The Badlands Ultimate Motorsports Championship!

If you missed out on the Ultimate Motorsports Championship Event and town festival you should really be upset. Below you will see some pics of what was going on and watch out for future videos showing the action as it takes place!

This is just a taste of some of the action from the Ultimate Motorsports Championship. Stay updated with videos and more pics by checking the website.

W.E.ROCK's Coverage of UMC!

Eastern Event #3 – Badlands UMC Event

Written by Charlene  //  July 23, 2011 

W.E. Rock East Round 3 was at Badlands Off Road Park in Attica, Indiana over a hot and humid July weekend.  The WERock event was part of the new Ultimate Motorsports Championship which added lots of new people to the crowds watching the rock crawlers of the East compete for cash prizes and season points.

Friday night kicked off the event in downtown Attica with live bands, fresh BBQ, kid games and lots of offroad vehicles getting ready to compete at WERock or race at the TREC race.  Thousands of people came to town to gather and see the excitement and bear the hot sun and humidity.  “This is the first time we have had an event like this Downtown,” said Kyle Knosp, UMC event promoter.  “Everyone is really excited about how well it went, and are looking forward to doing it again next year.”

Saturday morning the sun rose and the humidity was thick.  The largest group of competitors so far this year gathered around for the final word on the courses and sweat was already dripping.  The courses were set, judges were ready, and the competition started without a hitch.

Eleven rigs entered into the Pro Modified class left a lot of opportunity for points to play a big role.  Each course would have to be done perfectly.  Kenny Blume started off the day with a hard roll on a vertical climb, which Shelby Gilstrap then made, but pointed out after having lots of mechanical problems all day.  By the end of Saturday it was Derek West and Ritchie Keller taking the lead with -41 points.  Not far behind was Danny Rohrer in the Wombat rig at -34 points, Mike Thompson was sitting in third with -11, and two points behind in fourth with a -9 was Rusty Bray.

The Unlimited Class was amazing. Bill and Chicky Barton got some competition when Jesse Haines made the trip out from the West Coast to compete in his Pro Mod car that had rear steer, and Mike Hullfish brought out his unlimited car for WERock and his JeepSpeed to race at night in the TREC Race.  At the end of the night they were all within one point of each other, Jesse Haines leading the pack with Bill Barton and Mike Hullfish just behind.

Modified Stock class had five competitors with one of the courses seemingly impassible for four of the teams, the days leader Mike Smith took a zero on the course and a 40 for the day.  In second was Duane Garretson and third Kelly Young.

The Stock Sportsman Class has been the biggest hit of the year allowing the local competitors to join in on all the action.  Six rigs came out to give it their best shot and leaving Saturday night Daryl Mattingly and Jon Terhune were sitting pretty with a -1.  Second place Steve Thornton was 41 points behind and Chris Smith had 74 points.

Sunday morning welcomed the addition of the SPEED Channel “Lucas Oil on the Edge” crew to the sidelines to video the excitement.  With a scheduled later start, the teams had a little more time to gather and get ready for the days competition.  What wasn’t in the plan was the big black clouds that hovered and dumped rain for over an hour at the quarry of the Badlands Offroad Park.

The rain added a level of difficulty to some of the obstacles that were doable dry, and absolutely difficult wet.  But thankfully, it cooled off the scorching heat, and really didn’t add too much more humidity to the factor.

The hardest roll of the weekend award certainly goes to Josh Crowe in the Black Crowe Motorsports rig.  Rolling at speed from the top to the bottom caused quite a bit of damage, and put him on the trailer immediately following.  But he wasn’t the only one challenged with keeping the rubber side down; Kenny Blume rolled multiple times, and Rusty Bray and Derek West both showed their shiny sides.

With a consistent weekend and excellent show in the shootout Danny Rohrer and Chad Rolfert came out the winner in the Wombat rig.  Rusty Bray took second, Mike Thompson third and Justin Lawson took fourth for the weekend. Kenny Blume rolled during the shootout, got back on all four wheels and continued the run for a -21 and a 5^th place overall finish. Derek West rolled in the shootout, taking a 39 and falling to 6^th place.

The Unlimited Class battle went all the way to the Shootout.  Neck and neck on each course slowly put Bill and Chicky Barton ahead of Jesse Haines as they approached the final shootout.  Each scoring the same points in the shootout put the final results with Bill and Chicky Barton on the podium with Jesse Haines in second and Mike Hullfish in third.

In a miracle comeback in the Modified Stock Class, Bryan Cooper and Scott Angell went from last place to first place!  With some excellent runs and low scores, the team jumped ahead of the pack.  Duane Garretson maintained his second position, and Mike Smith dropped to third.

With more fun and excitement in the rocks for the Sportsman class, Daryl Mattingly and Jon Terhune took the win, but not too far behind was Steve Thornton.

The weekend was an all around success with lots of new people introduced to the sport of competitive rock crawling in the Indiana area.  “This was a great rock crawling site and we were really glad to be apart of the bigger event that was going on,” said WERock promoter Rich Klein. “We are looking forward to putting this date back on the calendar for next year!”

