Event PR Report
Photo by: Patrick Schneider/Patrick Schneider Photography

Hickory, NC(January 8, 2013) — The Carolina Auto Racing Show (CARS) opened its doors for the second year last Friday morning and as part of the opening ceremonies  it was announced the show would be moving to Charlotte, NC for the 3rd edition of the event, December 5-7, 2013.

The Charlotte Convention Center will be the new home for the show put on ‘By Racers, For Racers.’ The 280,000 square foot convention center located in downtown Charlotte will provide a permanent home for the event, which has gained tremendous popularity in just two short years.

“We are very excited about the opportunity of brining a true industry show to Charlotte, North Carolina,” said CARS Clint Elkins. “Charlotte is the motorsports capital of the world and we are blessed to be partnering with such an established venue, such as the Charlotte Convention Center. We have reached out to some industry representatives about our move to Charlotte and the feedback has been phenomenal,” added Elkins. “CARS is more than a trade show, it’s an event and with all that Charlotte has to offer this will certainly be a staple in the industry for years to come.”

The Hickory Metro Convention Center in Hickory, NC has been the site of the first two CARS events. CARS has rapidly grown to fill the 84,000 convention center to capacity so when show officials began to look at other cities, Charlotte was the natural fit.

Early projections show as much as a 12 million dollar economic impact to the city of Charlotte in the first year. CARS has been attended by close to 10,000 people over the last two years from 31 states.

“This will father strengthen the Charlotte area’s claim as the real center of racing,” said famed racing promoter Humpy Wheeler. “By bringing an already established show to Charlotte we think the financial numbers can double as we expect an economic impact to be over 50 million dollars in the next decade,” said Wheeler.

The Charlotte Convention Center also houses a 35,000 square foot ball room and is connect via a an over-street walkway to the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The famed crown ball room is part of the Hall of Fame and features a 40,00 square foot banquet room.

“We’re excited to see such an important piece of business make the move to Charlotte. CARS will have a fitting home since our region is packed with an incredible motorsports heritage and assets like the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Charlotte Motor Speedway and a majority of NASCAR racing teams that illustrate the industry’s impact here,” says NASCAR Hall of Fame Director of Sales Lauri Eberhart.

CARS officials will be making several announcements in the coming weeks regarding staff additions and other events.

To learn more about the Carolina Auto Racing Show please visit www.carolinaautoracingshow.com