2006 Driver of the Year 2006 Driver of the Year Carl Renezeder Feb 1, 2007 By: Marty Fiolka

Perhaps that famous NASCAR driver Ricky Bobby said it best: "If you ain't first, you're last." Or, better yet, it might be wise to listen to Ricky's pot-dealing daddy: "The first thing you've got to learn as a racecar driver is you don't listen to losers. It's the fastest that gets paid. It's the fastest that gets laid."

A Brutal Baja Jan 1, 2007 By: Peter Brock

Calling second generation Baja 1000 winner Robby Gordon a "cross-over" driver from the world of NASCAR is a bit like calling California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger a body builder. Each may have started and done well in a sport they love, but then went on to achieve success and greater fame in a larger and different game. However, that's not to say each doesn't appreciate or care for his origins–especially in Gordon's case. Because America's most versatile racer comes back to his roots in the Mexican desert each November. There's no concern about points or a season record when racing his Red Bull Trophy-Truck. Gordon runs the Baja 1000 for the pure love of racing, flat-out, on the same rugged peninsula where he learned his craft years earlier with his dad and mentor, "Baja Bob" Gordon.

DIRTsports Does America Our Summer Road-trip Takes us to W.E. Rock Washington Sep 1, 2006 By: Craig Perronne

Summer is a favorite time of the year for many Americans–and for good reason. Everything that makes this country of ours great: baseball, warm weather, parades, apple pie, the great outdoors, fireworks, parades and bikinis happen during the magical months of summer. Perhaps one of the greatest summer traditions, however, is packing up the family truckster and hitting the highway to take part in the beautiful ritual that is the annual road-trip.

Rock Racing Invasion Will an influx of professional Rock Crawlers the XRRA forever? Aug 1, 2006 By: Craig Perronne

After attending last year's XRRA season opener in Moab and witnessing the intense action that is rock racing, we enthusiastically stated that it would be "the next big thing." Indeed, 2005 was a watershed year for the XRRA; the series spread its wings from a small-scale regional series in Colorado to a national level. Still in its infancy, the XRRA grows rapidly, attracting drivers and fans alike. Many series morph after an initial launch, and we wondered if XRRA changed in its first year of existence: Is it still a grassroots series? We journeyed to the second round of the XRRA in Colorado Springs, Colo. to find out.

Meet Troy Herbst SHORT COURSE RACER Jul 1, 2006 By: Marty Fiolka

For those within the CORR establishment, perhaps it was all too easy to dismiss the 2005 appearance of that Terrible team in red as a simple whim, a passing moment in time spurred on by a dare or invitation made by a rival racing family. The on-track performance of the Herbst's latest racing acquisition at last October's inaugural CORR race at Chula Vista International raceway was hardly in keeping with the full-tilt intensity that the team brings to every racing endeavor they engage in.

The Breakout Season Jun 1, 2006 By: Craig Perronne

The evolution of competition rock crawling has been, well, rocky. In the mid '90s when the sport's popularity began to grow, a myriad of sanctioning bodies appeared on the scene; In every region of the U.S., aspiring organizations tried to capture their own piece of the rocks. At first, the enthusiasm of so many parties seemed like a good thing, yet in time their numbers threatened to fractionalize the sport into too many pieces.

In last month's issue of DIRTsports, the gang responsible for creating Discovery Channel's hit television show, Monster Garage, granted our staff unprecedented, behind-the-scenes access to the one-week challenge of transforming the naked tubing of a chromoly chassis into a full-blown Trophy-Truck. Thanks to the talents of an 11-man build team described by series co-producer, Tod Mesirow, as "the best in our show's history," a full-bodied Ford Trophy-Truck was driven out of Monster Garage's landmark Long Beach, Calif., studio–a former Packard car dealership built in the 1920s–with several hours to spare.

As hard as we try, it has been impossible to get away from Gordon and McMillin names lately. Among championships, sponsorships and events like the Dakar Rally, members of these families have been making news and taking names.

Perhaps no single person in the off-road universe embodies the characteristics that define its lifestyle more than Lonnie McCurry Sr. The fact that he started Skyjacker Industries in the early 1970s is only part of the package. He is clout, innovation and character all rolled into a tall, lanky package that brims with southern grace and hospitality who walks proudly with God. While McCurry's a man of few words, when he talks in his slow, deliberate drawl, people listen. So it's no wonder that when he extended to me a personal invitation to join his family at the season-ending mud race last Fall, I too listened, and came.