2019 Lucas Oil Off-Road Expo: Where the Off-Road Nation Unites
Off-roading brothers and sisters, gather round. Our time is now. And if you need any proof of that, look no further than the resounding success of this past weekend’s 2019 Lucas Oil Off-Road Expo in Pomona, California.
Sure, there are pessimists who might try to tell you that our peak season is currently winding down. That the days are getting frighteningly short. And that before you know it, a thick coat of ice and slush will blanket our favorite summertime trails for the next six months.
With SEMA—the crown jewel of the automotive aftermarket’s calendar—right around the corner, late September is the time for all the true devotees of the four-wheeling sciences to come together, share stories, ideas and amazing products, plus some tales of secret routes and historic trails. And there was no better place to get ready for Las Vegas and another SEMA full of innovation than Pomona, California, and the 2019 Off-Road Expo.
In fact, many brands—both big and small—use this event as a test-run of sorts for SEMA, explains our friend Cody Sisson, who was at the Expo with his co-hosts of The TrailChasers Podcast, at the Nexen Tire booth. “This is their consumer market,” says Sisson. “So these companies will do a set up, they’ll take some time to talk to the people that are there and see what works and what doesn’t, and make the final tweaks before the SEMA show.”
That means, whether you were lucky enough to spend the weekend in sunny California or (like some of us) you’re reading about it on a dreary Monday afternoon somewhere decidedly colder, either way the 2019 Off-Road Expo was an exciting sneak peek at what’s cooking in manufacturer’s heads for the upcoming SEMA show.
Let’s take a peek…
2019 Off-Road Expo
The 2019 Lucas Oil Off-Road Expo Powered by General Tire was another successful installment in an annual series of gatherings that, effectively, serves as a de facto State Of The Union Address for the automotive aftermarket community. On September 28 and 29, the Pomona Fairplex played host to a massive collection of vehicles, personalities, and events that appeal to virtually every corner of the vehicular universe.
The Expo clearly knows its own worth to the community, with the event’s organizers describing it as, “truly the greatest collection of off-road companies, parts, equipment, gear, action and experts ever assembled in America.” Ever. Assembled. In America. Sheesh. “Ever” can be a mighty long time, when you think about it. But taking a look back at the off-road weekend held for thousands of hardcore fans and hundreds of exhibitors in sunny California, it really does turn out to be an assertion that’s pretty hard to argue with.
Where to begin? How about the hundreds of world-class companies in attendance? Truly, EVERYONE you can think of that has any connection to the off-road aftermarket was there, greeting the public and showcasing exciting new products.
A Who’s Who of Off-Road Enthusiasm
Of course, the General Tire ladies were in attendance, with some insane rigs (the F-150 Prerunner caught plenty of attention), giving away free swag, including four sets of free tires. Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing gave away a free ride-along in a Pro 2 race truck. And a bevy of the most popular LOORRS racers on the circuit were available to take pictures with fans and sign autographs. From the Pro 2 series, Ricky Gutierrez, Daely Pentico, and Cory Winner were all in attendance, and 14-year old trophy truck racer, Jax Redline, came to debut the new Pro Lite truck.
Fans of the Buggy and Kart races didn’t leave disappointed, either, with up-and-coming names like Trevor Briska and Rhyan Denny engaging the crowds. Too many other huge names in the industry, like Nitto Tire, O’Reilly Auto Parts (Showcasing their Show-N-Shine contest winners), Rubicon Express, MagnaFlow, GRID Off Road, Fabtech, Yokohama, and many more filled the booths, hosted events, and collectively offered the vastest selection of gear and companies that can be found pretty much anywhere.
“I probably have eight hours of audio to start coming through,” laughs Sisson. But one exciting aftermarket development that stood out to him, was spending some time with John Currie, whose brand RockJock recently separated from the parent company Currie Enterprises. “So Currie Enterprises will be the drivetrains—the axles—and RockJock will be its own suspension entity,” explains Sisson. “And I’m really excited to see how the brand thrives on its own, what RockJock has planned for the future. I think that will be interesting to watch.”
Another fun interview Sisson nabbed at the Expo? Motocross-champion-turned-off-road-racer and all-around bad ass, Sara Price. “Her co-driver, Erica Sacks was on our show recently giving navigating tips,” says Sisson. “I saw Sara walking past our booth and reached out and she was super gracious and sat down with us. So, we’ll definitely be playing the interview on our podcast.” (Listen here!)
Bigger & Better Every Year
Of course, the selection of brand names and products at the 2019 Off-Road Expo was amazing. But the weekend at Pomona is no garden-variety trade show. Live DJs all weekend kept the gathering lively. Countless eye-catching rigs and cutting-edge builds were on display all over the grounds, from gorgeous old off-roaders of yesteryear (did you SEE that old International?) to the hottest add-ons for the brand-new Jeep Gladiator, and plenty in between.
“It really felt like a bigger, more active crowd this year,” says Sisson. “My favorite part—we had given our listeners a secret word to use. So, if they came up to our booth and yelled out the word ‘Omaha’ [a la Peyton Manning] we would give them a free shirt. We just had people walking past us and screaming ‘Omaha!’ Other people were trying to figure out what it meant—shirts were flying. It was so much fun,” he adds, laughing.
The 2019 Off-Road Expo certainly did not lack live, in-person driving and racing excitement, either. The MAVTV proving grounds served as the scene for all sorts of action. The teams from LOORRS used the dirt track to put on demos in the Pro 2, Pro Lite, Kart, and even Buggy classes, with drivers available to the crowd afterward. Terra Crew’s purpose-built off-road trucks and buggies also used the proving grounds all weekend to put on a show on the closed-circuit course, as did the expert drivers from Dirt Alliance and their ready-for-anything trucks.
Racing Excitement and Industry Releases
And that’s not all. In fact, it’s not even close. One of the only drawbacks of an event of this magnitude is that it’s virtually impossible to see everything. But trying to anyway is part of the fun. The good folks from SCORE released a book, ‘Racing Into History II,” to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Baja 500, and took center stage on Saturday. (And they brought some of the sport’s biggest names with them to help promote it.)
Racing icon Rob MacCachren, Cameron Steele, Wes Miller, and former SCORE CEO/President Sal Fish came to meet fans and sign autographs. And at a press conference later in the afternoon, SCORE unveiled the official course map for the 52nd Annual Baja 1000.
To close out the day on Saturday, the team from Shreddy had the privilege of judging the Miss Off-Road Expo contest on the expo’s main stage. (Still no word yet if the suits at the 2019 Off-Road Expo took the advice of some of the ladies in attendance and decided to add a MISTER Off-Road Expo for 2020, but we’ll definitely keep you posted.)
No matter what part of the off-roading world has your heart, what brand you swear by, or what tricky hard-to-find product you’ve wanted to see in person for months, if it wasn’t at the 2019 Off-Road Expo, odds are, you’re gonna have a hard time finding it. As always, it was an eclectic mix of excitement, showcasing all our different passions, and reminding us that we’re all just one big, weird, completely obsessed off-roading family. (And we wouldn’t have it any other way.)
Now, let’s bring on SEMA!
