knows if the PRI show were to leave,
you're probably not going to replace that revenue in December in Indiana.
So they know that they treat us really well and roll out the red carpet for the PRI show.
And it's been a really good marriage for sure.
For Indiana being so innovative when it comes to speed,
you think they would innovate a way to maybe pay of I-65.
You know, because if you want to focus on speed, I don't think you can't go fast in like 35 miles an hour down that street.
Especially it's given them, they've been they've been at it for 15 years, too.
I can't.
I'm 25.
I know.
I have been broke down on the side of the road, maybe five times in my life,
in kind of a real true OSHIT moment.
They were all on 65 between Chicago and Indiana.
Indianapolis.
They got 4.65 dialed now, but everything needs to be there.
Yeah, that is a gauntlet.
Yeah, because these guys are all Chicago-based.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
It's a shame that it's so hard to get from me to you or you to me.
It's so close.
There's times that you can leave and you can get there in two and a half hours.
There's also times you can leave and get there in six hours.
They've got Chicago, they've just got.
It's done.
I think we're stuck.
I'm starting to get claustrophobic because there's not a way out.
You can need a helicopter, dude.
They've got it both ways.
294 is a disaster.
Dude, I had to get Jody from the airport yesterday on a Sunday, right?
Later in the day, but still it took me one hour and 45 minutes to get from my house to here.
Halfway through on 53, I had to abandon and go the back way.
Well, we came back from the Fabtech show.
We were just at the Fabtech show.
Oh, sure.
And that with no traffic, you could hit that in 45 minutes.
Yeah, we made it there in 50 something minutes.
And we, over two hours coming in.
It was three.
It was two hours and 40 something minutes to get back to the shop.
Oh, my gosh.
It's terrible.
We reached the end of Instagram.
I do have to clarify before I forget.
I got it clear.
I don't want to go to Indianapolis, get my ass kicked.
So I want to clarify that that was not a shot.
It was not a shot.
No, no.
It doesn't have the prominence for the level of sophistication.
That's correct.
But it's always been that way.
It's not like Mary L.O.
It's the Le Mans of the U.S.
Even if you look back in the 40s and 50s,
of even hotrodder guys running the Indianapolis 500
and Miller race cars and some of that stuff
that was traditional hotrod, right?
Even then, when they came from SoCal or whatever,
they had driving suits on, right?
They classed it up to a level that only Indie
in the United States can demand, right?
Yeah, Daytona has kind of done their thing
with Rolex coming in.
And they try to, but let's face it,
at 364 days a year, it's Daytona, right?
It's trash.
I can't damn it.
I'm making no friends anywhere.
I mean, you know what I'm saying.
Even when NASCAR was getting its roots on the beach, right?
They didn't really try to class it up, right?
They were proud of who they were.
And Indie always demanded a little bit of like,
this is Indie, right?
There's some prominence with Indie, for sure.
When it comes to racing.
Yeah, because it's Indiana.
They have a way of doing it with Monterey.
I was going to say you're doing a good job of walking it back.
Yeah.
You're good.
And it's all in the marketing.
There's a lot there.
I mean, I was just in in Minneapolis.
The city's like thriving.
A lot of cool stuff going on there.
It's all how you market it.
If you could put CEOs and CFOs in place of mayors
and governors, it'd probably be.
Oh, it would be completely different.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's just a wild hell for that geographic location.
And everything else that's around in that area,
not saying bad, the level, you're right.
The level of prominence that that has in surrounding area
doesn't seem like it should be there.
It should be there.
Yeah, great.
I've lived here since I've lived here for 41 years.
And I agree wholeheartedly.
And I got your back, Josh, when you come here.
You'll be fine, man.
It's going to be good.
So don't worry.
Yeah.
You know, and it's become a tech hotspot too.
You know, Salesforce bought a company called Exact Target.
And I want to say that was around 2012.
And Exact Target was this hotbed thriving tech firm
that kind of had hockey stick growth.
And Salesforce came in and bought it for like 2.5 billion
and changed the entire landscape of Indianapolis.
And private equity firms started popping up
and tech incubators started popping up.
And you've got some really cool things about Indie going on right now.
And it's been a concerted effort to stay here
and started have a career here and raise the family here.
And I jokingly say I couldn't afford the house I'm in anywhere
else in the United States.
I'm just standing in the living here.
It's amazing.
The schools are great.
We do have four seasons.
And the roads are kind of crap.
And it's flat and I can't run and go skiing or take the boat out
on a lake like the one you guys have access to.
But it's a good life.
It's fun.
You mentioned coming from a marketing background
and being CMO to a bunch of companies and your brand builder.
This is two part question.
The first, in those discussions that you had
when you sent the text back no thanks
and then you had a further discussion about stepping in
and taking the reins at PRI.
How much of that marketing was in that conversation.
And what is the brand of PRI
and what is the story you're trying to tell today?
Sure.
No.
Great segue, great setup.
I practiced that one.
You did.
I could tell.
I could tell.
That was rehearsed.
Well, I'll start it off another way.
It was pretty clear.
Like I didn't want to.
I don't know my predecessor that was here before me.
I had been going to the PRI show for a number of years.
I had reached a point in my career where I wasn't really looking
to come in and wash, rinse, repeat what my predecessor had done.
And it was pretty clear they were not wanting that.
And so that was a heavy part of the attraction
was that I can come in here and be somewhat
of a disruptive change agent and drive new ideas.
And I think for trade shows in general,
this is true.
I think you guys just had Tom and Warren on.
That was last week.
If you're listening right now, that was last week.
Yeah.
Last week.
Trade shows.
I have to put it this way.
Somebody asked me, I had a microphone in my face.
I'm a camera at the 2024 PRI show.
And they said, Mike, the camera's right up in my face.
They said, how's the 2024 PRI show going?
I said, it is great.
I said, by all of the internal metrics that I had in my head
about this show, it has checked every box.
And it's the perfect show for 2024.
And she said, well, what do you mean by that?
I said, well, if we're doing this same exact show,
two, three, four years from now,
we're probably missing the boat somewhere.
And we're all old enough to remember that trade shows
used to just be you go, you swap business cards.
Yeah, there were some nuances of cool things that happened.
But from the most part, it was straight up just a business
transactional event.
Trade shows today have to have an experiential aspect to them.
The world has such a short attention span.
You've got to change how you engage.
You have to reinvent how you engage.
I mean, look at SEMA, who's role modeled it perfectly
with you know, you can go get in the drift car out in the parking lot.
And then later that night, you can go to a rock concert.
And you know, they've created all these experiential elements
that have increased and attracted different folks to come into
and say, what's this all about?
And how do I learn more?
And I think that's the same with PRI and any trade show,
regardless of industry that you really are going to be challenged to do that.
And so for us, we want to continue.
I say we do three things.
We connect, protect, and advocate.
So the show is our connection point.
It's where we bring the industry together.
We bring manufacturers together with buyers.
And we really, to me, PRI is the only place in the world
where you get the entire ecosystem of motor sports
in one place at one point in time.
Whether it's tractor pool, carting, sprints, impsa, open wheel,
they're all there.
Folks, you'll see Roger Penske and Richard Petty
and the guy that is spending every penny he makes on his car
and his barn, that's worth $14,000.
And they're all walking around with the same level of interest
and intrigue.
And there's no other venue that I've been to.
Motor sports related that does that.
And it's a humbling privilege and responsibility
to make sure that that continues to thrive.
The show started in 1988.
So we're a couple of years out from our 40th anniversary.
And we want to continue to reinvent it.
And we're trying some new things, even this year.
We have some new elements coming into the show.
And so much of the power of the PRI show.
I'm going to base off a big assumption here
that you guys all have been to the show.
I think you have.
And that is the networking and the connectivity.
A lot of the folks only see each other once a year.
And it's at the PRI show.
Yet their lives were more intersected 10 years ago
in a career or something.
And they get to reconnect every year at the PRI show.
And so there's that connectivity of the relational connectivity
I'll call it.
But then there's the business connectivity
where you're getting to see the latest and greatest innovations,
new products, you know, and how people are utilizing new products,
how they're utilizing new methodologies for building or fabricating,
that you can't really see it all in one place anywhere else.
And I think that is such a powerful part of it.
One of the bigger growing areas, it's called tops,
and stands for track operators, promoters, and sanctions.
And there's a gentleman named Tom Deerey
that oversees that for us.
And it's a big part of our show.
And it's a growth part of our show because two of the...
I said there were three big initiatives.
The first one I was talking about was next generation.
The other two are tracks and sanctions.
We needed to really get to understand.
I've spent most of my time in the seat on the road
talking to sanctioning bodies and talking to track owners
to truly understand what is it that John Dunin's doing at EMPSA?
What is it that Mike Cobb's doing at SCCA,
Doug Bowles at IndyCar, Fill in the blank,
NTPA National Tractor Pool, WRG World Racing Group Sprints.
I don't want to leave anyone out, but there's a whole bunch.
I've met with all these sanctioning bodies.
We don't have our handout asking for anything.
It's really, let me understand your guys' growth strategies
because I feel, if you look at it as a pyramid,
it all starts up with the sanctioning bodies.
And then everything trickles down.
And then the tracks, that's where our people are.
And so the initiative was to say,
let's get a closer, deeper, more fruitful relationship
with the sanctioning bodies.
So we can truly understand what their strategies are to grow,
fill in the blank, EMPSA, WRG, High Limits.
Then we can become an evangelist for that
because we reach different folks than they do.
So we help them expand their own brands,
which helps rise all boats and rise all tides.
And then at the track level,
it's the same as what's going on at the tracks
because that's a whole other deeper conversation
around a lot going on at the tracks
because you've got roughly 1,260 tracks across the United States.
We've lost some recently.
And so it's really understanding
what's going on at these tracks,
so that we can help them continue to thrive.
And a lot of times you're talking about tracks
that are 40, 50, 60 years old,
multi-generationally ran.
And they are still,
and many instances may be hand-to-mouth,
meaning paycheck to paycheck,
as far as they either thrive,
to survive type of thing.
And if we can help understand what it is
that's going on at these tracks
and we can help them put butts and seats
as I say so bluntly,
that's going to help, again,
get more people out to the tracks.
And so there's a whole lot to it,
but they've all been very open.
I have no idea about tops
that you did anything with that,
because that was...
I wanted to go into that deeper
because from our side of the industry,
right, SEMA being, you know,
our kind of our voice
for most of our marketplace
and our customer base.
Short of, you know, the entire SEMA show
the aftermarket that it represents.
You know, you've got a lot of different facets
and genres, and you've got, obviously,
some significant racing there.
But by and large,
these are street cars doing street car things,
or off-road doing off-road.
Short of the federal government
or state and local governments kind of
infringing upon our rights to do anything,
other companies,
enthusiasts, and parts
can go on these vehicles.
You can enjoy them,
whether you go to the local car show,
whether it exists or it doesn't exist.
