RENO, NV (April 2) — After weeks of unsettled weather Mother Nature gave Northern Nevada a break. Just in time for the annual Al Lockett’s RV, Home and Garden Show, which included the Off-Road Motorsports Expo in the same hall.
In the Expo area there were several booths and one of them was for the Off-Road Motosports Hall of Fame. Running the booth was Barbara Rainey.
“The Hall of Fame is alive and well,” she said, “It’s very exciting as we have one hundred and nineteen inductees. We celebrate achievement in achievement in all areas of off-road from advocacy to racing and recreation.
“ It’s just a great way to celebrate our sport and bring everyone together at one place at one time to celebrate.
A lot of racing is going on and we support all promoters, I like to say there is a special place in heaven for race promoters, unfortunately most of the time it feels like hell dealing with everything they have to do so we can go out and have a good time.”
She added her hopes that people will support all forms of recreation and keeping public lands open. Especially if they support groups like Tread Lightly that keeps trails clean.
“You know everybody can do their share and their part to make sure when we’re ready to go out and have fun in the beautiful outdoors so we have somewhere to go,” she said.
The nominations for the Class of 2023 have closed. Now they’ll set up a voting committee and coming out with who will be nominated. Once the voting is done there will be a big awards celebration in Las Vegas on Saturday, September 9th at South Point.
“It is open to anyone and tickets are on sale,” she said. “For more information please check the website at, www.ORMHOF.Org.”
Rainey also mention the Hall of Fame isn’t at the Auto Museum in Reno but has been spread around
“We’ve have dispersed out collection to auto museums across the country. It’s actually a great model for us because we are reaching an audience that may not know a lot about off-road.
“We’re really spoiled here in the west, now we have vehicles we just took to Lincoln, Nebraska, at the Museum of American Speed. To them the west is this magical, mythical place they may someday get to visit. So when you take an off-road car to the mid-west where they’re used to seeing John Deere tractors they just love it.”
She added the Hall of Fame also has vehicles on display down in Laughlin, Nebraska as well as Florida. The aim is to educate people to the joys of off-roading.
Just a few yards away the Hills Angels 4X4 club had their booth. They like others were answering questions and giving out hand outs to interested people
Asked about the club president Linda Miller said, “We are the stewards of Hunter Lake Trail. About 20 years ago, in conjunction with the Forest Service we adopted that trail. We do maintenance on it to make sure it’s safe at the beginning of the spring.
“We’ll go up and make sure its safe, make sure there is not a lot of trash when we get into the fall and winter. We basically take care of that trail.”
Hills Angels 4X4 also works with Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful including the upcoming clean up as well as the Christmas Tree recycling program.
“We go to different clean ups and depending on the area we try and curb dumping and keep it clean. We want to make sure our public lands stay open so we can get out and enjoy our public lands. So that’s the club in a nutshell,” she said.
She also added the club’s website is, www.hillsangels4X4club.com. They also have a Face Book page that will say members and a person can join the club.
“Right now we have no dues. Feel free to come and join us at Lamppost Pizza, located at 1141 Steamboat Parkway,” she said. “It’s the third Thursday of every month and a lot of members arrive at 5 p.m. then the meeting starts at 6 p.m. We’d love anybody that has goals like we do to come and see us.”
The Nevada Four Wheel Drive Association also had a near by booth and will be sponsoring several events this coming year. They too were recruiting new members and answering questions.
For further information please check their website at, www.n4wda.org.
Only a few feet away the Nevada Jeep Club had several jeeps line up as part of the Lithia area. One of their representatives was present answering question about this group. That group has a Face Book page describing their meetings and cruises.
Finally promoter Al Lockett was pretty pleased with how this year’s show was going.
“Turnout is excellent and I think we’re going to have a record for today (Saturday), and I know we had a record for Friday,” he said. “It’s a varied show, lots of RVs, lots of Off-Road, information for products and of course we have the pet show and the home show.
“We have something for everybody. It’s looking good, we already have our dates for next year and we’re stating our planning already.”
• On Sunday the Reno Cars & Coffee assembled by the Kietzke Starbucks. As usual there was a mix of all types of cars. In fact an Aston Martin was parked next to a Camaro.
