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2007 High Lifter
ATV Mud Nationals
Mud Creek Off-Road Park
March 28 - April 1, 2007
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HighLifter ATV Mud Nationals
- Continued
On Friday, the event really started to heat up with several
competition on the schedule with the Team Gorilla Endurance
Race kicking off the competitions in the Power line mud
pits with teams of riders trying to make their way through
the nearly mile long mud course in the quickest amount
of time with the top three teams awarded prizes. There
were thousands of people lining the banks of the mud pit
watching the action as pairs of riders did their best
to complete the course with many left broke down before
even making it to the finish line, but they surely were
having a blast regardless.
Next on the schedule was the Akraix Freestyle Team
Exhibition, which attracted another enormous crowd of
spectators as the Akraix crew busted out some insane
tricks with Ben Bettis, Caleb Moore, and Steve Weissinger
flying high above the crowd with Derek Guetter at the
microphone. Derek would have been performing himself,
but he was recovering from a collarbone injury, which
had him sidelined for the weekend. As an added bonus,
Akraix was also filming the show for the “Fallout
III”, and in the spirit of the event, Ben Bettis
pulled off a double grab for the first time in his career
with no better place to do it than in front of a few
thousand ATV addicts. Also, Caleb and Ben trained each
other over the ramp swinging their boots together in
mid flight, which had the crowd going wild. The show
was a huge success and a great break from all the mud.
The Maxxis Mudda-Cross Competition wrapped up Friday’s
competition under the lights with extreme mud machines
battling around oval shaped course filled with water
that had varying depths along the bottom. The depth
of the water varied from just about 1 foot to nearly
4 feet deep, which swallowed up the ATVs and UTVs as
they raced around the oval track. These machines were
far from stock with monster tires, lift kits, and snorkels,
but despite all the modification many still were taking
on water and stopping in their tracks.
Saturday Marked the final day for competition with
the highly anticipated SuperTrapp Mud bog running through
out the day with five riders per heat drag racing across
a mud pit approximately one yards long with the first
one to the other end moving on to the next round. It
was a start forward drag race as the deep water was
littered with obstacles to challenge the racers as they
crossed to the other side, so line choice and experience
was critical to making it to the finish line first with
several thousand dollar purse up for grabs.
The few days at the event felt like a week with all
the different festivities, and I left the event making
plans for my return in 2008 because it was a blast to
experience. The only thing that was missing from the
event was the lack of helmets as many of the riders
feel that helmets are not necessary equipment, but one
false move with a 500+ pound machine could spell disaster
at any speed, so hopefully High Lifter will consider
enforcing helmets at future events like they do for
competitions. Regardless, if you don’t mind getting
dirty, this is must attend event for any ATV enthusiast.
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