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Truck & Jeep Fest rolls into the Valley
Gallery
By Sean Barron
Close to 3,000 people attended a burnout contest and monster-truck racing.
CANFIELD — Adam Ferman’s weekend got off to a rocky start, but you would be hard pressed to hear him complain.
“This rock competition, you get a rush. It’s like playing chess: You have to think three or four moves ahead,” said Ferman, of Plymouth, Ind. He was referring to his participation in a Rock Crawl Fun Run obstacle course, one of many attractions at the second annual Truck Jeep Fest at the Canfield Fairgrounds. “I love that challenge.”
Ferman towed his 1997 Jeep Wrangler TJ from his home to the show Saturday and Sunday and won second place in the competition.
Drivers of specially designed vehicles undertaking the 40-yard-long Rock Crawl course navigated rocks of varying sizes and placements while staying between pairs of cones. Points were added when, for example, a driver backed up or struck a cone. The object was to finish with the fewest points in the shortest time.
Ferman, a video engineer with AT T, noted that he always wears a helmet at such competitions and that his Jeep is equipped with suspension seats and other safety features to absorb the shock and minimize injuries in case the vehicle rolls over.
The main purpose of the festival, sponsored by Compton, Calif.-based 4 Wheel Parts and Performance Center as well as 4 Wheel Drive Hardware of Columbiana, was to promote a series of family-oriented events and activities geared toward large-truck and Jeep enthusiasts, explained Jessica Hubley, an owner of Indianapolis-based Family Events, which produces several truck and Jeep shows each year.
This was one of eight events scheduled for this summer in Tennessee, New England and elsewhere, Hubley added.
Gail Millard’s ride may not have been quite as bumpy as Ferman’s, but it wasn’t exactly down to earth, either.
Millard, of Ashtabula, owns a Toyota minivan and wanted to see how her vehicle’s capabilities compared to those of a Toyota FJ Cruiser, so she drove a white Cruiser along another obstacle course equipped with a rock bed, a 35-degree tilt and a 9-foot-high hill with a sharp drop.
“It gives you a different feel of a vehicle,” said Millard, who came with her husband, Bart, and 6-year-old son, Zach.
The course also gave people an opportunity to sense what off-road driving is like and get them interested, noted Dennis Cook, a team manager with Toyota Trail Teams.
Also on hand were professional driving instructors who accompanied participants and provided safety tips related to driving off road, Cook said.
A few events may have given new meaning to the popular song “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” but that didn’t deter between 2,500 and 3,000 people from filling the grandstand to see, among other things, the burnout competition, mud bog and monster truck performances.
Plenty of smoke and noise filled the air during the burnout portion, in which wet steel plates were placed under vehicles’ rear tires with stops next to the front ones. Participants revved their engines while keeping the vehicles stationary; the amount of smoke and crowd response determined the winner.
Quick timing and getting in and out of a 6-foot-deep, 100-foot-long trench were the goals of those who subjected their truck or Jeep to the mud bog event, Hubley explained.
The audience also was treated to several monster trucks taking part in side-by-side drag racing through a separate course.
They competed in three rounds, she noted.
Among the other events at the truck and Jeep show were a Miss Truck & Jeep Fest contest, an awards ceremony and a tough- truck competition.
Entertainment was provided by Mirror Image, a local band.
Also on the grounds were vendors selling suspension kits, bumpers and numerous other items at discounted prices.
Roughly 1,000 trucks and Jeeps were in the show, Hubley said, adding that she expected about 15,000 people to have attended.