You've got, essentially, the entire United States
to go and do the car things
that you want to do with these said products.
At PRI and the performance racing segment
of this thing, by and large,
there's some street cars there.
There's some, you know,
racing.
And you have to do the thing that you're doing
at a track or a sanctioning body.
And if those tracks don't exist
or those sanctioning bodies don't exist,
then really the kind of the point
of building that race car doesn't exist.
So it's a completely different
level of importance or lift
from you guys at PRI
that SEMA doesn't really have,
is to make sure and help that
changes is that those individual tracks,
or even the sanctioning bodies
are dealing with
that they need help with.
Oh my gosh.
They run the gamut.
You know,
so you take a track
that's been, I'm not going to give
any specific example,
because I guess there's several, but
a track's been out in the middle of
out of the country away from the city,
and it's been there for 40 years,
and the developers come in
and they put in a million dollar homes
on 100 acres,
a half mile or two miles, or mile away.
Once those homes get built
two years after those homes are built,
there's now a
nuisance noise ordinance
lawsuit filed
because the track is making so much noise
20 days a year
or whatever, and they want the track shut down.
Like those things are happening,
and there's actually
a Motorsports nuisance protection bill,
and the works right now
that's really trying to help
protect racetrack,
and Motorsports from,
you know,
having some type of protection
to say, look, we've been here for a long time.
Let us continue to do what we do.
We understand that
you bought the house knowing
that XYZ speedway was, you know,
a mile away.
They had clearest on, and he talked about this.
Do you have any of those,
or is it just, they know the tracks,
probably can't afford to fight it?
Well, that's what we're trying to come in.
You know, SEMA, PRI,
so Karen Bellic,
Chapman heads up our legislative governance side,
and she does a tremendous job.
She was on as well. She was a great episode.
Oh, yeah, she's great.
Yeah, she's very, very good,
and she runs the DC team that
she's really the
legislative voice for both PRI and SEMA.
She's got her team, you know,
helping put something together that can tackle problems
like this on an ongoing basis,
and when we tackle this one, a new one's going to pop up.
And that's, you know,
I said we connect, protect and advocate.
You know, so it's, you're kind of getting
a little bit of a taste of each one of those.
Because they mean a lot.
We've got to continue.
We can't just focus on one of those things.
And, you know, this protection side's a big deal,
and it's about that.
You've heard the saying.
It's about the journey.
You're never going to reach your destination.
You're like, there's never going to be a point
where we could stop, say, okay,
we could take our foot off the gas now.
It's just, it's wild.
I mean, I can't imagine that.
I mean, if you bought,
if you bought a bunch of property,
and then you're like,
all these trees are drop and leads.
This is bullshit.
What am I going to do about?
That's a conscious decision.
There's a racetrack there.
And there's a plot of land.
And you know, it's inexpensive.
They're buying it cheap.
They're buying it cheap as a,
just to your point because there's already a racetrack there.
And they're going to develop it to make an astronomical amount of money.
And I don't even care about those guys.
The people that bought the house.
Well, but the outcome is usually,
it probably goes in the residence favor,
the homeowners favor.
And the other side of it,
when you're an existing homeowner,
I went through this years ago,
had a house,
there was a farm in the backyard,
farm turned into a landfill,
just for dirt.
By where we're at,
the counties,
they have this little game that they play where they'll,
they'll get in bed with the developer
or, you know,
just an excavator,
and they'll just allow them to wave
there is, and they just start piling dirt there, right?
And as a result of it,
then they deed the land back to the village.
Right. Right. Right.
Now, legally,
you're fucked as a resident in that scenario.
You didn't choose that.
These guys, they chose that.
It's funny, the flip side of it.
It's never protecting the right entity.
Well, I'll go even,
you know,
developer buys a land,
buys it near as a racetrack.
People, they're going to buy a house there,
not think anything about it,
until the first couple of races,
and then they're going to all band together,
once an HOA is set,
they're going to have one that's smart enough,
we're going to put the money up,
we're going to sue the racetrack.
All right. So that happens.
And they're doing specifically over noise and nuisance ordinance.
How many people have ever bought a house
next to a railroad tracks
and get the railroad track shut down?
Because it's the same noise, right?
There's never been a train sneak up on anybody, right?
You've done something stupid, right?
So you know,
when you're going to look at that house,
the house might be beautiful,
they might have not made any mention of it.
When you're looking around the house,
you see the railroad tracks.
It's got a dawn on you, right?
Well, maybe it's not that loud.
To push back on that,
do you ever notice that every one of those developments,
whether they're single-family homes,
condos, trailer homes,
and the railroad tracks?
Right.
After several years, before you know it,
there's multi-million dollar fences
that get put up by the county.
Yeah, you know what it doesn't do?
Make the railroad quieter.
Yeah, but they complain about it.
You bought it, you knew the train.
You knew the train they couldn't put the railroad tracks through there.
They didn't sneak it up in the middle of the night.
That thing's been there.
But my point is,
no matter how hard they complain,
they're not going to move a railroad track, right?
And they, it's the same thing.
You knew that it was...
It's an necessity though.
A little bit of an necessity.
Yeah, 100% it's a necessity.
But it's still, like you said,
some of these racetracks have been 50, 60, 70 years.
Right.
Line in their own business out.
And then you've got, you know, urban sprawl,
everybody kind of moves out and they're like,
oh, I'd like this piece of property there.
I wonder if it's loud there at the racetrack.
Oh, no, it's fine.
It's not that bad, right?
The end user is going to be using the product for...
So important.
Fightin' for the actual end user,
fightin' for the whole manufacturer's...
Because if there's not a place to do it,
then the shit doesn't need to exist.
Yeah, I think it's a lot of people with SEMA and PRI.
They just look at it like it's just one big show.
But there's so much more that kind of stems from that.
The association is way more important than...
Show is cool.
Yeah.
No, I mean, so, I mean, on that one,
we're trying to get immunity from nuisance claims.
You know, so the law would shield racetracks
from lawsuits by like surrounding property owners.
And we'll see what happens.
But, you know, you have other elements too.
You have urban sprawl.
The words I think you just said that, you know,
you take Irwin Dell, great track Southern California.
I think it was built around 1999.
Was a favorite, you know, but...
When a developer comes and offers you X,
which is maybe generational wealth,
you know, you're going to flip it.
And I don't know the story with Irwin Dell specifically.
But, you know, those things happen too.
And then, the other thing just to talk about racetracks
we're starting to see this resurgence
of the thermal type track.
So you have thermal obviously in SoCal.
You have flat rock just opened down in Tennessee.
Beautiful.
Beautiful track.
What they're doing there is a world.
Flat rock.
Yeah.
It's stunning.
And, you know, there's talk about, you know,
Willow Springs is under doing some changing.
So, you know, there's a lot going on.
And as far as PRIs roll in it,
we just want to have our ear to the ground.
So we understand what's going on.
And then we have the, you know, Karen and her team
can be the proper voice at the proper time
with the proper message.
And that's what her team is so good at doing.
And, you know,
so it's really understanding that.
And I mentioned Tom Deary earlier overseas.
So, Tom's from Rockford,
his family owned Rockford Speedway.
Oh, wow.
You guys are all Chicago guys.
So, you've probably heard of this Speedway closed
a few years back.
But that was ran by the Deary family.
His father, Hugh Deary,
who I never met.
He had passed many, many years ago.
But, you know,
was one of the most world-renowned
Hall of Fame track promoters.
And for what he did at Rockford back in the, you know,
60s and 70s and 80s.
And so,
that was another one.
The development came in, urban sprawl.
Yeah.
And I don't know what's going there now,
but it's no longer a racetrack.
Right.
Factory.
Run down factory.
They don't put in run down factories.
You did it over time.
Have you been to Rockford?
I have.
Yeah, those were all run down factories.
They were there.
I think even the new ones are run down in Rockford.
A lot of housing going out there.
Yeah.
There's so many friends this time.
Oh, I can't go out.
I can't go out anymore.
We're, I want to ask.
You're going to need a ride fielding
a security for you.
Yeah.
Yeah, but maybe like riding a year ago.
Yeah.
There's another one.
There's another one.
Even my protection.
I don't know any other way.
Last week.
Tom.
Tom set here.
Warren set there.
Tom set right here and looked
at center face and said,
SEMA is not a car show.
What say you about PR?
Um, you know, I think PR rides.
It's a.
I keep going to the word ecosystem.
Not the.
For lack of not being able to come up with a better word.
It's the combination of bringing the ecosystem of an industry
together.
Um, the cars are the eye candy of the event.
Um, they are the shock and awe factor of the event.
Um,
But I could push to say that if we had a section of the show,
a floor, an area of the convention center that had no cars.
It would still be packed with people.
Um,
that they would still be there to talk and connect and understand
what's going on in each other's businesses.
Um, or whatever part of their business that they're in,
whether it's at the track level, the sanction level,
the race team, a driver,
a young generational piece.
You know, we have a student breakfast this year.
We have one every year,
but we're evolving that.
And now having a track for students to go on after that student
breakfast.
There's like two sessions they can go to and then they can go to a
student luncheon that will have you know,
CEOs at it.
Um, one of those tracks is,
um,
a panel of a bunch of business leaders.
Sitting there on stage.
And let's say I'm the moderator.
I'll say okay,
okay, Jeremy,
um,
you've got 87 college kids sitting out here right now,
thinking about their next chapter of their career.
Tell me the top three things you think about when you're
hiring new talent.
You know,
when you're hiring new talent,
you know,
and I ask you that question and you share that with them.
And you're like,
I want somebody that's curious.
You know,
I want to curious mine.
I want somebody with a solid work.
I think whatever your answers are.
But for them to hear that from people that are experts or leaders
in the industry that they want to get into,
it's really valuable.
And you're helping them shape that.
So,
again,
long-winded answer with some rabbit holes to it,
to your question around,
what is PRI but,
you know,
I say it's the connector of the ecosystem.
Like,
we bring together all facets of motorsports.
Now,
the manufacturers are kind of our north star.
And what I mean by that is we bring,
I don't know what's called the 1100 manufacturers into a room,
meaning the show,
and they're paying to be there.
And they're paying to be there to help them do one thing.
Grow their business.
Same reason you guys make a significant investment in Seam every year.
You're trying to grow your business.
And I have to nail that.
Because if I screw that up,
I think we're on our way to irrelevancy.
So,
there has to be this job one is to get the manufacturers in a building,
bring the people that want to buy those parts into that building,
and help them grow their businesses.
And then there's a bunch of other stuff I got to do right.
The educational fact,
the entertainment factor,
all the different connective points, connective tissue.
But,
at the end of the day,
we're helping an industry grow.
We're helping an industry try to thrive.
And regardless of what's going on in DC,
regardless of what's going on in the political climate,
or the stock market,
we've all been at exhibiting
when red was in office,
when blue was in office,
when the economy was tanking and taking a shit,
or when it was on a growth,
we've all been representing our company,
standing in a booth,
and all of those elements trying to grow.