TOUGH MUDDER AT THE BADLANDS

        TOUGH MUDDER COMING TO THE BADLANDS!

Tough Mudder (http://toughmudder.com/) is probably the craziest thing you have ever seen which means that to compete in the Tough Mudder means you have to be clinically insane! Well, I guess Attica Indiana better get ready for over 25,000 insane people to show up at the Badlands on Nov. 19th and the 20th. The organization has actually reserved the park, not a section, the whole park to hold their Tough Mudder Indiana Event.

This is what they have to say about their event.


"Tough Mudder is not your average lame-ass mud run or spirit-crushing 'endurance' road race.  It's a grueling 10-mile obstacle course event designed by British Special Forces to test all-around strength, stamina, teamwork, and mental grit.  Forget finish times.  Simply completing a Tough Mudder is a badge of honor."

If you think your in the physical shape to complete this course you can register here. Or if your more like me and couldn't last 10 minutes then you can come out and watch everybody else killing themselves and hang out to enjoy the "KICK ASS POST PARTY" by buying a spectators pass.


Needless to say the park will be closed both days for public riding to make room for all the crazies!

PAINTBALL at BADLANDS!

August 27th the Badlands Off Road Park will be hosting its first of hopefully many paintball matches. With the help of Saltfork Paintball out of Illinois customers will be able to rent everything they need to play all day for $35 or if they have their own equipment they pay $10 admission. Extra ammunition will be available onsite for those players with itchy trigger fingers. 

If the turn out is large enough you can bet on Paintball becoming a regular at the Badlands so make sure you come out and support it!

Veterans Day Special

All veterans will be given free admittance on this special day. Please present your military ID when checking in.

Motocross track open on select weekends.

The Badlands Motocross track will now be open on select weekends so we may better serve our AMA Racers by having the ability to groom the track in a more efficient manner. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause but it will provide riders with an even better track to ride on during the select weekends its open. Keep an eye on the site updates for dates of track openings.

Cabe Sipes from Pimp My Ride is the new Marketing Director at Badlands!

Cabe Sipes (formerly of OLN's Rock the Boat and MTV's Pimp My Ride) has joined the Badlands team as the Marketing Director of all on site events. You can read the press release below:

Badlands Off Road Park’s push to become the nation’s No. 1 recreational off-roading course just shifted into overdrive. Cabe Sipes, celebrity auto customizer from MTV’s “Pimp My Ride” and 15-year veteran of the automotive industry, is the new driving force powering Badlands’ media and community relations.

As Marketing Director, Sipes’s extensive TV and special-event experience and  volumes of auto knowledge will bring the Attica, Indiana-based 800-acre facility instant authority and recognition – and with Badlands’ sprawling terrain and broad appeal, he feels he’ll have no problem getting the word out to would-be off-roaders from coast to coast.

                                                               

“The best part of Badlands is its diversity,” Sipes said. “You can bring in anything from a dirt bike to a Hummer and have an experience like nowhere else in the Midwest. We have sand dunes like out West, rocks like the East Coast, mud like down South – any road type an adventurous rider could want to challenge.”

Sipes is geared up to promote Badlands’ action-packed calendar year: The park hosts national rock-crawling and rock-racing events, plus races for Real Truck Challenge and Trail Racing Endurance Circuit (TREC). Badlands also hosts vehicle launches for many manufactures in the auto, ATV and dirt-bike industries.

In particular, hosting the Ultimate Motorsports Championship each summer is the pride of Badlands. Working with Mayor Robert Shepherd, on July 22 Badlands will host a city-wide festival the day before the event along the town’s closed-off main street, providing fireworks, live music and food venders for the spectators, racers and sponsors in attendance.

Badlands has been the subject of glowing pieces featured on ESPN and the Outdoor Channel, along with gorgeous spreads in trade magazines such as Four Wheeler, 4Wheel Drive & Sport Utility, JP Magazine, and ATV Illustrated. With its high-profile coverage, even before Sipes joined the team the park was no stranger to well-known personalities.

“We’ve had a lot of famous people come to the park but we don’t keep track of them. That’s part of the reason they enjoy coming here – we treat them just like everyone else,” Sipes explained. “That’s the beauty of Badlands. It appeals to everyone, from wealthy executives seeking a weekend escape to families looking for a safe, fun day in the sun.”

Sipes’s passion for creative thinking, mass communication and good times fits perfectly with Badlands’ philosophy of delivering trailblazing thrills to the everyday driver.

“The off-road community is always looking for new ways to have fun, and I’ll make sure Badlands continues on that road to greatness,” he said.

Badlands Off Road Park has a 14-year history of being one of the country’s best outlets for recreational riding. Open 363 days per year, Badlands’ extensive off-road trails serve four-wheel drive, motorcycle and ATV enthusiasts around the U.S. The 800-acre site offers unparalleled terrain, with sand dunes, gravel hills, bottomless mud, woods trails, rock crawling, shear drop-offs, and hood-deep water. Badlands was founded with the goal of providing a fun, safe, professional off-roading experience to everyone willing to strap on a helmet.