December's International Motorsports Industry Show takes center stage as the latest in the whirlwind of off-season trade shows, from Dec. 8-10 at Indianapolis' Indiana Convention Center.
Show times run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST on the Thursday and Friday, and 10 to 4 on Saturday. The third IMIS show expects to attract more than 20,000 attendees from the motorsports business.
Several hundred exhibitors will be set up and displayed, featuring designers, manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and other trades within the industry.
Noteworthy at IMIS are a pair of conferences determined to advance safety within the sport, and spearheaded by some of the most prominent names in the business.
The IMIS Safety and Technical Conference runs two days, Wednesday and Thursday, both from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Wednesday schedule features seminars in three categories: safety, aero plus and chassis, with an industry panel of experts including several notable speakers.
Some noteworthy individuals among them are former CART chief steward Kirk Russell (one of two conference organizers), HANS device creator Dr. Robert Hubbard and Honda Performance Development technical division manager Roger Griffiths. Thursday's seminars are split into safety and powertrain, with IndyCar director of medical services Dr. Michael Olinger and IMSA chief operating officer Scot Elkins tentatively scheduled to speak.
IMIS also features its Youth Safety Conference, with host Dr. Terry Trammell, the renowned orthopedic surgeon whose career in motorsports spans nearly 40 years. Speakers for that include Olinger, 2011 Indianapolis 500 pole winner Alex Tagliani and his wife Bronte, former driver and female racing advocate Lyn St. James, three-time NHRA Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon, and biomedical scientist and NASCAR safety consultant Dr. John Melvin.
It wouldn't be a conference without a race of some sort, though, and the first Indy Karting Classic joins the festivities this year, on Sunday, Dec. 11 at Conseco Fieldhouse. It's anticipated that six IndyCar drivers will go head to head with six NASCAR drivers in the indoor course.
Other events scheduled include a Vehicle Dynamics and Acquisition Seminar from Dec. 5-7, the John Melvin Safety Seminar on Dec. 9, and the Collegiate Roadshow Dec. 10. More information is available on the IMIS website.
The full show goes off a week later than was originally scheduled, as it was set to clash with the PRI Trade Show in Orlando. IMIS organizers moved the event back.
Chris Paulsen, owner of C&R Racing, Tom Weisenbach, executive director of the Indiana Motorsports Association (IMA), Jeff Stoops, president of Stoops Freightliner, and two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart, announced a lifetime contract with the City of Indianapolis and released the dates of the show through 2015 in order to help exhibitors and attendees plan long-term.