David Chappelle set out to build his Ultimate Adventure machine following the same principles we hold so very close here at Spidertrax. In the end, he built a simple, lightweight, ultra low CG Hilux, marking all the key ingredients that make up an unstoppable machine. We took this shot at the end of Saturday’s run, right before we headed back to town.

Full disclaimer, we cheated. Last Monday, we closed on a new building, a project that was months in the works. Unfortunately, the closing fell right in the middle of this years Petersen’s 4Wheel & Off-Road Ultimate Adventure. Before we go into our cheating confession, we should start with describing what exactly Ultimate Adventure is.

For those new to Ultimate Adventure, think of it as summer camp for die-hard wheelers. Eight days of non stop four wheeling on some of the most impressive, and scenic, trails our country has to offer. There are rules to keep the event more true to the roots of four wheeling, such as having to drive your rig from trail to trail, i.e. no trailers, camping only, and so on. In the end new friends are made, new trails are conquered, and new stories are formed.

Now, about that cheating thing. This year, we were involved with the Ultimate Adventure in a big way. Fred Williams set out to build the Ultimate JK for the Ultimate Adventure (he builds a new vehicle for this event each year), and on that quest he came to Spidertrax for complete front & rear Spider 9 axles. After the fact, we ended up signing on as the official axle for the Ultimate Adventure, really for nothing more than showing our support for such a great event. This gave us a chance to wheel the entire week with the group, but we missed that chance with closing on our new building.

So we flew out for the last day of the adventure, and tagged along. Otherwise known as cheating. The entire group was awesome about it though, and as expected were insanely accommodating and willing to help us catch up on the stories of the week. This all happened yesterday, and we’ll be sure to recant some of the stories of that day throughout this week right here on the blog. For now we’ll start off by saying thanks to Petersen’s and the entire Ultimate Adventure crew, we had a blast.

And glad we found them. Not that there’s any missing this group. Breakfast from 6:30-8:00 am, then time for some wheeling.

Back in March, we were paid a visit by Fred Williams of Petersen’s 4Wheel & Off-Road, driving to Spidertrax HQ in his fresh, right off the assembly line, JK pictured above. The reason for the visit? Fred was preparing for this years Petersen’s Ultimate Adventure, and his head was full of crazy out of the box ideas as usual. Always trying to one up himself, Fred set out to build the Ultimate JK for the Ultimate Adventure, and what ultimate trail riding machine would be complete without a full set of Spider 9 axles?

Fast forward to today, and Fred’s Ultimate JK is fully built, Spider 9s and all, and concurring the trails of this week’s Ultimate Adventure trail run. Unfortunately for us, closing on a building the week of the event doesn’t mark high in terms of timing on our part, so we’ve been stuck at HQ while Fred pushes the limits of his new machine. This Saturday, the 7th, marks the last day of wheeling for the Ultimate Adventure gang and it has been eating us up that we haven’t seen the Ultimate JK in person yet. So, in a very last-minute decision, we’ve decided to head out to Idaho and tag along on Fred’s last day of Ultimate Adventure wheeling.

No doubt we’ll come back with stories and photos to share from our day out with the Ultimate JK, of which we’ll be sure to post right here. Stay tuned.

It would come of no surprise to us that one of the most epic short course races, of a lifetime, is still fresh on our minds. A few weeks back, we headed out to Crandon International Off-Road raceway for TORC’s Rounds 5 & 6. This would have been a normal event for Brad Lovell, TORC Pro Light driver, but as it happened Ultra4 racers were invited out to race alongside the short course pros. As expected, an epic race followed.

Two days ago, we received an email from Derek West, recapping the race from his, and his teams, perspective. It was a good race weekend for Derek, who grabbed a 2nd place position on the first day of racing. So, without further delay, here’s a copy of his Crandon race recap, reposted with permission.

(June 16 & 17, 2012) This was the first time the Ultra 4 racers would get a chance to race at the Brush Run event held by the Torc Traxxas Off Road Championship Series by Amsoil. The Ultra 4 racers for the first time raced side by side in Crandon, WI. The 2 day event got 2 days of rain which soaked the track making it the mud run. At 5:00pm on Saturday the main event went great with Derek taking 2nd place on the podium! “Our Nitto Tires did awesome and hooked up great. The hardest part was trying to keep my visor clean from all the mud getting thrown up by the other competitors.” On the second day the stakes were a little different as the track was dry. Derek was learning how to do 4 wheel drifts and making his way towards the front, with half a lap to go and Derek in second place the Transmission gave in and Derek was out of that race. In all this was an awesome experience. Ultra 4 put on a great event and we are looking forward to the next race.” said Derek.

I have to thank all of my sponsors for their support & great products. Nitto Tires, Jimmy’s 4×4, Spidertrax, ATX, Slime, Radflo, Off Road Solutions, PSC, FK rod ends, Advanced Metal Fabricators, Yukon Gear, Branik Motorsports, Johns 4×4, Northstar, Alltech Motorsports, Custom Splice, TK Racing, Seeyouonthetrail productions, Warn, Ouverson Engineering, Sho-Me-Speed, & Rigid Industriess. Thanks to my pit crew, Travis Cook, Travis Brake, Wes Choate, my wife Ashley & daughter London for all their support. I couldn’t do it without all of your help!!

Derek’s next event will be on July 14 & 15th at the Ultra 4 Qualifier held at the Badlands in Indiana.