One interesting car was a 2008 Cadillac XLR-V owned by Archie Martin.
“In 2008 there was 392 of the V version built,” he said. “It’s the performance line of the Cadillac.”
The car was at a line of Corvettes and has a history.
“I bought it out of a dealership out of Ocala, Florida,” he said. “I’ve been looking for this particular car for about 18 months, and one finally popped up that I could finally afford. I bought it and had them ship it out to me sight unseen.
“This is built in Bowling Green on the Corvette assembly line. It’s the only car other than a Corvette built on that line and has a C-6 chassis, suspension, and has a 6-speed electronically controlled transmission.”
Of course the next question is how does it drive. Apparently very different from what he’s used to.
“It scares me. I’ve had three Corvettes and none of those scared me but this one does. I haven’t had any of the newer Corvettes, had mostly C-3’s,” he said.
There was also an very well restored VW Thing. Those were built in the 1970’s and this one looks like it was just driven off the lot.
Among the high performance cars there was a yellow Shelby Mustang. It’s one of those cars that just looks like power.
Next Sunday is when Sparks Cars and Coffee has its first meet of the month.
OTHER RACING NEWS:
• For you that motocross here is a “heads up.” On Easter weekend Fernley 95A Motor Sports will have open practice from 9 until 2 p.m. Saturday with a $40 fee.
On Saturday the times are the same but OTMX members only pay $25 to practice. A good tune up for their national event the following weekend.
• Daveys Amercian Racing is usually on at 6 p.m. Wednesday evenings. One can see the show on Face Book and get into the chat was well.
Davey covers national series as well as racing in the western United States. His focus is on oval tracks.
SPONSOR LIST:
• If you enjoyed this article please “like,” and share it as widely as possible. Comments are welcome.
Subscribers have articles posted to their inbox as soon as they are up on the site.
We now have five very appreciated sponsors supporting this site. Please patronize them as they support your sport and help nvracingnews continue. And let them know you heard about them through this site.
• One of our sponsors is General Transmission and Power Train Specialists owned by former motorcycle racer Pete Attashian. The shop is located at 2515 Sutro Street in Reno, a few blocks below Hug High School.
The shop services older and new transmissions and now has a section for high performance units and those used in towing. Phone number is 775-786-5888 and the shop’s website is www.generaltransmissionreno.com.
Two of our sponsors are first class motorcycle shops located in Reno.
• Our first sponsor is Reno Motorsports (RMS). Not only do they have about anything a rider might want or need and the store also has a full service shop.
Their location is at 964 Terminal Way, by the intersection with Mill Street. Store’s phone number is 775-322-1499 and the site is, www.rms-renomotorsports.com.
• The next shop is Moto-Source located at 3180 Mill Street. Once again they are a full service shop plus the showroom has about any thing a rider might need or want.
The phone number is 775-856-3855 and the website is, www.moto-source.com.
• Concours Body Shop, located at 250 Telegraph Street in Reno, is another sponsor. The shop does quality collision repair for cars and trucks.
Owner Brian Saul is a car enthusiast himself and is committed to continuing the shop’s reputation of quality work. Phone number is 775-329-4557 and the website is, www.concoursbodyshop.net.
• Hungry, want a great place to eat, then try PJ&CO for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and it’s a great place to watch your favorite sports. Wednesday evenings, starting around 5 p.m. is Bike Night, good time to meet fellow riders and have a great dinner.
The location is 1590 South Wells Avenue, just north of the round about. Phone number is 775-323-6366 and their website is www.pjandco.net.
Have a business targeted toward motorsports or car enthusiasts? This site is a great way to expose your services to those communities. Sponsorships are very reasonable and one can contact us either through the comment section of this site or on our Face Book page.
Thanks, Dan. It is nice to see the local happenings! Sorry I missed you there.
Sorry I missed you as well. Hope you’ll be at the brunch Friday. Would love
to visit and it will be at a different location. It’s at Mimis on South Virginia.
Take care buddy and if we don’t see each other Happy Easter.
Would you please send me an e-mail address I can contact you at or maybe
a phone number. That would be appreciated.
Thanks – Dan