The USAC World Finals 2001 held in Kansas City was a huge success in every way. The level of competition was fierce as a record number of participants in almost all categories came together to battle it out for top honors in their respective classes. A total of 473 vehicles entered in the sound competition and 178 were entered in the car and bike show.
The spectator attendance was also up by well over a thousand over the record breaking crowds that attended last year. With rap star Coolio performing at the event more outside spectators that might have missed out got a chance to check out the latest gear for booming their favorite tunes. The only class that showed a slight decline in the number of competitors from last year's event was the sound quality class. The SPL category displayed an astoundingly high number of entrants (more than made up for the slight decline in the SQ category). What's going on with sound quality? Where did it go?
The president of USACI, Ralph Randall, stated that this was by far the largest show they've ever done, and despite the large increase in competitors and spectators alike, everything went without a hitch from a logistical point of view. He said, "Usually at the end of the World Finals I feel beaten down, abused and destroyed; it just takes an enormous amount of work. But this year was relatively easy. The show just went off very smoothly."
Every exhibitor questioned felt very pleased with attendance of both the competitors and consumers. Falken Tire, a USACI sponsor for the 2000 season was also extremely positive about the outcome of this event and the idea of future events. "We're very satisfied with the show and with our relationship with USACI," said Jim Stobie, Falken's enthusiast marketing manager."Our relationship with USACI creates huge brand awareness. It's a real image builder for us." Randall recently tied up a deal with Kansas City's Bartle Hall to extend the show's space for next year's event by 60,000 square feet. The added space will open the door to more exhibitors and add more indoor parking for competitors and their rigs. Just enough room to fit those new sound quality enthusiasts that we hope will blossom over the next season.