And so, you know,
we want to create a place where that can happen.
And we want to help continue to get the industry to thrive.
So, you know,
that's kind of my benchmark is,
at the end of the PRI show,
is for people to walk out of there and say,
the industry is in a better place than it was five days ago
because this event occurred,
because we were able to talk to these folks
and talk about these products and these new innovations.
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Pick you back and off of your statement
of first and foremost in North Star as the manufacturers
and making sure they grow their business.
Has there been discussions about
playing with some of SEMA's methodology
on opening it up to the general public on some certain days?
Traditionally, your trade only show.
You're still a trade only show, I think,
if I'm not mistaken.
And if those discussions have happened,
what is the temperature of the people
having those discussions on that topic?
We've talked about it and, you know,
there's no crystal ball to say
that we're going to start doing that in 2028
or at a given point in time.
You know, our show is three days.
I'd love to see us out of front a day on the front
and have the show start on Wednesday.
And because to open up a three-day event
to the public for even one day,
if it's detrimental to that audience
that I set as our North Star,
that's going to be hard to come back from.
And, you know, so I would say
I'm not trying to give you a safe answer.
I'm just speaking off the cuff here.
I think we need more data.
I think I need to truly understand,
you know, I have advisory boards
and I spend a lot of time talking to customers
and I want to talk to the customers
that are pissed about something.
Because I can try to fix that
or at least see if it's fixable.
And, you know, understand that.
And I don't know, though.
I would say never say never for sure.
I think where the industry is going
has a consumer piece to it
that needs to be given proper attention.
And it's not being given that attention
under the PRI umbrella today.
All of the companies that are out there
at our show are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars
every year.
It could be a $10 million company.
It could be a significant amount of their budget
on digital marketing,
on putting ad campaigns together,
on working with thin influencers.
That is to attract, you know,
so Dynamat, we were a dealer distributor network.
I didn't, if somebody called Dynamat
and said I want to buy your product,
I sent them to summit.com,
or Jags, or one of our dealers,
or distributors.
But I was also spending a ton of money
to build branding and trying to build branding.
Chris Jacob.
Not that Chris was great.
But, you know, working with partners
to build the brand.
And so it's a delicate balance.
I've had many, many customers tell me
don't even think about it.
That was going to say,
reading between the lines.
They've been discussions.
And there's been some exhibitors
that said a hard no.
I've put everything together that I need.
I also think it's because we,
PRI, have not put the,
maybe the best way to present that out to them.
So I would say the onus is on us,
not on our,
the attendees of our show to figure that out.
Yeah.
Three days makes it difficult.
How much emphasis do you guys put on the social media side
to reach the end customer that way through social media?
They might not be able to see it firsthand,
but you have all these influencers
or social media channels at the show.
Are you guys doing anything to,
to help them to promote it,
to get it out further?
Sure.
We do a ton at the show.
I mean, we had a podcast studio at the show
where people were doing, you know, live conversations.
And then our social media invite invite got lost
in the mail for that.
Point, point,
point taking.
I love the subtleness of that.
Very subtle, but it's actually a good point.
You know, I think,
so we do a lot on our own promoting,
of our business members,
of promoting their businesses,
say, look at this new camshaft or whatever the product is.
You know, so we're helping,
like I look at PRIs,
our job is to help our,
our members grow their businesses.
For us to do that,
that kind of brings the whole industry up.
And the show is one way in which we do that.
We also do that through our marketing elements,
whether that's through digital or whether that's through,
you know, maybe coming out with a PRI podcast,
where we sit here and we have our business members on here
to talk about their new camshaft,
using an earlier example.
You know, those are all things that are being explored,
as far as, you know,
the show going from B to B,
trade only to B to C element,
it's a TBD.
You know, I would love to sit here and...
That's a lot.
It really is.
Yeah.
There was a lot of acronyms.
That's an easier decision when you're in Las Vegas.
I'm born and raised in the Midwest.
I've been here my entire life.
I can tell you right now,
you don't open that show up to just...
You just don't open it up?
It is.
I would like you to expand.
I'm not going to go into detail,
but what I would say is that anybody that's going there
that really wants to be there,
there's a means of getting into the show.
There should be a racer or a deal.
Yeah.
There's a builder.
Yeah.
I mean, if you were to just kind of willy-nilly open it up
to just, you know, open the gate.
Do you realize how many more 13, 20 sweatshirts
would be there if they did open it to the gate?
It would be a mess.
I wouldn't leave it at that.
I'll leave it at that.
This is not meant to be a...
I don't know.
I'm just going to ask the question.
We never got a chance to talk with Warren and Tom about this,
but talking about the experience
for the exhibitors and the buyers.
You mentioned you didn't want to hinder the experience
of the North Star of the most important one,
especially on a three-day show,
short of ADA compliance.
What can be done with the scooters?
Is it a problem?
Well, it definitely hinders the experience.
Yeah.
You know, let's all face it.
That is abused.
Oh, it certainly is abused.
Absolutely abused.
There are definitely...
It's a difficult balance.
It's just where we are right now
from a regulatory perspective.
If you raise your hand and say,
I need to be on a scooter,
you're going to be on a scooter.
And you don't really have to.
It's a little different than parking in a handicapped spot.
You've got to have legit...
Why is that?
Because we've all flown.
We've all been in airports.
We've always been pushed to the...
From experience,
it would be way, way, way worse
for you to be on a scooter than off the scooter.
No, these are sit-down scooters for time.
It doesn't matter.
It's sit-downs different.
He'd still crash a sit-down scooter.
I will say of...
Of...
I've heard a lot in my time here.
I've met with hundreds and hundreds of customers.
They're saying this to refute your statement.
So don't take it that way.
I get it.
But I've heard it come up maybe once.
Okay.
And you know,
I've heard
some people had dogs with them
that were there because of...
Yeah.
They had a reason to have that dog with them.
And I've seen one or two complaints about that.
And one or two complaints about the scooters.
And the other complaint that I did here about the scooter was at the show.
Somebody was almost ran over by somebody.
And they were pissed.
And it was warranted.
A service dog, like...
As long as it doesn't bite my face off,
I don't have a problem with the service dog.
The seam...
I guess seam is probably more to blame.
But you've...
You've got...
You're talking about dogs and PR.
I have...
I know.
But this is different.
Seema probably is more to blame because
we've all been there.
And I get it.
Like you got to do what you got to do if somebody raises their hand.
We've all seen the train of like six guys
that all were like,
you know what? Let's get scooters.
We don't have to walk.
And they're running in a row.
And they're taking posters.
And they're banging into stuff like that.
And it's just...
It's so...
It's so unfortunate.
It's unfortunate.
If you can't park in the space,
then why should you be able to get a device?
That's an element we're just,
you know, just where we are right now.
We can cut all this out.
I mean, I get it.
It's a sticky subject.
I just wanted to know if somebody was going to...
I wanted to ask Tom and Warren to be like,
yeah, you know what?
Fuck those scooters.
I'd be curious what Tom's answer would be on that.
I've never talked about it with him.
I mean, hell of a...
Let's face it.
I mean, Simon might be getting revenue off of it.
So they probably...
I wouldn't think that.
I don't think that.
I'm just kidding.
So you're building...
It's a great figure.
Caught up.
You talk about building the brand.
You talk about what PRI is.
What is new and upcoming for PRI now?
It's just right around the corner.
And every single year, it's always like,
PRI is the first of the year.
And it's not.
It's the end of this year.
It's not the first of next year.
It's the end of the year.
It comes fast.
What's new, and this is absolutely a segue into
you talking about the big huge party
that y'all are doing, like the kickoff party.
That's why I wore this shirt.
Yeah, it's 87 days from today.
It is.
You know, in between now and 87 days from now
we will have all lived through SEMA.
So it's kind of crazy how fast all that is going to fly.
We are trying to live with SEMA this year.
I'm out at SEMA for eight days every year.
How long are you guys out there about the same?
About ten.
Yeah, eight to ten.
He's about nine more than we would like to be.
Yeah, it's funny.
I'm sure you guys would agree with this.
But for those that aren't in the industry,
you know, your friends and neighbors.
And they're like, oh my gosh, you get to go to SEMA for eight days.
Punch him in the face.
And I'm like, man, you don't get it.
That's like eight days in Vegas is like two months
anywhere else in the world.
Yeah, like other than your home.
You just want to be home.
And it's a long day.
I could have walked to Vegas and back
and had more fun.
And been less tired.
Probably similar.
It's similar.
PRI, you know, when you come in
and you come into a leadership role in a new company,
sometimes you are coming in with,
you got your eyes open big,
and you're looking for everything that needs fixed.
And with PRI,
it was a true blessing.
I'll use my Indiana roots.
It was a little bit like I came in
when Peyton Manning was the quarterback
and I got asked to coach the coach or whatever.
This is really like this is amazing.
The team, unbelievable.
The show team, which, as a side note,
the PRI show behind the scenes,
the actual day-to-day launch logistics
is almost 95% done by women on the PRI team
and the Karen Davidson and Erica and Nicole Michelle.
These ladies are the consummate professionals
at the top of their game and what they do.
It's pretty cool.
I feel like that side goes completely unnoticed
when it goes well,
but when it doesn't go well,
they interview with them.
They interview with the show.
Yeah, probably, but I will say
they don't get the credit they deserve.
I guess we're putting out a good show
and just everything going off and out of hinge.
We try to make sure they get the credit
and they've got a track record of putting off
a really good show.
This year,
it was a little bit of saying,
okay, what can we do?
One of the things I was kind of focused on
is how do we get back to our roots?
How do we get back to this?
It had this intimacy to it,
and you don't want to lose that special sauce,
that special ingredient that PRI has always had.
And a little bit of that was what I said earlier
around the power of the networking
and the connectivity of the show.
And a lot of people,
they look forward to the PRI show
because they get to see Joe and Johnny and Jenny at a booth
and then they get to go to San Elmos
and have some cocktails
and so one of the things we were like,
okay, let's give time back
and we had something going every night,
Wednesday night, Thursday night, Friday night.
We rolled it all into one big event
called the Full Throttle Social on Thursday night.
So we don't have any events on Wednesday night
like we used to have, we used to have a happy hour.
And we're creating one big event
in Lucas Oil
that when we're changing up that event
and the landscape of that actually event,
it'll be really cool.
And I hope you guys can make it there.
It's Thursday night.
I don't present it by.
100% present by Air Motors.
Present by Air Motors.
That is correct.
Thank you for that.
I don't know if it'll live up to a roach
to a shop party in Vegas.
But no, we're super excited about that.
And a special thanks to Air Motors
for your sponsorship on that.
It's not taken for granted by any stretch
because you guys are taking up a risk
on something new that you're going into
and unknown with us.
And that's deeply appreciated.
We're hoping we'll exceed your expectations with it.
