OFF
ROAD EXPO
October 5-6, 2002, Fairplex Pomona, CA
The fairgrounds
located in the beautiful rolling hills of Pomona, California attract
people from all over the state for the various events it hosts
during the year, but if you were in the area on October 5th or
6th you'd undoubtedly know an off -road show was in town. Pulling
into the local McDonald's for a quick bite to eat before the show
had me surrounded by a veritable convoy of very lifted full-size
trucks, as well as pre-runner style race trucks. While the majority
of the draw for this expo is of the sand and race sports crowd,
there was definitely a substantial increase in the rockcrawlers
representation this year over last year's show.
With most
major off-road companies having some identity present, competition
was clearly in the air as this year the displays got bigger and
the equipment got wilder. Exhibitors from far-reaching locations
such as Africa were present showing off their wares. And when
it comes to the Aussie's and the African's terrain, gear suited
towards two and three week long trips seems to be the standard.
Take, for example, these back-country trailer systems.
Rancho was showing off their new H2 suspension.
Here we see
Ron Schneider, one of the C.R.C.A. competitors, from Off Road
General Store. Although he had an upset and didn't take the gold
back in February, he will be out on the course again this October
18th and 19th at the Wooden Nickel Ranch proving his mettle.
As you can
imagine, an event as large as this can get pretty crowded but
they couldn't have picked a better location. Located right next
to an NHRA museum, visitors could get a little break if they were
a bit overwhelmed by the immense amount of off-road toys. The
ample parking was a breeze to handle and there was even a shuttle
to take you from the parking area to the show - just like Disneyland.
Events like
this Off Road Expo are a great place for both the large companies
to show off their new products and for the emerging companies
to try to break in by marketing their ideas to the same audience.
The Off Road Expo has basicallly become the consumer version of
the SEMA show.
I'll look
forward to seeing you there next year!
Check
Out More Photos in the GALLERIES
GALLERY
1
GALLERY 2
|
Tony
Bothwell is a photojournalist for ROCKCRAWLER.com and resides
in Los Angeles, California.
Contact Tony at tonyb@rockcrawler.com
|