Off Road Expo 2005

By JH "DezertScorpion"

The Off Road Expo is always an event Off-Road Enthusiast look forward to each and every year. This year marked the 5 th year of continued success for the nations largest Off-Road consumer show. Toyota Trucks partnered up with the Off Road Expo this year to bring the best of Off-Road.

The Yamaha Rhino was the hot toy this year. There were some long-travel Rhinos and some highly modified performance Rhinos as well.

There were many old faces, and some new at this year's show. Among them was the Off Road Group from Advanstar, which has now acquired the Off Road Expo. They were there making sure that the show went smooth?and it did. Plenty of vendors and exhibiting manufacturers were on site all three days to answer and help customers with their Off-Road needs.

Jessi Combs from Xtreme 4x4 honored us with her presence at the Off Road Expo.

While cruising around the show, I ran into Jessi Combs from Xtreme 4x4. She was doing the same thing us Off-Roaders were doing?checking out what's new, catching up with old friends, and making some new ones. Jessi, if you happen to be reading this...I love your show and those killer rigs you build.

Here is Total Chaos Nicole with a SMILE. Why is she smiling you ask? Well, check out their new Toyota long-travel kit. You'd be smiling too.

The first booth I stopped at was the Donahoe Racing booth. They had everything from their full size Super Duty to the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 Stock Mini Champion on display. The new Donahoe Racing kit for the 2005-06 Tacoma is one you don't want to miss. It's the same technology that was used in their SCORE Baja 1000 Championship truck.

NCD had one of the best looking long-travel kits for the Nissan Titan

NCD Customs, a new company to the show, had one of the best looking long-travel kits for the Nissan Titan. This impressive kit raises the truck 5", allows for 37" x 12.50" tires, and increases wheel travel to a whopping 16". The vehicle track also is increased to 8" over stock. The front and rear were sporting a set of King Racing Shocks. Let's just say the truck looks "Bad Ass". Gary mentioned that the truck works as well as it looks. We'll have to get with Gary later and take this bad boy on a test ride.

Racewerks showcasing their Wired Whips.

Michael Chasmar from Racewerks was also at the show with their new Wired Whips. Michael explained that these whips have no moving parts, no bulbs to maintain, and are very easy to install. It's like having a big glow stick on your ATV, Jeep, or Sandcar. These Wired Whips from Racewerks come in six neon colors: red, blue, yellow, orange, green, and purple. I'm sure we will be seeing many of these out at the desert this season. Looks like another way to have fun and be safe.

Ivan "Ironman" Stewart hard at work signing autographs for the fans. Hey isn't that the Magnaflow Girl next to him? Zoom-Zoom!

It amazes me how much this show has grown. I was happy to see that it got support from big companies like Toyota Motor Company. Toyota has a long heritage of Off-Road involvement, dating back to the FJ40 Land Cruiser days, clear to Ivan Stewart's SCORE Racing Championships. Most recently we have seen a growth in the Pre-Runner MDR 1450 class, which is being heavily fueled by people like Dan Vance and his Total Chaos/ESB Fabrications Toyota truck. Many people have embraced Toyota as one of the most durable 4WD and Off-Road vehicles on the road today.

Nice Pre-Runner from ESB Fabrications.

One area that undoubtedly showed some growth at the show this year was the min-truck racing market (aka Pre-Runners). This group sees most of their racing at the MDR Races, but can also be seen at the local dirt track or deserts taking some death defying jumps. Some of the companies at the show tailoring to this market were Total Chaos, Camburg, Giant Motorsports, and ESB Fabrications. All these companies saw a fair amount of business. They also had a presence at the show with numerous trucks running their race bread suspension kits. I really enjoy seeing the evolution of the Pre-Runners. Some of the most exciting racing comes from these grassroots racers. Many have said that they are the future of Off-Road racing.

The U.S. Army called and says they want their secret weapon back

Running around the show I met with numerous people that were already talking about the Baja 1000 in November. We too at Off-Road.com can't wait for this yearly motorsports mayhem. Teams like Pflueger Racing, Fabtech Motorsports, Terrible Herbst, and others were at the Off Road Expo with their Trophy Trucks ready to rock next month.

CORR Racing had a strong presence at the Off Road Expo.

The excitement of Off-Road racing was definitely in the air. I also notice more CORR Racing trucks at the show this year. This would probably have to do with the introduction of CORR Racing in the West. I'm glad that this series has been well received, and hope we continue to see it grow.

This year Bilstein Shock Absorbers had not one, but four 9300 Series "Black Hawks" on display. These high end racing shocks have taken the Off-Road industry by storm, and are popping up on some very visible race cars?like the All German Motorsports Class 1 driven by SCORE Champion Martin Christensen. Keep your eyes on the lookout for Martin as he attempts to claim the Class 1 SCORE Baja 1000 championship on Bilstein 9300 Series "Black Hawks".

Jeremy and Mike from CEN Racing show us some of their Nitro R/Cs, including their all-new NEMESIS 7.7 and their popular GENESIS 46.

Now who said grown-ups can't have a little fun at the Off Road Expo? I was able to meet some of the R/C Car and Truck operators that had the crowd in Ahh. They made their Nitro R/Cs fly into the air, do wheelies, and donuts on the dirt course set up outside. This really looked like fun. On site were some R/C dealers ready to help people like me become a part of the action. More and more I'm starting to see people bring R/Cs on their desert trips, and to the pits at the races. It's a great way to have a little fun during down time. The guys from CEN Racing showed us their all-new NEMESIS 7.7 Nitro R/C. This awesome 4WD truck is ready to race and be driven "pedal to the metal". I was amazed to find out that these Off-Road R/Cs can reach speeds of over 45mph. Now that's a toy I must add to my desert toy arsenal.

The "Weather Man"?PCI Radio launched the new Comlink10 at the show. This unit features auto volume control with driver isolation. This unit also automatically increases or decreases volume to compensate for engine noise.

I can't stress enough how great the Off Road Expo was this year. Many of you were fortunate enough to make it. Others either had to work all weekend, or had way too many honey-dos. Well fellows Off-Roaders, here are some additional photos that may help tell the story of what we found at the greatest Off-Road show. Make sure to check out the Off Road Expo Photo Gallery.

Bonzen Productions released their new Off-Road film "Revalved" at the Off Road Expo.	DirtSports was in full force at the Off Road Expo.

Until next year, this is your friend JH "DezertScorpion" signing out?see you in the Dezert.