CPT Entertainment

Southwestern Ontario’s only trade show dedicated completely to motorsports, the CPT Racing Experience, will be held at the Western Fair Agriplex (845 Florence Street in London) on Saturday, January 24 and Sunday, January 25, 2009.

The first event of its kind in the London market, the CPT Racing Experience drew positive reviews from visitors, exhibitors and sponsors after the inaugural show, held at the London Convention Centre in March of this year. It also drew large numbers of people into the London market.

Surveys taken at the event showed that over 70% of attendees came from outside London, drawing thousands into the city. 92% of guests felt the event was good value while 83% said they would be back for the next show (13% were undecided). The feedback was exceptionally positive, especially for a new event.

“We were very pleased with the response we received,” said Kevin Bulmer from CPT Entertainment Inc., the event management company that created the show. “We set out to make it a true ‘experience’; very interactive, family friendly and unique. It was all of that, and it will be even more of that next January.”

Moving the event to the Agriplex at the Western Fairgrounds presents some exciting opportunities for the CPT Racing Experience to add to its roster of interactive exhibits and activities.

“The Agriplex building is so vast, we can look at actually getting things moving inside the building as part of the show. And we’re in that process now,” Bulmer said. “The size of the building will also allow us to greatly expand the Swap Meet aspect of the event so that race teams can have a place to bring their parts, cars and even their trailers to try and sell to other racers while there’s still lots of time for them to get their own program together for the upcoming season.”

In 2008, the CPT Racing Experience featured a wide range of racing-related attractions, including tire change stations, racing simulators, remote control racing, workshops, seminars, autograph sessions, a variety of show cars and more. One of the feature attractions was the display of an actual race car once driven by the late Dale Earnhardt.

In addition to the attractions, thousands of dollars-worth of prizes were given away, including NASCAR Sprint Cup Terrace Club tickets to Pocono Raceway and a bus trip to NASCAR Canada Day at Michigan International Speedway.

“One of our vendors said to us, ‘The people that are racers are here. The people that are interested in racing are here. And this is where they’re going to learn about all aspects of our sport.’ And that’s it,” Bulmer said. “If you’re involved in any way in a race team, track, series, related business, or if you’re a race fan, you need to have next year’s date marked on your calendar. There is no other event quite like it.”

Additional details on special guests, attractions and displays will be announced as they are confirmed and will be posted at the event’s official website, www.cptrace.com. Exhibitor applications, floor plans, swap meet registration forms and other information pertaining to the event are available online now. In many cases, exhibitors and swap meet vendors may receive early booking or multi-show discounts. A variety of sponsorship opportunities are also available.

Advanced discount tickets for the CPT Racing Experience are also available online.