You said there be monster trucks in fire.
Right. Right.
Is that what Selena said?
Yes.
Okay.
How do you get used to it?
Right.
I take you, I take you've been to a roach
to shop party in Vegas then.
I had an interesting,
I went into one.
This would have been 20,
22 years ago.
And you were like, this is not for me.
No, no, no, no.
I had a coworker had an emergency
and I was there for half an hour and had to leave.
And so
they were having a health
action and so I had to they weren't at the party.
They were at the hotel and I had to go take care of them.
So I had 30 minutes at one of your parties.
Oh, we appreciate you coming.
Well, break it down.
You can come this year.
Yeah, hopefully I make it back there this year.
But
so we have that full throttle social going on.
We're really excited about that.
We do have this so last year.
I don't know if you're at the grand opening breakfast.
We rolled out and launched our hull fame
with inductees number one and two or Steve Lewis and
Ed Eskidarian iski.
And this year,
we just formalized our hull fame.
We have three inductees going in this year.
TBD can't release those just yet.
But super excited about that.
Yeah, there's a lot of things going on.
When you walk in to PRI off of
Capitol,
there was a hanging car every year.
Last year was the number seven.
Penske Emsikar hanging upside down.
Behind that was a podcast studio.
Which was cool.
But and don't take this the wrong way being what you guys are doing right now.
It was a fishbowl.
The people there could not engage with what was going on on the other side of that glass.
It was just something to like look through the glass and see.
Because the audio wasn't properly piped in.
And they could even if it was,
they couldn't really hear a full conversation like what we're having right now.
So we're we're parked the that.
And we've put a one one of the last key points I wanted to bring up.
I don't know how much time we have.
Forever. Just keep going.
Okay. It's really the diversity of the show.
So when you walk into the show,
if you just go down one aisle,
you might think this is a drag racing NHRA show.
Or this is a dirt track show.
But we really represent everything from sims and go carts to trophy trucks in open will.
And impsa on the full breath of motorsports.
And so when you walk in under that hanging vehicle,
which also TBD what we're going to put there.
It's going to be flanked.
There's going to be a big stage with.
I think it's a trophy truck a drift car and SCCA.
And then there's going to be a sprint.
And I forgot.
Oh, SVRA cars are going to be lined up there with a stage in front.
A gentleman named Ken Stout.
I don't know if you know Ken.
Great broadcaster.
It does a lot with like the Krandon off road has a son that Robert that's also an off road racer lives in Brownsburg.
Fear friend of mine.
He's going to be the voice on stage so to speak will be conducting interviews.
But he's also going to be out walking around in the crowd with a microphone.
And saying Jeremy, I see you're from.
Send back to Illinois.
How long at what PRI show is this for you?
What brings you here?
And just engaging with the crowd and getting their feedback and engaging with the attendees.
And having a more.
I'll call it intimate experience instead of just being this thing on the other side of the glass.
And so.
You know, it was around making that kind of relational connection.
I'll call it with the people that are there, spending their time, money and effort to come to Indianapolis in December.
You know, we wanted to kind of call that out.
So those are a few of the elements that are going on that's new.
We're looking at another element on another place closer to the West end.
That would be.
Have you ever guys ever been to King of the hammers?
We never have.
We have not talked about it all the time.
It's definitely on our radar.
That and bomber.
Like it's.
Yes.
It's both like on the same level.
So King of the hammers is in Johnson Valley, California.
I want to say about an hour north of Palm Springs.
It's a dried up river or lake bed.
And they literally built a town of 85,000 people in the middle of nowhere.
You got to go 20 minutes in any direction to get a bottle of water.
It's unbelievable.
I just went for the first time.
And it's it's every January.
Late January, early February timeframe.
You should go check it out.
It's kind of like a Marty Graw or Indianapolis 500.
Go at least once.
Get a VRBO in the desert and go check it out.
But.
Being that you have Krandon, you have the Baja 1000.
You have all these off road different elements of truck racing.
We really wanted to increase the presence of that at the show.
And we're actually working on a section in the show that would potentially be called Hammertown.
And it's going to be an off road segment of the show.
So that's something also that'll be new.
And it really it's, you know, whether it's drift, whether it's trophy trucks.
Carding.
We want to continue to branch out and obviously another big growth area is the Sims.
We need wild.
It's crazy.
They just had to Sim Expo in Chicago a few weeks back.
But.
That went from two years ago.
The Sim arena and Lucas Oil Stadium was 8,000 square feet last year.
It was 43,000 square feet.
And it's continuing to just evolve.
And when you get back to that next gen initiative of, you know, our generation.
A lot of us maybe had the good fortune if we weren't on bikes to come in.
Maybe through Carding to get into what it's like to drive four wheels before you're 16.
And this is another avenue.
That's how I see it.
It's another another avenue that maybe junior's parents don't want hammer her racing a car.
Don't have any interest in it.
But he or she can save their money and for a pretty low price put a Sim in their basement.
And start putting around on it with their Xbox.
And that has really created this whole other industry.
And interestingly enough, a lot of people are like, well, how's that really helping your manufacturers?
Sparko MPI Max Max Papas steering wheels.
You know, all these, these companies are wicked smart.
And you know, Max Papas makes steering wheels for Sims.
You know, Sparko, they have seats for Sims.
And so they're finding how it's off to them.
They're finding new revenue generators to expand and diversify their own line of business to evolve with the motorsports industry.
And then when a guy gets a ride, he's going to be like, you know, I got to have an MPI seat in this thing, you know, or Sparko.
That's one of used to on the same thing.
Do you think that that is going to always be approving grounds or, you know,
a way to get noticed training, or do you ever see that being a spectator sport?
I think it'll be a spectator sport within the sport, meaning those that do it would watch it.
So we have, there's actually a SIM race, the week of PRI called the Hoosier 500.
It's put on by some guys in Indianapolis.
PRI is helping promote it.
And it's guys sitting on their Sims all over the world in a race on the Indianapolis 500.
A live race that they'll do on their Sims.
And the winner gets some beautiful crazy watch, like it's a thing.
And, you know, but I look at SIM as, it's a couple of things.
It's a gateway to real motor sports, at least to learn and understand.
There is a talent development aspect to it that I think could play a role.
But I also think the technology and the industry innovation is really cool.
When you look at what some of these things are doing now, as far as the mobility of them and how they maneuver like a real car, or pretty close to a real car.
And I think they're opening up a whole other arena of eyes that might not have ever seen motor sports.
And then those folks, as they age and we go from 12 to 22, they can decide if that's something that they want to learn more about and go into and educate themselves on.
So, you know, there's the accessibility of it is what's cool.
You know, your 12-year-old son, you give him 800 bucks to build a SIM.
He can go online and race against a guy that's got a $100,000 SIM sitting next to his Ferrari and his garage.
And they're equal in that playground.
And, you know, so it's pretty neat where it's going to go as far as a spectator sport.
I have no idea.
You know, I think I think we've all been surprised on what people watch online.
So.
My kid spends hours watching somebody else play Roblox when he's got.
Right. Right. Right. Right.
You know, it's good.
I got you.
You realize how that's how young you think I am.
I got 12-year-old son, just letting you know that.
That's what I've ever tried.
It was just like a broad generalization.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's like a middle of the road when you say like a kid.
That's like a kid age.
I want to go back to something that you touched on and I think kind of may have brushed over overlooked.
The huge benefit I think to the show is the diversity in having all these different brands and different groups of racing.
I know for us the main reason we go is just to be able to sample like what's going on in the off road in the drag race and the open wheel in the.
You know, circle track world and meet some of these vendors that we probably would have no other access to see what they're doing.
And it opens up a whole new world of products that we can then work with and make our current product line better.
I got to imagine for the rest of the racing world it's the same that.
You know, they're finding new markets to be in for existing companies or companies are finding other companies to work with and develop product and conjunction with.
There's got to be a huge advantage for the industry just being able to kind of be tossed into that big fish bowl and get exposure to all different areas of motorsports.
100% no that that yeah if I glossed over that it was it was not intentional.
That is a massive positive attribute of the show for sure.
You know, we have it's called FPS featured product showcase and that's where people can showcase in a different part of the show out on the main walkway.
You know, what their latest and greatest is and people get the vote on them.
And when you walk through there and I have walked through there with guys like you with manufacturers in the show.
And they're like holy shit, look at this.
You know, they're totally blown away by what they're seeing and the specs on it.
And they then want to go over and find that booth and talk more to those folks about what they're seeing there.
And the innovation side of PRI is hands down.
I think the sexiest part of the whole thing.
If you had to say what part of PRI sexy it's that.
It's that you're getting to see.
What racing next year is going to be doing that it's not doing today in some form or fashion.
And you're getting to see it kind of a preamble to it and an introduction to it.
And I just think that's awesome.
And I think one of the areas where we're going to really start to shine a light on is around safety.
So you go back to the Hans device and all of that and when all that evolved.
But that's another element that continues to become more pervasive, which safety.
We all think about it. You might not think about it necessarily in the design of your products.
I know I didn't necessarily think about it than design a dynamite.
But that's something that also has a whole other element.
What's going on at the show and that's that's a kind of a subset of new product innovation.
But I think that's another area that's people are really getting honed in on.
Because I just feel a lot of folks talking about it.
That's a really good point that you brought up for sure.
Where the areas are you seeing that are like the up and comers are the new exciting area of racing that.
I think don't crazy.
For sure on 20 on 26s.
Try to do it.
You know, I think everyone's intrigued by AI and how that's going to play a role in design.
You know, that's a little bit in its infancy in some ways.
Or everyone we're learning something new about it every week.
So that's going to continue to I think to be a disruptor for lack of a better word.
Isn't it a thing that just people just say though.
I think that AI is something that is talked about like government contracts were 10 years ago.
Like it's somebody ever always had to say, well, you know, someone's got a government contract.
It doesn't really mean anything.
Have you tried troubleshooting any issues through AI?
I understand that we've used AI.
I'm saying general statement in this industry.
You run into people all the time.
It's like, well, you know, with AI.
No, tell me more about your age.
You're showing your age.
I'm not saying it's not a thing.
I'm just saying that it gets brought up all of the time in this industry.
And then you pinned somebody on like, what are you doing it?
Doing with it for product development for market research or anything like that.
And it's just like, well, I mean, you AI can do that.
That's kind of how three that's kind of how 3d printing was though.
When it first came out of when talked about it and nobody saw anything.
And now you see 3d printing actually turned into real life manufacturing every day.
And I think with AI, it's a little bit like that.
And actually, you're seeing AI improve.
What's going on in the 3d printing world?
Yeah, so all these technologies are complimentary to one another.
And, you know, for us, I'm Gen X.
Let's just assume we're.
I don't know.
Yeah, we're.
Yeah, you guys are going to think a little bigger, but.
You know, for me, it's a little bit of like, okay,
that we're in our wild, wild west of this a little bit.
