When Matt Peterson installed his Spidertrax Ultimate Knuckles for the best steering angle possible, we know this much steering wasn’t in his game plan. The perfect timing of a broken shock while simultaneously climbing an obstacle caused the front axle to flip underneath itself. When flipped back, all seemed well with Matt’s rig but not having a spare shock on hand took Matt out of the race.

Instead of packing it in and heading home, Matt stayed on course and helped out drivers winching in the rock quarry, all day long. Not sure if there was an award given for sportsmanship, but if there was Matt has that one sealed.

Erik Miller off the line.

It’s been some time since we wheeled at the Badlands. Just over 12 years ago, we made the trip from New Jersey to Indiana to take part in the very first Zookimelt, a Suzuki Samurai yearly event held right in Badlands Off-Road Park. Fast forward to today, and wouldn’t you know as we pulled into the park the 2012 Zookimelt was just underway. Oh the memories.

The similarities would end there though, as the growth of the park has gone well beyond our expectations from our Zookimelt event from years past. As we pulled in, we weaved through over 3000 people, hundreds of vehicles of all types (dirt bikes, ATVs, Samurais, and of course Ultra4s), and really couldn’t believe what we were seeing. The Badlands Off Road Park has clearly become the staple of its kind, and those enjoying the acres of mixed rocks and desert were truly in the right place.

So that was a bit off topic… let’s get back to Ultra4s. The 2nd Ultra4 event in the East coast circuit, following Rausch Creek, was held at the Badlands last Saturday. The course was approximately 8 miles of desert with a mix of rocks. The goal: race as many laps as possible, as fast as possible, in 2 hours.

When the dust settled, which took some time as it was very dusty, Michael Colville took top honors with Ben Dinkins in 2nd and Derek West in 3rd. It was a great race indeed, and even greater to see how far the park has come. A big thanks to Kyle, owner of the Badlands, for putting on such a great event.

Here’s the UNOFFICIAL top 6. As soon as we get final scores, we’ll be sure to post them on the blog.

1st: Michael Colville #3318
2nd: Ben Dinkins #4403
3rd: Derek West #4420 *
4th: Chicky Barton #144 *
5th: John Sweet #336 *
6th: Erik Miller #4421 *

* Vehicles powered by Spider 9 axles and components.

Time to switch gears, as we transition from old school Ultimate Adventure trail riding to full-on Ultra4 racing. Drivers will take on Badlands, as the next stop in the Ultra4 east coast circuit. Schedule of today’s events are below and we’ll be on field, in typical fashion, capturing the action.

As far as live coverage, we’re not entirely sure if Ultra4 will be firing it up this go around. If they do, it would be hosted at http://ultra4racing.com/live/ and we’ll be sure to feed in live photos as we have done in events past.

Best of luck to all drivers and teams today. Looking forward to another great race!

Saturday, July 13th
9:00AM – Badlands Off Road Park open to public
10:00AM – 12:00PM – Ultra4 and Mod qualifying – Badlands Rock Quarry
5:00PM – Badlands Off Road Park Closes
5:15PM – Start of 4600 and TREK A, B and C class race
6:45PM – End of 4600 and TREC A, B and C class race
7:15PM – Start of 4400 and 4500 Ultra4 race – 2 hour race, anticipate 20 minutes a lap with fast whoop sections, technical rock sections, narrow wooded areas (like Rausch Creek).
7:30 PM – Band and Bar open on site for fans while watching racing.
9:15PM – End of 4400 and 4500 race

And there you have it. Here’s our small photo set, via Flickr, from Saturday’s Compressor Creek run with the Petersen’s 2012 Ultimate Adventure. Photos by Thom Kingston of Spidertrax, licensed under Creative Commons 3.0. So, please download and share with your friends. All we ask for is credit :-) .

Next up, Badlands Ultra4 action tomorrow at 7pm! Stay tuned for details, we’re heading out in just a few hours.

This 1942 Willys MB came all the way out from Chile to ride in this year’s Ultimate Adventure. Owner and builder Sebastian Varas clearly has an eye for detail, as evidence by his creation and restoration here. His spotter, Gonzalo Bravo, also made the trip out. Gonzalo is best know for breaking the 2007 World Altitude Record, reaching 22,000 ft with his Suzuki Samurai. Clearly the two make for a great team, as they conquered the trails of Ultimate Adventure without fail. That, and they were also a blast to hang out with.