Buyers can bank on a prodigious supply of new parts and solutions designed to drive sales—and podium finishes—in 2023 and beyond.

Demand for “late-model stuff,” including newer Ford and LS platform products, as well as lighter-weight billet parts, and even kits for big-wheel drag cars is expected to intensify in the coming year. 

Motorsports parts resellers and service providers, as well as race teams and racers themselves, leveraged the recent PRI Trade Show in Indianapolis to uncover solutions that could provide a competitive edge in 2023, whether through added strength and durability, increased performance, weight savings, or a clever new approach to a common obstacle.

Manufacturers’ Assessments

Exhibitors like The Edelbrock Group noted new market forces shaping today’s buying tendencies, but cited one in particular: “The big trend we’ve started to see as we exit the pandemic is that there’s still a lot of demand for Ford FE and early Chrysler product—the C’s and D’s,” said Bryan Barlow, Canadian sales manager for the Olive Branch, Mississippi-based manufacturer. “During the height of it all, everyone focused on getting their orders out on A and B movers. Along the way a lot of C and D movers got depleted or discontinued. So we’re starting to see a big push right now as everyone’s getting caught up.”

Somewhat surprisingly, Edelbrock’s new VRS carb continues to resonate with racers following its introduction last year, Barlow added. “About June we started to ship it, and we’re already overwhelmed with orders,” he said. “With the market shifting so greatly toward EFI, we were a little nervous on the introduction of a new carburetor, but carburetor sales have been through the roof.”

For the team at Valencia, California-based Air Flow Research and Scat Enterprises, flat-plane crankshafts that deliver “the sound and performance of the Ferraris and Lamborghinis” are expected to remain atop racers’ wish lists in 2023, according to Danny Cerny. However, “for strength and a lot of the drag racing and performance sports, it’s the billet crankshafts,” he noted. “While manufacturing and producing the billets, we are also expanding a lot of our lightweight forgings that hold up to the industry’s punishing demands.”

Cerny also predicted that, somewhat ironically, the push for vehicle electrification could bode well for his segment. “People are going to want to rebuild a lot of the modern vehicles because the mileage is going to be coming around,” he explained, “and they’re not going to want to upgrade or go into an electric vehicle. So for us, it creates a whole new avenue in providing crankshafts, pistons, cylinder heads, and connecting rods.”

From the viewpoint of Lakeville, Minnesota-based manufacturer QA1, buyers are eyeing rear suspensions for such classic trucks as the 1973–1979 Ford F-150, as well as full-handling kits for 1971–1976 Impalas/Caprices that are popular among Donk racers and other big-wheel enthusiasts. 

Along with products designed for older vehicles, QA1 also is utilizing advanced technologies and materials to meet customer demand. “They’re looking at new things like our carbon fiber driveshafts,” said Steve Smith. “There are still some folks out there who just can’t believe that a carbon fiber driveshaft can actually be stronger, lighter, and safer than any other driveshaft there is. They’re intrigued by things with innovation in the parts.”

Based in Glendale, Arizona, Pro EFI noted its wiring harnesses for the Ford Coyote engine as a top attention-getter; at King Engine Bearings, meantime, much of the focus was on the company’s first-to-market Can-Am race bearings, which were displayed at PRI in a Brian Crower specially crafted Can-Am engine block.

New and often unexpected business opportunities were found everywhere, in fact, as Edward Cooper, president of Nu-Ice Age, a dry-ice blasting operation in Jackson, Michigan, discovered via Miles Ahead. Based in Carmel, Indiana, Miles Ahead brings turnkey open wheel electric kart racing competitions to fundraising and company team-building events. And that presented Cooper with a potentially new application for his product. 

“When [blasted] dry ice hits, there’s no water in it,” Cooper explained. “Tiny explosions take place that lift dirt off walls or off a vehicle. They’re perfectly cleaned off, without hurting the finish.” 

This waterless technology could be an ideal solution for cleaning e-karts and their specialized components, he surmised. “It’s cold and takes the dirt down to the ground. You just sweep it up and you’re done,” he said. “We’ve been doing this, but we also race cars, so this is kind of what we’re looking to as a next step.”

Breakthroughs for Buyers

So, how are buyers themselves approaching the 2023 season? 

Indianapolis-based racer Nick Taylor was among those eyeing the aforementioned QA1 setup for big-wheel vehicles. Although he doesn’t race Donks or big-wheel cars, “I do no-prep racing and we like long-travel suspensions,” he said. “So I’m trying to gauge how this [product] could work out for what we do, not just the application they’ve produced it for.”