You know, similar to EV racing or autonomous racing is another thing.
You know, that's a thing right now where people are doing autonomous racing.
In Indie car where there is a car going around a track with nobody in it,
but it's being driven through autonomous technologies.
Exciting.
What future does that have?
No idea.
And there, is there a generation out there that's going to be really attracted to that?
That time will tell.
And it's, you know, you can talk about EV racing where you just feel the hum.
Go around.
And, you know, we're high horsepower.
We want to hear the cam lob.
You know, and.
But these things are all kind of being experimented with right now in the motorsports industry.
And if you think about motorsports as the tip of the spear of what happens on the consumer side,
which was a lot of really what happens.
When you think about what all has happened in the consumer car that was derived from motorsports,
whether it's ABS or disc brakes or seat belts, whatever list goes on,
it'll be interesting to see how all of these technologies shape what ultimately is a car
that you're building a new roadster shop chassis for 10 years from now.
Then it's a car we can't even think about today.
It's going to be interesting.
I mean, for you, I would suggest you get on.
There's an app download the app.
It's called chat GPT.
Here we go.
And just type in.
I want you to type in.
There's a couple things.
I'm going to type in.
I already know a few things.
I'm going to type in.
For starters, type in when can I watch a rerun of cheers or Sanford or Sanford and sons?
And where can I see it on the 257 or no problem?
I'll take all those jokes so you want.
Well, then it'll tell you when and where you can watch it.
And you'll start realizing it's like it's really in tune.
So it's just given you somebody else's answer faster.
It's a digital TV guy.
Yeah.
So it's just fine and it's just a better Google because everybody else has already done the
work.
It's just fine and it quicker.
Well, yeah, it's not.
So tell me what it tell me what it's doing besides that.
Besides finding it faster.
Well, have you ever tried going to the second page of Google?
Yeah.
And in the past 10 years, it's useless.
It is trying to actually Google search something on any search engine.
Correct.
So chat.
GPT is a better Google.
Well, yeah, it will dive into the vast thing that is called the internet.
Right.
And find the answer.
But it can do somebody else.
There are some of the humans came up with and it found it and gave it to you.
Of course.
Right.
I mean, it can use its logic to, you know, it's to what?
To lean into that and explore it to overtake the world.
It could do this logic to overtake the world.
It's just stopping going to the next topic.
It can absolutely use its logic to take over the world.
That's because it's already sent in.
Are you an opponent of it or you pro?
Well, what do you mean by that?
It's, I know that it exists.
Right.
I have used it for things.
I wish it didn't exist.
Okay.
Yeah.
I feel like it's.
There's going to, I mean, there's going to be a day that you're like,
I wish it didn't exist either.
I wish it didn't exist as much as I wish social media doesn't exist.
But it exists.
Right.
And so this is the world that we're in.
But it does.
It's.
It's shocking.
What it.
Well, it's teaching people how to live their life without having to think.
Yeah, that's.
Yeah, I can't.
I can't imagine.
That's got to what I struggle with.
Asked chat GPT if that's a good thing.
I would have to imagine it would be honest and say, no, it's not.
You guys are over.
You became.
Yeah, having two kids in college right now.
It's a big deal at the university levels.
They said that they.
We've seen people get expelled for using chat GPT to write a paper, like booted out.
Like not, not a, not a, you didn't fill the class like you got kicked out of college.
So it's.
It's pretty interesting.
I will say the business that I'm.
Not that I can make this a business.
What I'm most intrigued about is the.
That really coined the correct term, but the SEO around chat GPT and making sure that.
AI always lists your business.
As the recommendation for all of the things.
That's what's intriguing because that exists as well.
Is that how to capitalize on that?
Yeah, because it's being capitalized on right now.
Yeah, you can buy your place in line.
Yeah.
So.
Yeah.
Just like in a domain name.
I don't understand this.
It's just a faster Google.
It says that everybody would just say that.
It's like it's a quick, it's a better search engine.
So can I.
You guys have been very, very gracious hosts.
Can I ask.
You guys.
You're in my shoes.
You get to decide what to do with the PR.
I show.
You've been to it.
You understand it.
You've been to see my you understand it.
What would you think?
What do you think is missing?
Or what would you like to see at PRI that maybe you're like,
why don't they think of that?
Is anything come to mind?
I don't put you on the spot.
Yeah.
My answer would be the same as what we talked about in depth with SEMA.
Is I would have to.
I'm not in that industry near as much as we are in this industry.
I would have to imagine about how difficult it is for.
Builders of any size of any age to get a vehicle on the floor at PRI.
And showcase their capabilities in a manufacturer's booth.
And because of, we talked about it, it was a booth contractions and roll-ups
and private equity and the amount of booth space and the amount of new companies,
the amount of vehicles speaking to SEMA and vehicles that were there are not there anymore.
And it's becoming way more difficult to get.
I know how important it has been for our careers to bust your ass and get a vehicle there
to show your business card on the biggest stage with the help of a great manufacturer
that took a chance on you and the doors that that's opened.
So that whatever it could be done to make sure that there was more of those people showcased
and give them that stage would be my answer.
I don't have the actual blueprint on what that looks like,
but I think that that's very important.
I'll start by saying it's a fantastic show.
It's the show that I go to every year for the sake of focusing on product development
and getting in tune with new products and what's happening in the industry.
It's things that I can use, things like better us, better our product.
The thing I would say is usually I can knock that show out and maybe half a day.
Whereas SEMA, I feel like it takes me, I don't usually get the opportunity I get so pulled
in so many different directions.
I have a real hard time seeing it, but I would say what's the draw?
What keeps me engaged there?
What keeps a enthusiast or a consumer engaged there?
Maybe it's like the workshops and things like that where you're getting.
You've got so many entrepreneurs and influential people there.
That aspect of trying to take those people and have them giving seminars or interacting with each other.
It always seems either so forced or not engaging.
Not organic.
How can you take that and make it something where you can bring in some younger guys
or some people who would be influenced by that and actually take something out of it
rather than they feel like they're just being forced fed?
Well, the speakers need to be a little more honest too.
That's the biggest problem.
And I get it.
You've got 80-90 people there.
The only reason you're up there is promoting your brand so you're going to tow that company line.
You're going to say things a certain way.
Put a little bit more authenticity and honesty about reality.
I'm deterred from those.
I don't participate in a lot of those things just because I'm so used to them being just sort of the script.
Sort of the way they are.
Rather than sitting there and listening to a guy who I admire,
speaking like a normal human being,
I think it would be very influential, very helpful and probably a big draw.
That's really good.
I'd say for me, double-edged sword, but...
More double-edged swords.
That sounds good.
Correct idea.
Sure.
We only have a half left on the top of it.
It's a single-edged.
Getting in front of the end consumer more because I feel like all of the manufacturers,
that's like they're super bowl and they go to such an effort put in to get ready for the show
and get the new products done and get them out there.
And then on one hand, I see not being able to open it to absolutely the general public,
but at the same time, you need to get your product in front of your end-using consumer
in order to then generate sales for the distributors and the jobbers to sell it.
So a lot of the companies in our industry, I feel like are on the smaller side,
maybe don't have a tremendous marketing budget or the marketing staff to help get that out there.
I think all the SEMA and PRI both do a phenomenal job of getting everybody in the building,
but then getting what's in the building out to the ref to the community.
Sure.
It would be huge.
Sure.
No, that's a good takeaway.
That's what you're trying to do.
You know, because...
That's what you're trying to do.
Right.
You know, on the...
On the PRI side,
I'll stamp PRI not SEMA.
Yeah, apologize.
No, no, no, you're good.
Keep in mind, I came from the SEMA universe, so I totally get that.
On the PRI side,
it's interesting because we let the racers, the race teams, the race engineers,
they're at the show.
So the guy's buying the supercharger or the brakes or whatever it is, whatever the widget is.
They're there.
But,
and the grassroots racer is there.
You know, that was really the foundation of PRI.
And that was a little bit of what I...
One of the things I heard when I first got here from the customer,
he said,
he said, you gotta get the tire kickers out of the show.
And he said, we want buyers on the floor.
And I said, okay.
And so I started investigating that.
And I'm like, okay, let's make sure we tighten down that
and fill at dentistry.com doesn't get a pass in the show because he's a dentist.
But if fill at dentistry.com,
I'm using my stupid analogy or so bear with me, also is a weekend racer
and proves shows his racing license and his racing credentials,
then he could come to the show.
They go through a vetting process.
We've kind of tightened that up.
And so I share that to say, to Jeremy's point,
we've actually gotten more restricted on who gets in
because we want to make sure it's the buyer
and that it's not the dentist that...
Does that make sense?
Yeah, I get it.
Because we really want to make sure that the buyers are...
Oh, let's be honest. The dentist...
He's got a 9-11.
He's reading grassroots motorsports bags.
He's the motorsports guy.
Yeah, I'm saying there's a stupid analogy.
There's such an opportunity of like everybody,
every manufacturer putting their best foot forward at the show
to get in front of the people that are in the building.
If there was a way to then spread that out through the social media or...
Oh, for them?
Yeah.
To get in front of a much larger audience.
Yeah.
It might cut down on the tire kickers that are coming to see...
The tire kicker thing though.
The tire kicker thing pisses me off because we've all done shows for so long.
We've all come back from shows.
We've all talked to our sales guys.
We've talked to other vendors.
And I'm like, oh, yeah, today was a good show later on this afternoon.
You know, there's a bunch of tire kickers.
At the end of the day, be happy they came around to kick your fucking tires.
Because if they didn't, then that means you're dying, right?
Those guys might...
I think that the age limit...
I'm going to cut this short because I know that...
The age limit really cleans things up.
Because coming from some good guys shows, coming from some other shows.
There's those afternoons when those tire kickers are coming to look at cars and show their kids, right?
It's an event.
It's just something to come to do.
They're not aspiring to buy that next thing.
It's a carnival, right?
And that's gate.
If you take the kid side of it, you take the under 18 out of it, then any adult that's coming there,
even though he's maybe just a quote-unquote tire kicker.
He's an enthusiast enough to come there.
And your brand may or may not have an impact on him in a positive or negative way,
even if he came by and kicked your tires.
And it didn't cost you anything else.
Let's face it, anybody that has a line of people to speak to anybody at the thing,
then you need to bring more people to the booth.
You've got that big of a brand, you need to staff more people.
But if you spent five minutes with that tire kicker, right?
And in three years from now, he remembers that experience.
And he is in a financial situation where he does go to start racing.
I don't know.
I can't stand that tire kicky thing because I kicked a shit ton of tires back in the day.
I kicked a shit ton of tires on stuff that now in even years after that, I was able to get.
But actually I shared with that gentleman that said that I said, you know,
the tire kicker today is the future buyer tomorrow most likely to your point.
And that does play out for sure.
Yeah, it's just, it's interesting.
We've had this discussion so many times.
We all are guilty of it.
