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POMONA, CA- The sun rises on the Los
Angeles County Fairgrounds Saturday morning, as vendors and exhibitors
prepare for a jam-packed day of question answering, appointment
making, magic car polish purchasing, and friendly mingling. The
annual Off Road Expo is the largest event of its kind, bringing
together the many facets of the offroad industry into one easy-to-swallow
capsule, spanning two days of a select weekend in October. Expanding
into an additional two halls and larger outdoor display, this
year's Expo was bigger and better than ever. Enthusiasts fill
the not-so-conveniently located parking lot and pile on the tram,
eagerly awaiting their chance to throw down a hard earned 9.00
in exchange for an inside glimpse at some of the most elusive
and well-built vehicles and products to grace the offroad industry.
Just as the entry line begins to leak into the neighboring city
of La Verne, the gates open and the rabid fans are let loose inside.
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Jamie Campbell, 7s racer and
fabricator for Penhall talks shop with Embee Performance's
David Dahlberg. Campbell was dislpaying Penhall Fabrication's
newest creation, a 4 seat prerunner buggy.
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Scott Steinberger of PCI Race
Radios proudly displays his new hot rod. Built by Newline
Products, this trophy F150 prerunner is on the cutting
edge of desert racing technology. It also looks great,
with it's blue ghost flame paint scheme.
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Nestor Berardi, owner of Newline
Products and off-road fabrication prodigy, stands in
front of his newest project, a Toyota Tundra still under
construction for Dana Nicholson.
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The latest from Newline's bolt-on
bag of tricks, a four linked Tundra retaining the stock
bed. This is to ensure the capability of transporting
a motorcycle, critical for the man made famous from
his highly successful "Crusty Demons of Dirt"
video series.
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Tony "El Chinero" Tellier
tells tales of wild Baja adventures and makes plans
for new ones.
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Looks like a Winner! Dave Winner,
owner of Fabtech, had his prerunner on display at the
expo. Sporting uniquely designed front A arms and a
wild cantilever rear suspension, this truck is sure
to make loud noises and throw big rocks.
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Danny Porter, Larry Ragland and
Bob Shepard attentively watch the video on display at
the PRC booth.
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Baja legend Larry Ragland takes
a moment to smile for the camera.
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Porter Race Cars had one of the
most striking booths at the expo. A gorgeous table,
cutting edge trophy truck, a nice palm tree, and the
coolest martini shakers on earth contributed to this.
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Ronnie and Darrel of PRC show
off their precision engineered martini shakers.
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The Davis Motorsports crew stands
proudly in front of their Lightforce sponsored 7s race
truck. In true rockstar fashion, Kevin Davis (center)
autographed posters for giddy race fans.
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The Terrible Herbst semi was
in attendance, and open for all to check out.
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These two youngsters escaped
the fervent madness of the expo, seeking shelter in
the Terrible Herbst trailer's lounge.
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Casey Folks, director of the
BITD racing association, and Aaron Dixon of Dixon Bros.
Racing (class 7s) having a friendly chat in front of
the Best in the Desert booth.
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Fabtech Trophy Truck driver Kyle
Taylor watches taped tv coverage of his win at this
years BITD Vegas to Reno in front of the BITD booth.
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... and so do we. Often the brunt
of many jokes, the 909 contingent is a force to be reckoned
with in the offroad community. Ladies and gentlemen,
it's just an area code.
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Greg and Jenn, the soon to
be newlyweds behind the United Prerunners Organization
and the Rialto Offroad Raceway, are all smiles at
the booth. Thank you guys for everything you do, and
congratulations on the engagement!
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Bob Shepard's beautiful Chevy
prerunner, built by Geiser Bros design & development
features all the creature comforts one would expect
with a luxury sedan, but don't expect this truck to
spend a great deal of time on the pavement.
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Rick Geiser of Geiser Bros
design & development takes a moment to pose in
front of his shop's latest project.
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Cory Beacham of Race Prep Services
raffled off a 30 minute ride in Jesse Jones' Trophy
Truck. It would have been the best $1 you ever spent!
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Kreg Donahoe of Donahoe Racing
operates THE coolest display at this year's offroad
expo (for the tech heads); a working shock with an
acrylic body, providing an inside look into the mechanics
of race shock technology.
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Kreg explains some of the technology
behind his company's shock. He's pictured describing
the NitroSteel® 7/8" shock shaft, a material
that features superior wear and corrosion resistance
compared to standard chrome plated steel shock shafts.
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Jesse of JDfab and the "partybarge_pilot"
stand by their Trophy T-100 prerunner.
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JDfab's Toyota T-100 long travel
kit is one of the finest kits on the market, period.
Retaining the four wheel drive, this truck will be
the envy of many Chevy and Ford owners.
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The Offroad expo was not limited
to the big name shops. Upcoming Velocity Fabrication
debuted their new long travel F150 kit. With this
kind of crafstmanship, it wont be long before Velocity
is a big name itself.
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The unique spindle on Velocity's
F150 kit is truly an original design. It's good to
see new companies innovating, which helps progress
the sport and make the equipment more affordable.
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Not everything at the expo
was disco and polished. Charles Hovey's All Ways Racing/ORW
class 1 car shows off his race winning paint job.
Who cares about the paint when you're winning races?
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Tom Kirastoulis stands proud
in his Crown Performance exhibitors booth. Crown specializes
in producing some of the finest brake and fuel lines
in the industry, not just for offroad use, but for
the military as well. If the US armed forces can trust
their brakelines and fittings to Crown, your prerunner's
brake lines are in good hands.
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