Over the past few years off-roading has continued to grow, both as a sport/hobby, and as a viable business. In the face of mountains of senseless "PC" regulation aimed at eliminating people like us from the recreational landscape, we have continued to press on, and even thrive. No where was this more apparent than Guy Petersen's "Off-Road Expo 2000", held October 7th, 8th, and 9th at the motorsports Mecca known as the Pomona Fairplex.

Every since the demise of the "SCORE Show" several years ago, the off-road community has lacked a real replacement. While several people have held swap meets of considerable size, and events like the SCORE / BITD / Jeep Jamboree feature contingency rows for vendors, none have approached the sheer size of the old Mickey Thompson spectacle.

Until now.

Guy and Vicki Petersen were the driving force behind Off-Road Expo 2000. With the success seen during this years event, the 2001 show is shaping up to be a sight to behold.

In the works for over a year, the Off-Road Expo drew together vendors and consumers from the varied worlds of rock crawling, desert racing, sand sports and across the country. In total, a crowd estimated over 15,000 strong converged on the Fairplex, and simply couldn't get enough.

Said Petersen, "By all accounts, the event was a tremendous success. Although we had to compete with the Sand Sport show down in Costa Mesa, we exceeded our expectations on all fronts."

Although many felt that the two separate shows gave incentive for a wider audience to converge on SoCal over the weekend, Petersen took a different view.

"Overall, I think the coincident dates hurt both of us. Granted, we each saw some overlap, with both vendors and attendees, but we have already set different dates for the 2001 shows. We won't be running competing venues. Overall, I think everyone will ultimately benefit."

The first year effort saw a full 200 booths filled by vendors ranging from Tri-County Gear, to Lothringer Engineering. It wasn't uncommon to see dedicated desert rats checking out the latest hardware in use by their rock crawling brethren, and vice versa. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find an aspect of the outdoor community not represented at the Off-Road Expo. Diversity was the order of the day.

Stretched over 2 buildings, and the surrounding parking lots, the Expo brought out teams like Donahoe Racing Enterprises, (whose Class 1 "Diablo", and retail product line were on display), Terrible Herbst Motorsports, and Team Vortec. Also in attendance was Walker Evans Racing Enterprises, who've recently made the move to Competitive Rockcrawling..

As the doors opened, the lines outside were already long. Best estimates put ofer 15,000 people in attendance over the weekend, with over 200 booths to keep them occupied.

On display were a few pieces of memorabilia that recently appeared at Marty Fiolka's "Baja 1000 Tribute Night". Walker's old class 8 Dodge, and the ever-popular "Baja Boot" were amongst the main attractions in Building 2. With several seminars and autograph sessions by Walker, Larry Ragland and others, guests of the expo were treated to an experience far outside the norm for your typical off-road get together.

Just outside building 2, the camping / RV market saw product from Safari Trailers among others, whose rooftop, and pullout campers offered several forms of accommodation to rest weary bones after a day on the trail. No, the Expo wasn't just about hardcore off-road parts and vehicles. It was about all aspects of the sport we've come to love.

Perhaps the best example of that was the booth set up by CORVA. The California Off-Road vehicle Association was out in force, educating the crowds about responsible OHV usage, and the threats posed to the sport from extremist groups like the Sierra Club, SUWA, Center for Biological Diversity, and of course, the Democratic Party. Not content with the massive land grab that constituted S-21, and the various "Executive Ordered Wilderness Areas", The Democrats are hard at work stealing our rights with Presidential hopeful Al "Earth in the Balance" Gore leading the charge. It was good to see all the Bush/Cheney signs adorning both attendees and vendor booths. There's a growing, if overdue realization in the off-road community, that a sport with no place to enjoy it won't last for long.

CORVA was on hand encouraging the outdoor community to get out and vote. Off-Roaders have taken an increasingly political role since the Clinton-Gore administration began land closures across the country.

Master of Ceremonies, and world reknown sportscaster Bob Bower took microphone in hand and strolled the Fairplex, speaking with vendors, and helping them raffle off thousands of dollars worth of merchandise. Among the biggest raffles of the weekend, the Checkers Off-Road Racing Team offered up a 2000 Yamaha Banshee in a fundraising drive for their upcoming Baja 2000 race effort. With so many prizes up for grabs, there were more than a few winners before the doors closed on Sunday evening.

In Retrospect, Petersen learned a few lessons from his foray into off-road event promotion, and those lessons will be incorporated into the 2001 event. In the overall however, he's been getting a lot of positive feedback.

"Yea, there were a few things we could have done better", said Petersen, "But by and large, the event pretty much went off without a hitch. I'm hearing a couple basic things from people. First, those who didn't come (vendor and consumer alike) are kicking themselves for not coming! The other is from the vendors who wished they'd brought a lot more product to sell. None of us were really prepared for the turnout we got.. We won't be making that mistake again in the future."

There were more than a couple celeberties on hand, signing autographs, and talking with fans. Walker Evans (pictured) joined up with Larry Ragland and others to add a little extra to the product vendors wares, and vehicle displays.

While Petersen may be the man at the top, he's quick to credit the Off-Road Expo staff.

"I'd like to thank our show Manager Bill Markel, Director of Show Activities Doty Laemamelln, MC Bob Bower, Barry Greenberg, Public Relations, Art Severda, Safety Administrator, and Gretchen Herr, Event Services. I'd also like to thank everyone in the off-road community who came together to make the Expo happen."

A picture is worth a thousand words

If you're among those who missed out on Guy Petersen's Off-Road Expo spectacular, you'll have to be content with the pictures till next year rolls around. Fortunately for you, Off-Road.com shot a lot of'em!. Take a stroll through our photo galleries, drool over the high-tech hardware (go easy on "Miss Checker 2000" though guys!), and start saving up your aluminum cans for a trip to Pomona next year, when that wild and crazy Guy (sorry, couldn't resist ;-) does it all over again. Just expect it to be a lot bigger, a lot better, and one hell of a good time.