Indianapolis, IN – Helmets, drivers’ suits, haulers, transmissions, frames, seminars, banquets, Kart races…
These and other racing items too numerous to mention were available to over 20,000 members of the racing industry who attended the third annual International Motorsports Industry Show (IMIS) at the Indianapolis Convention Center on December 8-10.
The show is owned by Chris Paulsen, Jeff Stoops and 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart, and is designed to give motorsports companies an opportunity to “interact with current customers and meet new ones.”
Begun in 2009, the tradeshow for hardcore racers has been described as “one of the fastest growing events in the tradeshow industry.” Three years ago the exhibit area covered 109,000 sq. ft. That figure rose to 283,000 sq. ft. in 2011 and is expected to grow significantly next year.
The five days of activities surrounding the tradeshow included an opening reception for participants held in the Lucas Oil Stadium on Wednesday, sixty IMIS Industry Seminars Thursday – Saturday and the tradeshow that drew rave reviews from both exhibitors and attendees. The inaugural Indy Karting Classic ran on Sunday at the nearby Conseco Fieldhouse and featured teams representing IndyCar and NASCAR beside numerous professional and amateur events. A karting industry tradeshow was also held in the Fieldhouse.
The 2012 IMIS tradeshow will be held on December 6-8.
Notes:
• At a press conference held during IMIS, it was announced that 2011 Skip Barber Series champion Scott Anderson will compete in the 2012 USF 2000 Cooper Tire Mazda championship competing for Belardi Auto Racing whose owner Brian Belardi resides in Milwaukee. Belardi fielded three cars in the USF 2000 series in 2010, finishing 3rd, 10th and 12th. “The clearly defined path to the top is what attracted me to the IndyCar ladder system,” noted Anderson who resides in Ft. Collins, CO. His next step on the “ladder” would be Indy Cars.
• The 2012 IMIS Achievement Award was presented to IndyCar team owner Sam Schmidt during Wednesday’s reception at Lucas Oil Stadium. The award was given to Schmidt by the 2010 recipient Chip Ganassi.
• As IndyCar struggles to fill the oval track portion of their 2012 schedule, a rumor circulating at IMIS had IC looking into oval circuits at Phoenix, Milwaukee and several other facilities. With Las Vegas out of the picture for 2012, and Texas not yet secured, hopes for an event at the historic Mile may still be alive.
• The ARCA Racing Series recently announced a 20-race schedule, with 10 events to be telecast live on SPEED. The race at Madison, WI will not, however, be part of the TV package.
• We bumped into Chicago-area racing writer Stan Kalwasinski at the IMIS show. Stan noted that his well-attended racing memorabilia show will be held in Peotone, IL on Sunday, March 25th. This centrally-located show is well worth the drive for those seeking a large display of vintage and current collectables for sale.
• ARCA’s winningest driver, 81- year old Joy Fair passed away on Dec. 10th. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, Dec. 17th, in Orion, MI.
Paul Gohde heard the sound of race cars early in his life.
Growing up in suburban Milwaukee, just north of Wisconsin State Fair Park in the 1950’s, Paul had no idea what “that noise” was all about that he heard several times a year. Finally, through prodding by friends of his parents, he was taken to several Thursday night modified stock car races on the old quarter-mile dirt track that was in the infield of the one-mile oval -and he was hooked.
The first Milwaukee Mile event that he attended was the 1959 Rex Mays Classic won by Johnny Thomson in the pink Racing Associates lay-down Offy built by the legendary Lujie Lesovsky. After the 100-miler Gohde got the winner’s autograph in the pits, something he couldn’t do when he saw Hank Aaron hit a home run at County Stadium, and, again, he was hooked.
Paul began attending the Indianapolis 500 in 1961, and saw A. J. Foyt’s first Indy win. He began covering races in 1965 for Racing Wheels newspaper in Vancouver, WA as a reporter/photographer and his first credentialed race was Jim Clark’s historic Indy win.Paul has also done reporting, columns and photography for Midwest Racing News since the mid-sixties, with the 1967 Hoosier 100 being his first big race to report for them.
He is a retired middle-grade teacher, an avid collector of vintage racing memorabilia, and a tour guide at Miller Park. Paul loves to explore abandoned race tracks both here and in Europe, with the Brooklands track in Weybridge England being his favorite. Married to Paula, they have three adult children and two cats.
Paul loves the diversity of all types of racing, “a factor that got me hooked in the first place.”
Fourth TurnMotorsports NewsPaul Gohde