You work in a trade show, work in any show.
It's a difficult, it's an ask kicker, right?
It's a, it's a, it's a time.
That's tough.
And if you, if you're only measure is the exchange of money for goods, right?
Then there's times that you're going to come back and be like, yeah, there's a bunch of tire kickers in it.
If your measure is a success of your business over the long term, it's a, it's a different way of looking at things.
Building a brand is, is important, right?
Having somebody that gave, you already did your job if he came by and was stopped at your booth to kick any tires.
You know what I'm saying?
It's not like there's just a line of tires, a random tires and he's just kicking the shit out of tires.
He came by your booth to, to, for whatever reason.
Yeah.
You did something, right?
Yep.
You're right.
Yeah.
Also, the other answers could have been like, Mike, you're doing such a great job.
You and your staff are doing a PRI.
We have no options for anything that you do.
We couldn't even suggest anything that you could do any better.
Well, there's all, we generally complimented you that it is.
It's a great show.
No, I appreciate that.
There's always something I would love for somebody like, I mean, I, I've really enjoyed the conversation with you.
You're a very sharp guy and I'd love for you to come by like the roadsters shop.
And I would love to hear feedback from somebody in your position to say like,
or come by our booth and give us the feedback.
And you know what?
I think you guys could do a little different.
Get rid of that Josh guy.
Yeah.
That's probably coming in to you.
Yeah.
All right.
Hey, man.
Well, you guys, I've watched you guys from afar for a long time.
And, you know, I've always, it's crazy.
We haven't met before today because I've applauded you from, from afar.
And we've probably been at the same place at the same time and just not known it.
Aside from when I was at your party for half an hour.
I knew it.
But, you know, it's, you guys have been playing up at the top of your game for quite some time.
And that's pretty cool.
And it's, it's very similar to the Mike and Jim Ring.
And, and, you know, this upper echelon of industry leaders that other companies are looking to to say,
how do I instill those business practices?
How do I instill that leadership discipline?
You know, that's where I think you guys are role modeling.
You don't even realize your role modeling.
And so you guys do a heck of a job of it.
It's pretty awesome.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
I really appreciate that.
Yeah.
I love this.
What I would take is a drastically different take on how to run a trade show.
And it's enlightening seeing like the direction you want to go and the,
the things that, you know, are hitting your radar that aren't generally talked about,
but probably end up making a significantly better show.
So refreshing.
Sure.
It makes you feel awesome to hear that that direction.
I appreciate that.
You know, again, it's, I keep going back to the word ecosystem of how I kind of look at this and how we have to go out.
And definitely nurture and understand what's going on with the manufacturing base.
What's going on with customers that used to exhibit at the show that don't anymore.
And what happened there?
Did they sell the business?
Did we do something wrong?
Is it not a value prop, not a value ad for them anymore?
And where's that disconnect happening?
So we under, we really are like diving into all of that right now to make sure that we're putting our best foot forward.
And, you know, it is a humbling privilege to get to lead PRI and the people that dive into this with their time, their money, their resources across the entire industry.
It's that you just want to protect that.
And you want to, like, how do we continue to make that thrive on so many fronts?
And, you know, somebody has asked, they're like, well, why are you talking to emsa or IndyCar?
And I'm like, well, the engineer at IndyCar, emsa is never going to walk through the PRI show looking for tips and tricks on how to change the suspension on Colton Hurd his car.
But the future guy that's going over the wall or the future guy that IndyCar is going to hire, they're at the PRI show today.
We are the feeding system to the upper echelons of racing.
And we care for all of racing, the entire from beginners to most advanced.
And, you know, it's really getting that understanding.
That's when I say when I go to IndyCar or emsa or one of these ones where they're, their texts aren't coming around our show looking for ways to up their game.
I'm looking at it from a standpoint of let me understand what you're trying to do as a sanction.
Let me understand how you want to attract that next generation that comes in and helps you grow.
Emsa and what it's going to look like 10 years from now, you know, and that's like John Dunin is, I just hold him in the highest regard.
I don't know if you know him, the president of emsa, a spectacular human being and a really good leader.
But, you know, we spent a lot of time talking about that because PRI is the incubator to all of that.
And we got to take care of the whole system.
We got to take care of back to our roots, like I said earlier.
And we can't ever take our eye off that bulb.
We're having a lot of fun doing it.
Same front, like just getting some of that accessibility to those sanctioning bodies to some of those team leads and mechanics.
Probably helps introduce the guys that maybe don't know how to get there and start that that feeder program to get up to the next level and meet their heroes if you will.
Right.
Yeah. And then the other thing we didn't really get a chance to talk about.
And I know we can wrap this up.
Was all the organizations that are doing amazing work.
Like there's one called a women now.
It stands for women in motorsports of North America. I'd encourage you to Google it.
Lens St. James is the founder of it and Cindy Sisson runs it and.
I mean, it is, they have their annual summit at the front end of the PRI show every year.
And I think two years ago it had 380 some people last year, it was 600 some this year, it'll be probably over 800.
And it is getting from women that are racing, that are engineered leads, crew chiefs and all forms of racing.
On the manufacturing side, getting in them involved in motorsports and, you know, there's all kinds of different things going on with these different organizations.
If you just type in motorsports, organizations, female or youth or fill in the plank with whatever you want.
It you'll be, I think probably pleasantly surprised at how many organizations have come to fruition over the past three, four or five years that are really sniper focused on this.
And it's pretty cool.
It's a cool thing to be part of for sure.
That's awesome.
Well, now comes everybody's favorite time.
If you have been listening, then you know what time it is.
It is standard questions brought to you by standard wheels, HRE, HRE wheels.
Do you know how you mount a 21 HRE?
We we found out.
Yeah, you take it take it somebody knows that they're doing it.
That's what I would do.
You and me.
Yeah, best way best way to do it.
That's what I told you.
Somebody told you that from the beginning.
You were right.
You were 100% right.
The other thing though is you could spend seven and a half hours on a Sunday trying for one tire.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Don't do that.
Those Michelin runflats are there.
It's impossible.
I'm 100% certain that Brian just bought new tires.
It's quite possible.
I don't think that those are the same tires.
We'll get there.
I feel like this is a podcast.
In and of itself.
Yeah.
That's a story.
It's a story.
But nevertheless, standard questions.
Standard questions.
First up, we're going to go easy favorite car movie.
Well, a bucket list car of mine's always been Eleanor.
So we can actually legally say that name now.
Yeah.
Exactly.
You're right.
You're right.
Yeah.
Favorite movie car movie.
Probably bullet.
But favorite car in a movie.
Probably Eleanor.
It's just because I'm like that would be a fun car to just tear the roads up on the weekend.
So your dad was a GM guy and we're.
I know.
I know.
I've also owned a Fox body in a Bronco and all kinds of I know.
He's given dropping lots of hints for the first car first car gas.
All right.
Great bullet.
That's a good one.
Steve McQueen doesn't get as much credit on this on this podcast.
It's specifically as I think he deserves.
That has to.
That has to.
Well, it's just the time that like.
You know, I've never filmed a movie.
But the videography of that movie at that point in time.
It's almost comical to watch it today.
But it was.
It was cool, man.
It was cool.
It's like you were in it.
Cool hand Luke, one of my all time favorite movies.
Really?
I love that movie.
It's a great movie.
You were watching it.
Years ago.
Yeah.
It's.
It's a great movie.
It's a great movie.
All right.
Next up.
Best piece of advice.
We haven't gone there in a while.
Go to best pieces.
Yes.
Create a life you cannot wait the wake up to.
That's good.
I like that a lot.
You do.
It should be your first tattoo.
Yeah.
That's a huge wall in old English.
Right over a thug life.
Yeah.
I gotta see if I still got room.
We'll get it in there.
All right.
There's used to be everybody's favorite.
There's a new favorite now.
But formally everybody's favorite.
You're most.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You're most memorable.
Low enforcement interaction story.
I got my license in 1988.
My dad worked for a gym at the time.
He got a new car over 10,000 miles and in 1988.
He had a 1987 Iraq sitting in the garage.
That didn't for you.
That's a no.
That's a grown man.
It's hard.
It's a grow man in his car.
He was a amazing man and he gave me the keys to it.
And we took that car out and I had my girlfriend at the time who her father was a policeman,
a chief of police in the town that we lived in.
She was sitting in the passenger seat and I, you know, those cars would just spend the
tires for days.
Yeah, it's what they were built for.
Yep.
And so I'm in a major intersection in our little suburb of Indianapolis and just billowing
smoke out of the tires, take off down the road, the cherries come and cop walks up to
me ready to just take me out and beat me to death and I'm 17, got my mullet guns and
roses playing.
Did it grow?
Did it grow once you cranked the Z28 or did you have it there?
The louder the louder the louder paradise city was playing the faster the mullet group.
And I said, you know, he was berating me in every language, every cussword you could
imagine.
And I said, I'm sorry, sir.
I looked him in the eye and I said, I'm so sorry, sir, I was showing off for my girlfriend
and he leans forward and he goes, Mary Ann and he knew her and he's like, he goes, get
the hell out of here.
If I see you again tonight, I'm putting you in jail.
I can give you five more stories, but that's a really good one.
I mean, I know that you probably made great life decisions and you're happy with your
wife and your two kids.
I would have been hard not to marry that one just for the actual jail free cards.
I want everybody to listen that's listening right now because this has become a thing
is it's not just the story, it's the art in telling the story.
And that was beautifully done in the telling of that story.
Oh, it really was.
Yeah.
Because you're, he's set, I mean, that's a movie like you, you're setting it up and you
know what's coming, but you stay on for what's about to happen.
Well done.
Very well done.
I'll give you another really quick.
Yeah, do it.
That you guys can make fun of me for because you guys are way more proficient at working
on a vehicle than I am, especially my 19 year old version.
My dad brought home a cyclone, pick up and we gave, gave me the keys to that and this
was in 1990.
I was a senior in high school and my buddy and I took it out and we raced everything,
550 ninjas.
We were beating them.
We raced everything.
And I pull into my buddies driveway and the front brakes are glowing orange and I had
never seen that before and I freaked out and grabbed a garden hose and hose down the
glowing.
So you did that.
It was a work truck and all of a sudden, I took it back to work the next day, but I'm sure
that's a more grow.
So that's making fun of myself and my ignorance by 19 year old version.
They were not orange after that.
Nope.
You think so?
I mean, in that way.
They were not straight anymore.
Oh, they were.
They were not straight.
Yeah.
Oh, wow.
What has overtaken the law enforcement, so where is the?
The last question that we're going to everybody's favorite.
First of all, we're going to go to car and then we're going to research.
We're going to end.
I mean, everybody's favorite.
I'm going to go selfishly.
I'm going to call this out just because it's a fan favorite of mine and I feel like there's
a fighting chance that given the Midwest upbringing and the age in which he graduated and having
a dad in general motor's position, Chevy Beretta.