Fellow attendee Ryne Moonshower, with Moon’s Fabrication in Fort Wayne, Indiana, agreed. “There’s crossover between a lot of different sports here,” he added. “New products for circle track may also be useful in another area like drag racing, and you would never know that unless you came to PRI. There were some circle track twin-tube shocks that really piqued our interest, even though we do drag racing and a lot of backtrack stuff.”

For numerous buyers, Machinery Row ranks among the Show’s top attractions—Daniel Adams, with CT Race Worx in Monroe, North Carolina, was on a mission there. A welder and fabricator specializing in side-by-sides and powersports vehicles, he was looking for new and upcoming welders, CNC tube benders, and air-driven and cordless power tools. 

“Those are big things in our industry now, and every time I turn around [here], I’m finding something that I need and want,” he said. A seven-year veteran of the PRI Trade Show, Adams noted that Machinery Row consistently proves valuable to his business. “We’re able to increase production times and also the quality of our end products because we’re able to find the tools and equipment that help us produce better product in the end,” he said.

Tony Hatfield, owner of Modco Racing Engines in Joplin, Missouri, was in the market for CNC machines, and he found several by Howard, Pennsylvania-based Centroid that merited closer examination. Hatfield, who’s considering updating his equipment for cylinder heads and other engine-building tasks, noted improved efficiencies of the industry’s latest tooling; he was able to visualize the possibilities thanks to “hands-on” demonstrations provided by Centroid and others on Machinery Row.

“It’s more impressive to see it live than on paper,” he noted. “Seeing it in working mode tells us if it’s something we really need for where we want to be at. We get an idea of what’s new out there [and] make sure we’re not missing anything. The whole drive is to move forward.”

First-time PRI attendee Robert Bierman, a fabricator with AJ Performance Machine in Sycamore, Illinois, pondered how several of the “cool tools” he discovered could improve his workflow. “We build all kinds of street cars, race cars, turbo kits and performance items—we do blowers, installs, tuning, and dyno,” he told us. “There’s a lot of good stuff here, especially the grinders and a couple of the welders.”

With motorsports broadening its appeal, especially among younger demographics, experts say the market for racing apparel, helmets, and safety gear is expected to continue expanding through at least 2026. Of course, comfort, lighter weight, and fire protection remain key factors for buyers, with manufacturers jockeying to differentiate themselves in the areas of quality, regulatory compliance, aesthetics, and innovation. 

Pete Hunsinger of Chase Hunsinger Racing in Mansfield, Ohio, was among the many smaller buyers seeking new apparel and safety gear. A racer who started in go-karts nearly three decades ago, he and his 14-year-old son are planning a move into 410 sprint cars this year. “We’re going from a traditional go-kart jacket to a full-sized driving suit for him, obviously, for safety reasons,” said Hunsinger. “We’re hitting some of the safety equipment booths around here, see what we like, what feels comfortable for him, and what they can do for us with our sponsors.”

Not far away, Will Wattanwongkiri, owner of Chino, California-based WRTeknica, was examining helmets and other safety equipment by Scala Gear. Wattanwongkiri’s performance motorsports-oriented shop also fields TeamWWR, which has raced in NASA Super Touring, SRO GT4 World Challenge, and various other series. 

“We resell, distribute, car build, support, transport—we’re a one-stop shop for customers with high-performance cars,” he said. “They can just drop the car off and forget about it. And, if there’s something they need that we don’t do, we refer it to our partners. We’re here to work with everybody.” 

Wattanwongkiri touted the materials, fit, and quality of the helmets and gear he saw from Scala and others. “We’re here to buy helmets,” he said. “We’re also here to buy suspension parts and brake parts, wheels—just all kinds of things. Our business is focused on vehicle dynamics. So, anything that makes the car handle better, that’s what we do. We build a lot of race and track cars, and we’re focused on meeting all these vendors here.”

Like scores of other buyers flooding the aisles, Wattanwongkiri found it difficult to single out any one aspect of the Show—or product trend—that especially caught his eye. The floor was simply filled with so many innovations across so many categories, making them impossible to list. However, he did agree with other attendees we spoke with that the relationships forged at the Show stood out.

“Coming to PRI, for me, is about connecting with all the motorsports industry people, a lot of whom I’ve been talking to on the phone and now am putting a face to the name,” he explained. “Motorsports is such a focused, niche market, and it’s great to connect with all the other companies in this industry.

“There are also a lot of old industry friends who we just don’t get to see often,” he added. “I go racing around the country and I see them here and there, but this is the kind of place that just brings everyone together. I’m meeting other people through my current connections and then also introducing new connections to them—it’s a really good networking opportunity.”