HPX 2025: New Hub for Racing and Performance Innovation Debuts With Success in Charlotte
The High-Performance Expo is a new player in the automotive aftermarket trade-show space that looks like it’s here to stay.
For more than 90 years (collectively), the Specialty Equipment Market Association and Performance Racing Industry have been presenters of the automotive aftermarket and motorsports’ two major trade shows, known by anyone associated with the game as SEMA and PRI.
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HPX 2025 debuted in Charlotte as a new automotive aftermarket trade show, offering industry insights, networking, and product showcases. Its smaller size allowed for meaningful interactions, and many exhibitors plan to return, indicating its promising future in the trade-show space.
This summary was generated by AI using content from this MotorTrend article
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That autonomy is no longer. HPX (High-Performance Expo, hosted by the North Carolina Motorsports Association) is a new program in the trade-show space. The show made its debut with a small but effective inaugural confab at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, from June 2 to June 5, and HOT ROD was there to check it out.
“HPX is a showcase for automotive aftermarket and racing entities, that is designed to help them grow their business,” said HPX industry relations consultant Jamie Meyer. “The aftermarket and racing are what fuel our passion for cars and performance.”
“The first two days of the show are dedicated to business development (B to B) and include informative, engaging seminars featuring industry leaders sharing insights on trends, how to succeed, etc.,” Meyer continued.
“On Day 3, we open the show to car guys and girls, as well as young people who are interested in pursuing jobs in the industry, and people who want to be exposed to hundreds of companies, schools, and legends of the industry (such as Richard Petty, Jeff Gordon, Antron Brown, and others). It’s a great day for enthusiasts.”
One of our big takeaways from the inaugural HPX is that as a small (for now) show, there was a lot more opportunity to engage in solid, more than 30-second, B-to-B conversations with representatives from all of the exhibitors.
Several of the usual suspects (companies that are perineal presenters at SEMA and PRI for decades) were on hand, and it was great to see and interact with our longtime partners like McLeod Racing and several others.
However, we also met people from organizations that are not on our radar and discussed ways for us to work together on projects and product reviews. Magic Motorsport USA is one of those companies.
It’s an Italian firm that makes programming devices for the world’s OEM engine-, and transmission-control modules. That’s right, a new EFI tuner on the block, and HPX may have opened the door for us to work with it and let you know what’s what.
GripEdge Tools is another company that presented interesting (and new to us) socket sets for professional and DIY mechanics. The unique sockets and bits feature rounding prevention technology (RPT) that eliminates the drama that often comes with removing rounded nuts and bolts and blown-out Allen-head and Torx fasteners.
Have you ever heard of BAM (Brad Miller) Roller Lifters? If you’re into roundy-round dirt-track and sportsman-level stock-car racing, the answer is probably yes, as lifters for those race engines are the company’s longtime specialty. BAM isn’t an exhibitor we typically bypass at the PRI Show.
However, after spending a few minutes at their booth, we learned BAM also makes roller tappets for Chevy, Ford, and Mopar drag-race and high-performance street engines.
Again, engagement. That’s what the HPX is about. The show’s modest size provided plenty of opportunities to hold one-on-one discussions with exhibitors and learn about the products they offer.
We also met with the folks from Jones Cam Designs. Although you don’t hear the name mentioned frequently, it’s a camshaft company that has been around for ages and has designed bump sticks for engines competing and winning in almost every form of racing (Indy Car, NASCAR, USAC Sprints, World of Outlaws, Dirt Latemodels, SCRA Sprints, SCORE Desert, Modifieds, SODA off-Road Series, NHRA, SCCA, USAC Midgets, and APBA). Company founder Dick Jones is no stranger to HOT ROD, either. Reports on his engines and camshaft innovations have appeared on our pages many times, including this powerplant that was featured in our May 1975 issue.
Late-model muscle car enthusiasts probably know the name American Racing Headers, a company that bends bolt-in/perfect-fit exhaust tubes for the hot Chevy, Dodge, and Ford coupes. Headers for the 2020–present C8 ZO6 Corvette are new to the catalog and were on display at HPX.
Flatline Barriers is not a SEMA or PRI exhibitor, and we were not familiar with the product before seeing it at the show. It’s thermal acoustic insulation designed and packaged for 1960s–1980s Ford, GM, and Mopar car and truck interiors (under carpet/behind door panels). Of course, panels are available à la carte, too, but the packages really look like good, comprehensive, peel-and-stick answers to the insulation dilemma of a build.
The HPX experience helped us get lined up to give Driveline Studios’ MicDrop a workout at upcoming events such as HOT ROD Drag Week and Power Tour West 2025. MicDrop is a slick, strong, aluminum bracket that bolts onto a vehicle and secures a wireless microphone (DJI or Rode) in a low-pressure zone near the exhaust (typically the front or rear license plate), to capture clear, wind-noise-free exhaust notes.
Several products were presented (by their manufacturers) for evaluation by an esteemed panel of media veterans that included our own HOT ROD group director Mike Galimi (center). Laba7 (Performance Testing Solutions) took the prize for its high-tech shock dyno, which was presented very well by the company’s representative.
Those are just a few of the products we found interesting, especially the parts we weren’t familiar with before HPX 2025. We think the HPX Show is off to a great start. It will grow, and we’ll continue to follow it. Already, reports are that many of the aftermarket companies that sat out this inaugural show have already signed up for next year’s expo. That’s a good sign. The new trade show was a success, and there’s heavy optimism that it’ll have a great future.
I'm definitely a long time car guy. My love of "all-thingsautomotive" dates back to the early 1960s, shortly after I said the word, "car" for the first time. I feel fortunate that I was able to grow up in the Muscle Car era of the late '60s and early '70s. I immersed myself in reading magazines, and learned everything I could about high-performance from that period, and knew that one day I would work in the performance industry in some way, shape or form. Since graduating from the University of Pittsburgh (with a Bachelors degree in Communications) in 1985, my professional career has included work in network radio and television, Internet/online media, Ford Service, BMW Service, Internet/online automotive data, and my current job; Senior Technical Editor of 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords magazine. The constant in my long career has been "cars;" specifically, 1986-to-present, V-8-powered, Ford Mustangs. I have learned a lot about late-model Mustangs (and I'm still learning), and the position I now hold allows me to share the knowledge I've gained with like-minded Mustang enthusiasts all over the world. Owning, building, modifying and writing about late-model Mustangs has become a true passion for me. A great stop, on a very wild life ride.
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