You graduated in 90, you said?
Yes, sir.
Yeah, so two door bar, 88, you had your license.
It's a good poll.
88 had my license.
Did you purchase this or was this a gift, your first car?
I purchased it and I will say that I had my money in a thousand dollars that was given
gifted to me with my grandfather passed.
No, you're wrong.
I could be easy.
That's fine, but it is a fan favorite.
This is, I don't know why I'm going with this.
Maybe I just, because I looked at it, it's a 67 C10.
Really?
Yeah.
I wish.
This is a C10.
No, I'm wrong.
In the Midwest, did you can't own those?
Yeah.
So in Russell way by then.
Go on.
Those quit, those Cs to exist, if it's 67, in 68, it was done.
It was gone.
It was over 10, I think.
Salt and Indianapolis.
Oh, sand.
Yeah.
What's don't buildings?
What's your?
I wanted to go with Bronco to 80s Chevy.
That's a good one.
It's pretty good.
I want to go meet any Chevy celebrity.
Oh.
But he bought it himself.
He bought it.
So kind of threw me out there.
He bought it.
It was something a little reckless.
Then as a self bought vehicle, it's not a real mature decision.
Yeah, it's too late for the or too early for an OBS.
But you say that 67, it's going to be an F body car of some sort.
How did that last longer than a C10 in the Midwest?
Because I think guys like the tires off them are broken.
They didn't drive.
So he broke down and all right.
That's our gases.
What is it?
I didn't get the gas yet.
I thought you.
I'm going to get one out there.
You thought about celebrity, but it's not.
I think I'm going to go S10.
OK, square body.
Yeah.
All right.
You thought it cared for it color?
No, I don't have a read in the color yet.
OK, just extended cab a regular extended cab.
All right.
All right.
OK, dark, dark, dark burgundy, almost a black burgundy,
two-door, Buick, 82-rigel.
Oh.
Man.
That's a regal.
If you, 82, be a grigal.
Well, it had the 3.8.
We're not terribly off at the barreda, then, as a two-door.
It was, it was way cooler than a barreda.
Yeah.
And I had the, I had the, you know, it had the same as the cutlass
in the Monte Carlo.
And you're right.
Yes, sir.
I'm thinking, I was thinking my buddy, Boris is, no, not the
front-wheel drive vehicle.
No, no, no, no.
Yeah.
It was the, it was the poor man's grand national.
The same body as the grand national.
But mine had, in the back seat, two tower speakers seat belted
end to the back seat so that I could have sounds until I could
put a real sound system in it.
What regal was the species yet?
It's no.
I mean, I get it.
Because I paid $2,300 for it.
If you'd have been, if you'd have been in the south that had
been a cutty, I mean, cutlass was, that was the same car.
I cutless 442, like an 84 cutlass 442 would have been the
holy grail at that point, 85, 85.
Bonus question.
You got those towers back there.
What are you bumping when you're going cruising around?
What are you listening to?
Now or back when I was then, one of the towers in there.
Oh, that was the whole pair band.
That was GNR, Motley Crew.
You name it.
Yeah.
All of that.
Here.
And then the wrong person getting the car and before you know
what you're listening to the bell, but it's a vote.
You never know where the night's going to take it.
Right.
No, you don't get in and he put that right in.
Last but not least, everybody's new favorite.
It's a simple one.
Sly versus Bert.
Okay.
Sylvester Stallone versus Bert Reynolds in general in life.
Yeah, just choose your favorite.
Just choose your favorite.
Oh, Bert Reynolds.
It's pretty obvious choice for the informed.
Yeah.
I mean, Sly's the man.
He's awesome.
But Bert was just the OG of every role he played.
And he was like, nobody could have played a Bert Reynolds
role better than Bert Reynolds.
You know what Bert wouldn't do?
What?
That'd be sing like slided in rhinestone with Dolly Parton.
I sent you that video.
And I know you watched it.
I didn't know if that came from URL.
It did.
It came from me.
And right now it's about when Ellie is playing it.
But why are you created a monster?
And they call him drinking stars for everybody to see.
If I was if I was rolling with Dolly Parton, I'd be singing to that.
I wouldn't sing that way.
Do you know the reference that I'm speaking of when he sings?
It's not a good look.
It's not a good look.
It's not his best look.
It's not his best look.
I will say that.
Do you know the name of that song?
No.
Drankin's dying.
Okay.
He's talking about getting drunk.
Well, you're putting me on the spot and I'll do a little research and I'll come back with
something that will be more detrimental to Bert Reynolds' career.
That's fine.
I didn't promise you that.
This was a listener that sent this in, by the way.
I didn't search this out.
The listener sent this in.
I watched it.
That's crazy.
And I was like, wow.
I thought I was pretty knowledgeable until you started throwing up topics like this.
I mean, when you have a career that's so widely successful, you get a couple of things.
I get a couple of misses.
Yeah.
Another listener mentioned that they're both Sly and Bert had big rigs as semi-stars in
different movies.
Yeah.
Sly's big rig was way shittier than snowman's in smoking the bandit.
Smoking the bandit.
Yeah.
Okay.
I'm surprised listeners even side with you.
They're not, I don't, they, most of them preface with.
I hate to agree with you.
But.
But.
It's kind of a little.
I was at, uh, Barrett Jackson.
This was, I want to say, maybe it was right before COVID, I think.
It was there.
And they were, um, auctioning off the six six, six point six.
It was pretty cool.
It is cool.
I think, I think he, I think he passed shortly and thereafter, actually.
I'm not going to stoop that low to say negative things about Bert because I like Bert Reynolds.
I just don't like still and fucking shit load more.
But think about this.
Right.
I want you to picture, picture in your mind that when Michael Jordan just got rejected by the
man, when he went up, it was the finals probably just went up for a dunk and just boom.
Rip, just flat on his back.
Have you remember that?
Or Mr. free, free throw in a critical.
Do you remember it?
It's probably fucking happened, dude, but with a career like that.
I doubt it.
And being on top.
It has.
On top.
It's happened.
I promise you, it's happened.
It's like storm.
He's missed a few, dude.
I don't think.
I don't think Jordan's ever missed a dunk.
Okay.
Not in the finals.
Jordan's never missed a dunk in the finals.
So lustrous, successful career.
Yeah, but he never sang with Dolly.
He drank and started.
Right.
Right.
All right.
That's a point for you.
What was the, what was the Stallone movie where he had the muscle car?
Cobra.
Cobra.
Yeah, what would you consider that a muscle car?
That was a movie car.
Well, I think there was one of George Barris' last creations.
Oh, was it a Barris car?
Yeah, it was, it was as bad as it is a Barris car.
I don't know if that was that car in that movie was.
Yeah, I'm just, do you got to admit?
Well, here's what I'd like to do.
I'm a Rambo badass.
I knew here's Rocky.
First blood badass.
Yeah.
Here's something that AI can do.
AI can take and we can lay out a garage.
AI can make us a garage of all the vehicles that Stallone has had.
And let's lay them out next to the, you don't need, you need a single car fucking garage for the Trans Am.
That's it.
One car garage.
Carport.
That's it.
You don't even need a garage to carport.
You know, he's got a cool garage that you guys have done.
I think several of his cars through Steve Strope is Joe Rogan.
Yeah.
Rogan's got a great garage.
We had his Nova.
We had that Nova in the dynamite booth a few years back.
Was that, was that, I think that was a roach to shop chassis, wasn't it?
Uh, Nova was DSE still.
Yeah, I think I was DSE.
Was it?
They were armed.
Yeah, so it might have been worse.
I think it was DSE.
Was it?
So frame stuff.
Okay.
Pretty sure.
Joe's, Joe's got some cool stuff.
He's got great taste.
Yeah, he does.
It's, it's, I like him, but it's, it's, it's, it's always like fat ass muscle car.
Yeah, he's got a very, like, very essential just, yeah.
Camaro's Nova's 9-11s, everything's.
Yeah.
Yeah, you're right.
Yeah.
Uh, it's a bad thing.
It's just Mike.
It's been absolutely amazing.
You, you, unfortunately, we're only at a road shut party for 30 minutes.
So you have your people get in touch with our people.
We've got VIP passes.
You can also ask Selena.
She's always got a pile of passes.
Um, I think that's where most of her sales comes from.
And then come back around.
She just hand, hand then out road shut party passes.
She catching you on the backside with it.
No.
Who's charging?
Mine was, uh, I came in through a really good friend of my name.
Anthony Busek.
Oh.
Andy Busek.
Short.
Indiana.
Short.
In Indiana.
Yeah.
Yeah.
He's a dear friend.
Great friend.
Anthony is great.
He is a good dude.
Uh, well, we got, we got you special VIP, like even places that Anthony Busek can't get
it.
All the places that require full length.
Full length jeans.
Yeah.
Perfect.
At SEMA this year, the only, we need the reciprocate now.
We're going to come down to PRI.
We need a Friday night, like seven o'clock, St. Elmo's reservation.
I want, I want right there where everybody can see us.
I think I have a couple.
Let me see what I can do.
Perfect.
Great.
Hey, I appreciate it.
You guys have been great hosts.
I appreciate it.
I really, really enjoyed the conversation.
And I just wish you guys the best on continuing doing what you do.
Both on camera and off.
What you're doing is way more important than what we're doing.
You keep up the good work.
I mean, it's, it's, it's amazing to have these conversations and see behind the scenes
of PRI and SEMA, everything that they're doing from the show, from the organization,
to up in DC.
I mean, we couldn't be more happy to be able to be in this position.
I think that these are the conversations that haven't had enough light and been deep enough
so that people in our industry can actually understand what the hell you guys are actually doing.
For sure.
And how much good.
Keep up the good work.
Doing a hell of a show.
I appreciate it.
Thank you.
Thank you.
You guys stay in touch.
In worst case, I will see you in November and then again in December.
See you soon.
We'll see you next.
Sounds good, guys.
Thanks so much.
Take care.
Bye-bye.
That was really good.
Yeah.
Yeah, really good.
Dude, I guess that's a sharp dude.
I like that.
Really good dude.
Really.
Just a great businessman, very like just on it.
It makes you realize that like PRI, like him and Spagnola.
Oh, yeah.
You're good at it.
And then you look at where SEMA is going.
You look where PRI is going.
Yeah.
You feel good about it.
Right.
Just really, really good dude.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I just love his take on everything and like looking at things from a different angles.
Yeah.
Right.
What you can do to benefit the manufacturers, the shows, the end consumer.
Just awesome.
Both legit.
Both legit car guys.
Like just great business guys.
Yeah.
Really, really sharp.
It was a great conversation.
I liked it.
Yeah.
Very cool.
That is great, right?
Did you like?
You didn't.
I didn't know.
I can tell you were struggling.
Yeah.
Which I didn't think it would be your stuff.
I was a little hot at the front.
But like halfway through.
Finish an energy drink before hands on.
He had just done it.
So.
