CPT Racing Experience | News - Another Great Success

January 30, 2009: The 2nd annual CPT Racing Experience presented by CASE ‘N DRUM OIL LP and Kendall Motor Oil, held at the Western Fair Agriplex this past weekend (January 24th and 25th, 2009), was a terrific success. Crowds were up, with 5,293 people attending over the two days of the event. And reviews were very positive, with surveys showing that 94% of attendees felt the event was good value and 84% said they would be back next year. The event also raised almost $2,000 for Jesse’s Journey, a London-based organization that helps to fight Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

“It was a terrific weekend all the way around,” said Kevin Bulmer of CPT Entertainment Inc. “What pleases us most was just the feeling in the building. It seemed as though everyone was having a great time. We got the sense that our guests, exhibitors, sponsors and race teams all really now have the idea of what we’re trying to do and they all came together to make the whole thing come to life. There was a great energy in the building all weekend.”

The event featured numerous interactive attractions and displays, including a temporary go-kart track which allowed guests to go for spin in exchange for a minimum donation to Jesse’s Journey. The track, sponsored by Demar Aggregates and FM 96 and made possible through a partnership with Cameron Motorsports, raised almost $2,000 (the final number was $1,875.00).

“That was very gratifying, to see how generous our guests were in helping Jesse’s Journey,” said Bulmer. “Just more than a year ago, this event didn’t even exist. So to see so many people out enjoying it with their families and contributing to help a cause like Jesse’s Journey was very gratifying for us.”

Survey data taken at the event showed that the show drew thousands of people from outside London. Thirty percent of the guests were from London, while the others came from a variety of areas around Middlesex County and other places such as Oxford, Elgin, Perth, Huron, Kent and Elgin counties.

The event also represented a much better cross section of racing than in its first year, with everything from drag racing to super bikes to motocross machines and sprint cars and more spread all over the show floor. The diversity of the displays was reflected in the survey data collected at the show. When guests were asked what type of racing they most prefer, drag racing was up 7% and sprint cars were up 6%. Motocross racing was also up slightly.

“In our first year, the crowd was very stock-car heavy,” said Bulmer. “And that was fine, but we wanted to get more variety in the event, and we did that, with the help of a lot of dedicated people. There is just so much great motorsports activity out there. We’d like to represent it all as best we can. And the surveys clearly show that people respond to what’s on the show floor.”

Click here to view photos of the event.

A video wrap-up of the event will be posted online soon at www.cptrace.com and www.cptentertainment.com.

CPT Entertainment’s next large-scale event is the all-new London International Travel Show, October 17 and 18, 2009 at the Western Fair Progress Building. www.londontravelshow.ca