Sand Scorpions hosting 16th Annual Extreme Mudfest
CALEB PEREZ | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 month, 2 weeks AGO
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Sand Scorpions are hosting the Experience Power Sports Extreme Mudfest, which will include a $5,000 bounty hole and a $5,000 freestyle mud truck event at the sand dunes this Saturday. Registration begins at 9 a.m. and the event starts at noon.
“Honestly, I look forward to just seeing the evolution of some of these vehicles who’ve been coming for 10 years or more,” said Brandon Douglass, President of the Sand Scorpions ORV Group. “There are guys who’ve been coming several years in a row and every year they’re a little bigger or they’re a little faster, they’re a little badder.”
The bounty hole will be a 700-foot-long mud pit with the winner being whoever goes through it the furthest or the fastest. Those participating in freestyle will have three minutes and will be judged on how much time they use, how much of the arena they used and overall “wow factor”.
“Wow factor is up to the judges and what impresses them,” said Douglass. “Depending on the rig, their wow factor might be high-speed mud crossings or we have a monster truck coming out and he catches big air. There’s also a rumor that there’s a guy coming down from Canada to attempt a backflip during the freestyle.”
Spectating will be free and open to everyone who has off-road capabilities to get to the event, he said. Spectating and seating will be on a first come first serve basis with people allowed to set up spots Thursday and Friday.
For those looking to compete, the event will be limited to the “Big, Bad or Fast”. Douglass said it will focus mostly on those with custom-built extreme off-road vehicles and exclude stock vehicles to keep the competition exciting.
“These guys that are competing are in custom built rigs typically and sometimes have upwards of $100 grand into their rigs,” he said. “As far as spectators too, they’re traveling 10 hours or more to watch and they want to see these big, bad and faster rigs. They’re not looking to see your slightly modified Jeep or pickup get stuck in the first 50 feet.”
This year marks the 16th annual Extreme Mudfest and Douglass said the event has grown significantly over the years. In the first year the event saw 10 rigs, and each person threw in $100 to make a $1,000 grand prize and only had the bounty hole at the time.
He said, the Extreme Mudfest has grown to what it is from the community support and thanked the sponsors for helping make the event free.
“We’ve just slowly grown it every year since, and now this year’s total payout is over $17,000,” Douglass said. “It’s all 100% free thanks to local sponsors, non-local sponsors and then lodging tax grants through the city of Moses Lake and Grant County.”
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