I got a little spice at the front.
Hand delivered by me.
This is.
Yeah, you brought it in.
Well, yeah.
Well, I brought it right from the fucking distillery.
Oh, okay.
That's kind of a big deal.
I know.
But you put the emphasis on the hand delivered part.
And put it on the.
I brought this straight from the distillery.
Well, yeah.
That's fine.
Hand delivered by me from the distillery.
I get keep going. It's awesome. Please tell us how you put it in a suitcase. And then I put it in this bag. Well, I put it in this bag right here.
I know you're great, great packaging. Look at that bag. I, uh, it's a bag right there. So we've been down to Louisville a couple of times. That's where Josh had his, uh, a little bump on the
head, a little scooter accident, still going back there. We'll always go back there. But that's a, the, that's the distillery. And all the
distilleries down there too, that's the one I always make at a point to get to. Yeah, I like the brand. I love the bottles of a bottle guy. And I, uh, I've loved
everything that comes out of the toasted barrel, single barrel. We still have a bottle of the cognac, uh, barrel sitting out there that I got last year when I went to that
bourbon and beyond deal for John Jackson. I thought we gave it to John Jackson. Oh, you finally gave it. Yeah, we gave it. Okay. But, uh, I, I've got to bottle that home. I
haven't opened. So I got the second bottle because now I don't feel guilty. I liked it. But I tasted it there. And I loved it. And I
learned something. So I'm going to drop some Josh. Here we go. A little Josh knowledge. You probably already know this. But you know the
difference between sweet mash and sour mash. I do not, uh, the base ones corner ones sweet. No, they, uh, so the sour mash, like all your big
distillers, the mash, they carry over a certain percent of it for the next batch. Okay. Whereas, uh, sweet mash, they all out. And it's all brand
new. Okay. And they, you know, they're claimed to fame as they're a smaller family owned distillery. They can do things like that. They
don't make as many barrels and not as many new mash and old mash, new as sweet old is sour. Yep. And so the outcome of it is
supposed to be a more like, you know, fruity flavor forward bourbon, which I think it is flavor forward. To me, that stands out. The
same. The other thing that I think is cool about that is, you know, the single barrel, uh, we've gotten it a few
times and it always has that little, uh, they name it every time they barrel. Yeah. So it, it's the flavor profile. And it
could be like cherry pie or like grape smash and barbecue something. That's the one of my favorites. Yeah. And just a cool
dog. I think they do a corn dog one. I made, I don't know for sure. Maybe. The single barrel is, that's a cool
thing to keep you coming back to buying the same, uh, bottle essentially. Right. But it's because it's, it's always
different a little bit because it's single barrel. Right. Different one. But I like that. They have like pretty
drastic different tastes on the single barrel like the sticker on the side. I just wish they make it a little bit
clearer on which is the single barrel and which is not so hard. Really small. You see walk by it a lot. But yeah, I've got
one. This is one of nine. The sugar plum and then the other was the sugar plum was sweet heat, which they told us, like, what
when you're tasting it, it's going to taste like a barbecue rub. You're like, no, it's like a taste like a barbecue rub. That sounds
horrible. I think the bottle is still sitting out there. You pick it up. Yeah. And it's like one of the must like, most flavor
forward bourbons. I just got the new one is peach cobbler. So I haven't opened it, but we'll give it a shot. But the
rum barrels are cool because it's, you really can't find it anywhere. Yeah. They've got it there periodically. Now, how did this one
get here? The myself in that cool little bag. And I brought it back. I did the exact thing that I bitch about when other
people do it. I got a car. No, I got up really early this morning and left. Louisville, Kentucky. Well, to come back. Yeah, after
you know, I was on a educational journey of learning, learning about things like sour mash and sweet mash. I could
share them with the listeners. And that's, you know, that's the kind of thing I do for sake of the listeners. I bet you were on a
trip with some sweet mash. Yeah. That and just excessively drink. I still, I think I'm still drunk, due to be honest with you
probably the last four days of. Hey, dude, but did you get up north of bourbon? I did. Did north of bourbon. I hate you.
I hate you. Never disappoints. Never disappoints ordered virtually every cocktail in the menu. As usual. I don't like the fact
that you did that. You can do a lot of things. Or I'm like, all right. That's something. I don't like it. It was more enjoyable
without you there because there's a certain sense of satisfaction. I get knowing that I'm enjoying this and you're not.
Okay. You know, that that track, not that I don't, not that I dislike you being there. But you know, but you like the fact
that you're doing not doing that. I'm doing it. Smile knowing you. So you like me being there. However, you like me
doing without more than that. Absolutely. And that tracks a hundred percent. Absolutely. And I'm not even mad at that.
The the standout again, dude, I tried a bunch of stuff and the one I come back to, what's the peanuts one? Yeah, the
Mr. Pena, Mr. Pena's first hand shake. Is that what? Yeah. It's good. I think I get like 10 of them. The flavor profile. I
tried a bunch of weird stuff just because I know it's like, you don't get the thing that you think you'll like just try it all. Yeah.
And then I come back to that, which is Coke, bourbon, and peanuts. Yeah. My mom would never drink a drip, a drop of bourbon
her entire life. But I bet you she would love that one. This was a really good show. Great show.
You're never going to find this. Run barrel finished. If you can, you can get it on like auction, say it's not
a crazy expensive bottle. No, it's hard to find. It's not expensive. It's just hard to find. Even their single
barrel stuff is you never come across really. Not on a regular. Yeah, every once in a while. Yeah, the
toasted, the double oak, the high rye, any of them. The high rye. Always a fan of fearless. You can find the
high rye a bunch. I always keep a couple of bottles of the high rye. I make a lot of cocktails with the
high rye peerless. Do you? Yeah, I do. It's a it's a good for that. It's very eloquently good.
It's a hand delivered. It's good for that. Great episode. I think that gives a good sneak peak,
especially Tommy right here after Seema. I think people understand more about
like what the hell is going on. It's more than just a car show. There's a lot of things at place.
And there's some good people running it. That's what's important. Yep.
Other news.
Ellie will put down there right now. I think it's the shit out of a salon.
Nothing too big to talk about. Yeah, let's just let that go. All right. That's a big video. I guess
we'll see you guys again next time. Bye.
It's what it's driving me fucking nuts. The fact that we're I'm not ready to shut it down yet.
It's driving me fucking nuts. The fact that anybody sides it to you on that. It really does. I think it's
an age thing. It's a right and wrong thing. How? He's better. I'm not saying this alone is not
worthy. He's just not well, we're so we were coming back from God. I can't believe this is going on.
Well, we're coming back from that. You can edit this whole thing out. No, we don't need to do because this
was this hurts Josh big time. We're coming back for that concert. What do we do? We looked up the
fact that the gross. Well, it was the gross. And then the fact that Stallone has cast Bert Reynolds
and some of his like mediocre movies that he is. It's almost like he's an extra. I wouldn't say that.
We felt like a pity. I wouldn't say that. What was the I would say you better be careful if you
were to back to your AI. If you to AI, who's a bigger movie star? Oh, I mean, that's just absolutely
destroys him. Okay, absolutely. I'd still I'm going to fix it alone in every way. Of course,
you're I think right now. I know we played it earlier. Elliott right now plays another little snippet
of a maybe beer in Stein. It's drinking Stein or beer in Stein. How about this? How about
I just pull it up right now? And then we can watch it all together bring it up because we found
some that were more detrimental to you did you've never found anything in the history of the world
that was more detrimental than this song. We're going to pull this up. I'll read I'm going to read
through just some of the headlines here, some of the bangers. It is drinkin Stein. It's drinkin Stein.
That's the name of the song, drinkin Stein. Pretty bad. It's cowboy. It's got a good jam.
It's like a Hank senior suit there. It's pretty good. Oh yeah, just wait.
Look at that face. What is up with that face?
It's actually not that bad.
It's drinkin Stein.
It's going to be hard to come back.
That's a low blow.
The fact that exists. Take this off.
Take this off.
I don't think that's real. It's 100% real.
Yeah, I don't like that at all.
I know what he does. That's why he can't win.
You can not.
It's worse. Maybe that's him in his worst.
You know what? Bert was at his worst.
I'm trying to find out.
Yeah, it's nude on a bare skin rug.
On a polar bear rug actually could be exact. That's his worst.
And he looked damn good.
I'm going to have to spend a little time.
What? I'm going to put the work in because there were some smoking guns.
What makes you concede?
Is this the end of the season, Tally?
No, I don't need any outside influence.
Dude, I don't like I don't need anybody to reassure me.
So drinkin Stein didn't do it.
No, that doesn't know.
That's not even a blow.
That's not even a hole in the ship.
That's a crater in the ship.
It's taken on water.
I think it's not really how hard you hit.
It's how hard you can get ahead and keep moving forward.
Yeah, so he continues to move forward.
After that, pretty devastating hits.
That's a bad hit and he kept on.
Fuck, I'm trying.
There's nothing you can't find anything bad.
Well, because I'm trying to flip through all these just garbage fucking movies.
That's incorrect.
There hasn't been a garbage deal.
Oh, there you go.
Smoke in the bandit.
There's the one that everybody knows and for.
Yeah.
Other than that,
I wasn't with Chris Christoffer.
The longest year, yard,
the longest year, the longest yard.
Hey, with Adam Sandler.
That's a good one.
Oh, the first one.
The original.
Oh, the original way came back and did it again.
Good grief.
That's so bad.
Smoke in the bandit too.
Everybody knows that one.
All right, let's wrap this up.
I'll wrap it up.
I'll see you wrap it up.
I got to put some work in here.
Yeah, you get to keep trying.
I'll see you everybody next week.
Let us know in the DM.
So you guys have been great.
Oh, wait.
I'm smoky's back.
That's smoky.
The third, bye.
Smokey the third.
He had all run too.
He tried giving that one another run too.
Hey, smokey the third.
And Doug, here we have the Lemo Emu
in its natural habitat helping people
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and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual.
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and affiliates excludes Massachusetts.
About this episode
Michael Good, president of PRI, shares insights on the motorsports ecosystem and the importance of connecting various stakeholders in the industry. He discusses challenges faced by racetracks, including noise complaints from nearby developments, and highlights initiatives aimed at attracting the next generation of motorsports enthusiasts. The episode also delves into the significance of the PRI show as a networking hub, the evolving landscape of motorsports, and the role of technology and safety in the industry. Good emphasizes the need for collaboration among manufacturers, racers, and sanctioning bodies to ensure the growth and sustainability of motorsports.
This week on Oil & Whiskey, we’re joined by Michael Good, President of Performance Racing Industry (PRI).Michael brings insight into the racing world from the industry side where innovation, advocacy, and community come together to keep motorsports alive and thriving. We dive into PRI’s mission, how it supports racers and builders, and what the future of performance racing looks like.Grab official Oil & Whiskey gear at oilandwhiskey.com. Good time, bad advice, great shirts.