High Lifter Mud Nationals

| April 1, 2011

mud national utvBy Joey D, www.UTVUnderground.com

We survived the 2011 High Lifter Mud Nationals! Jon Crowley of UTVGuide.net, Troy Merrifield of UTV Off-Road Magazine, and I left the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series in Phoenix, AZ last Sunday and embarked on our mission in Jon’s motor home for Jacksonville, TX. After a day and a half of driving and 2 nights of sleeping in Walmart parking lots we finally reached Mud Creek ATV Park in Jacksonville, TX where for the next 5 days we would partake in the madness otherwise known as the High Lifter Mud Nationals.

mud nationals can amBeing from California “muddin'” is something from another world but its a riding style that for the last year has intrigued me. It intrigued me enough that when Jon Crowley asked me back in early January if I wanted to partner up and cover the event without hesitation I said “YES”. Fast forward a couple months and with help from our coverage sponsors Bennche, Gorilla-Axle, Brazos Cycles, Pro Armor, and SSV Works we were on our way! Thankfully we were all dialed in with a selection of Bennche UTV’s when we arrived so we didn’t need to have our own UTV’s in tow with us on our 3000 mile + adventure.

mud nationals polaris rzrOn Wednesday we would hook up with Johnny Tai of Bennche and take possession of the Bighorn 700X Crew which for the next few days would be our mode of transportation around Mud Creek ATV Park.

Now that we had our wheels we wasted no time exploring the park. Luckily Troy had been here before so only 2 of the 3 of us were truly rookies. Troy knew exactly where the party would be happening and to get there we would head strait down the “high line road” to the infamous “Sand Pit”!   For those of you unfamiliar with Mud Creek, going to the Sand Pit is like going to Oldsmobile hill in Glamis. Its the spot where you go to show off, party, people watch, and flat out have a good mud nationalstime. I quickly learned that these off roaders know how to party and they have some seriously creative means of doing so.

By 4pm on Wednesday UTV’s and ATV’s were blasting across the Sand Pit which is more like a large pond than a pit. This mud hole is where the locals go to show off their machines ability to traverse deep water and test their driving and riding skills amongst one another in a setting that words cannot describe. As I sat back and watched I kept thinking to myself that there would be a cold day in hell before I took my UTV hood deep in a water hole. But I quickly learned that these guys would probably say the same thing about us when we take our UTV off a 20ft jump in the dunes. While we have mud nationals texassand dunes and deserts that we build our vehicles to play in they have mud holes, rivers, and trails to build theirs for. We tend to lean towards things that make high speed running smoother and more stable, they do things that make their machines have higher ground clearance and not suck in water. Its a different style of riding then I am used to one but its a style that after a while you begin to enjoy watching and yearn to try.

After a couple of nights spent enjoying ourselves at the Sand Pit watching the Mud Nationals attendees exploit their muddin’ and drinking skills the official High Lifter events would kick off and we would be right there to capture all mud nationals texas polaristhe action. The Mud Nationals is a multi faceted event put on by High Lifter. High Lifter organizes this event once a year at Mud Creek to bring together the industries top vendors and manufacturers in one place in front of over 14,000 enthusiasts to sell and showcase products. Top UTV/ATV manufacturers Polaris, Arctic Cat, Can-Am, and Yamaha were on hand with other companies Gorrila-Axle, Brazos Cycles, and Bennche. In addition to the vendor showcase is also the organized competitive events including different forms of Mud Racing, Show & Shine and Stereo System sound off competitions. By far my favorite events of the week were the Sound System competition which was sponsored by SSV Works for UTVUnderground and UTVGuide, and the Mudd-A-Cross mud nationals texas can-amracing event where we were able to watch the first UTVUnderground Mud Racing Team Driver Mark Wise compete in his “Gorrilla-Axle powered by Can-Am” Can-Am Commander.

While there is more information that I could continue to express in words it inevitably is a waste of time, for this is an event that words just cant describe. It is an event that one must experience to grasp and is an event that is as unique as its UTV’s. While I am glad to be out from under the dust and mud I know it will only be a short time before I start to get that urge to get back into the sticks and hang with the good people of the south. Its a world away form Southern California mud nationalsbut its a world I am thankful to have been able to experience and visit. I have visions of my own lifted, sound system packing UTV now. Only time will tell if these visions will come to fruition.

There are lots of pictures and videos:  AVAILABLE HERE
Bennche UTVs, ATVs, LSVs & Motorcycles

Arctic Cat Service, Gulf Coast Arctic Cat, Ft. Bend Arctic Cat Sales , Houston Arctic Cat Dealer Brazos Cycles & ATVs Richmond, TX (281) 342-1806 Brazos Cycles, UTVUG/UTVGuide.net 2011 Mud Nationals Coverage Sponsors

PRO ARMOR | ATV ACCESSORIES | UTV ACCESSORIES | UTV PARTS | SIDE BY SIDE ACCESSORIES | RZR DOORS | UTV DOORS

Gorilla Axle

SSV Works – Side by Side Vehicle Specialists

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