Al Lockett’s Reno Expo has been a fixture in March and another signal that spring is either here or not far away. This year the Lockett Reno Expo celebrates its 50th anniversary.
The Expo something for just about everybody as there are Boats, Recreation, Travel, Home and Garden as well as a Pet Show. In fact this year there was an enclosed display where people could feed live butterflies.
Every year Al Lockett’s Jeep is wrapped to announce his annual Reno Expo Show.
The area NVracingnews was most interested in was the Off-Road and Motorsports Expo. Several groups plus a Jeep touring company and Wild West Motorsports Park had displays.
Eric Pender, manger of Wild West was on hand Sunday and talked about this year’s schedule as well as a new event that was just set this past week.
“We’ve expanded a little bit and we’re going to grow some of the events we had last year,” he said. ‘The Motorcycle Hill Climb is also going to have an Endurocross and try and make it into a full two-day event. Lucas Oil is going to be two-days, Saturday and Sunday day races.
“On April 1st and 2nd we’re going to do a Customer Appreciation Day, open up the track to the public and that just came out in the works this last week so we’re going to announce it starting Monday the 20th.”
Eric Pender, manager of the Wild West Motorsports Park stands by the track’s booth.
Part of this new event on the 1st and 2nd is that 4 Wheel Parts is also going to their Customer Appreciation Day as well and there will be a vendor show, including some coming up from Los Angeles. Pender explained some of the local shops will be there so the public can see their rigs and maybe create some business for these enterprises.
Norcal Rock Racing and VORRA will be back in May and he added there is a potential some of the big Ultra 4 guys will be on hand for that event, which will probably be a regional for them.
“Jesse’s event, the National Super Crawls, is growing and growing every year. We’re actually going to build some new obstacles for 2017 to try and expand the venue a little bit,” he said. “We’re working on some other local stuff too and possibly a lantern festival and some outdoor music festivals and grow.”
The display had a rock crawler as well as a large screen TV showing videos from Ultra 4 events. For further information on the events this year the facility’s website is, www.wildwestmotorsportspark.com.
Another booth not far away was from the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame. Executive Administrator Barbara Rainey was on hand to answer any question about the hall. She also had a selection of t-shirts and other things that fans could purchase.
Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame booth.
The Hall of Fame’s website is, www.ormhof.org.
A little further away was a multi-car display from the Reno Region of the Sports Car Club of American (SCCA). The local region hosts solo events, where drivers compete against the clock as they negotiate the course.
Currently there is no schedule for this season as construction at the Stead Airport is having them look for a new venue to hold their events. But they did have some of the types of cars, including a vintage road racer and motorcycle people could view.
Another display was by 4-Wheel Parts from Sparks and toward the middle of the hall Jeff Hills from Spanish Springs had his drag boat on display, the one he’d driven to 150 mph through the liquid quarter mile.
One touring group with a booth is the Jeepers Jamboree that has events traveling the Rubicon Trails. They were advertising for the 65th anniversary Jeepers Jamboree as well as the 39th annual Jeep Jamboree so there are two different tours that can be selected.
For further information people are encouraged to check their website at, www.jeepersjambboree.com.
Another group represented is the Sierra Chapter of the North American XJ Association or NAXJA. They offer off-road wheeling opportunities for all skill levels, from beginners to the most extreme.
The group also has local meet and greets and promotes responsible off-road practices as well as trail etiquette. And they have an annual Reno Run on Memorial Day weekend as well as an August Sierra fest on the Rubicon Trail, Deer Valley/Slick Rock.
The groups website is, www.naxja.org.
Several of the groups have a duel purpose; recreation and are advocates for preserving access to public lands.
One of the groups is Hills Angels. It’s a relaxed group that has no dues but offers a lot of information and they try to make sure not to damage the environment.
At the show Sam Schlange explained more about the club.
“We do a lot of things, we do local 4X4 runs, recovery, do a lot of trail maintenance, clean up off-road as well as in town and a lot of local volunteer work,” he said.
He added that several of the members are involved and there were at the Nevada Four Wheel Drive Association’s meeting. The club tries to monitor land use issues and help as much as they can.
Those wishing further information on Hills Angels 4X4 Club should check their website at, www.hillsangels4X4.com.
The next booth over belonged to the Nevada Four Wheel Drive Association.
Asked about the group Ted Hussy said. “We’re not really a club but an association of clubs and individual members and we’re basically out there fighting to keep our lands open. We have a couple of guys that are constantly going to meetings like with BLM, state agencies and stuff like that. And just putting our word out so we don’t get into the habit California has gotten into so every time you turn around it’s closed off.”
Nevada Four Wheel Drive Association’s booth.
He added that about 50% of the areas he used to go into when growing up over there are closed off now. Hussy appreciated the amount of open spaces one can access here in Nevada for various types of recreation.
On Saturday Larry Caukins, a past president of Nevada Four Wheel Drive Association, along with his wife chaired a meeting where many issues were discussed.
One topic was the Washoe County Lands Bill that most people haven’t heard about. That bill would have involved areas where the urban interface is and several agencies were involved including cities, BLM and school agencies.
Apparently there were some problems as, according to Caukins, Friends of Nevada Wilderness were asking for another 4 million acres to be added to the 75 wilderness areas the states already has. In those areas mechanized uses are prohibited and that includes bicycles.
After explaining what the requirements were the Washoe County Commission dropped the Wilderness part of the bill. One problem is funding the people needed to manage these lands.
Another issue the Association and other groups are working on is the expansion of ranges east of the Fallon Naval Air Station. This is due to the altitude some ordinance needs to be dropped from and the area needed for safety.
That is still being worked on but there is an alternative so roads that would have been closed won’t have to be.
For further information about the Nevada Four Wheel Drive Association please check their website at, www.n4wda.org.
Close by was the Blue Ribbon Coalition booth manned on Sunday by John Stewart.
“The Blue Ribbon Coalition is a national advocacy group that is fighting to keep public lands open for the public,” he said. “We work with state associations and build partnerships with the land management agencies and the local clubs. We also work with the lawmakers to educate them about the recreation aspects of public lands.
“And if necessary we also have a lawyer on retainer for filing lawsuits if necessary, that’s the court of last results. We’d solve problems rather than in the field and with the people that use the lands rather than let the courts decide.”
John Stewart in the Blue Ribbon Coalition booth.
He added that several issues are being resolved and they’re working to resolve others.
For further information their website is www.sharetrails.org.
Once again Lockett’s Reno Expo has something for almost everybody. In addition there was a huge area of bounce houses, which was a huge favorite of the youngsters.
REPORTER’S NOTE: There is a photo gallery of some displays at the end of this article.
OTHER RACING NEWS:
- Local motocross racer, and former Dodge Amateur champion, Chad Heishman is competing in some Arenacross events this year.
Last week he did make the night show at Portland but the whoops were his undoing however he’ll try again this weekend at the Reno Arenacross events this weekend. The races are at the Livestock Events Center starting 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday evenings.
• NASCAR is continuing its western swing and the top two division were in Phoenix this weekend and as usual three Nevada natives were in the field. In Saturday’s Xfinity race Brendan Gaughan started 10th and finished 27th.
Sunday was when the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup event was run where Joey Logano won the first stage while Chas Elliott took the second. In the final stage a late race caution dropped leader Kyle Busch to third while older brother Kurt had problems and ended up 25th.
Next week the teams race at Fontana, California.
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HERE IS THE PHOTO GALLERY:
