Off Road Accessory Review

The NASCAR Sprint Cup is the top motorsports series in the US by far. NASCAR has grown over the years and made many changes to the events and cars that can make the races more exciting while gaining more fans.

Sprint Cup is the number one racing series in the US but not in the world. Formula 1 dominates the world’s racing scene and is regarded as the pinnacle of all motorsports. Why make the comparison? The Sprint Cup has now made it official. They are the only major racing series in the world that will not race a road course in the rain. Every other major racing series including DTM, WTCC, V8 Supercars, LeMans, and many others make racing in the rain just another part of the game.

Why? This week we were told by NASCAR that they don’t want to place an undue burden on the teams and make them prepare for a wet race this close The Chase.

We would love to see the Sprint Cup drivers in the rain but, there is some truth to NASCAR’s argument. There is only 1 race a year for the Sprint Cup cars that rain tires could be used. You guessed it. Watkins Glen. Sprint Cup also races at the road course in Sonoma, California in June. Sunny California is always sunny in June. Not a chance of rain. So NASCAR sees that teams would spend lots of money and time testing for only a possibility of racing in the wet once per year.

The NASCAR Nationwide Series run 3 road courses per year. All three of them could see a threat of rain. This is why the Nationwide team do race in the wet. Make sense? Kinda.

In the end NASCAR doesn’t win the hearts of fans of other forms of racing when they make these types of decisions. Sports car racers, Moto GP racers, and F1 racers can say the same thing about NASCAR. How can NASCAR be a top series if they don’t race in the rain. Especially in the world we live in now where events like Rally Car, Drifting, and other extreme sports have gained fans by pushing the limits of whats possible. NASCAR actively decides not to push the limits at all.

Not a good way to reach the ever popular 18 to 35 year old male demographic who wants to see quick exciting racing. Well I guess you’ll have to watch Ryan Villopoto race his motocross boots around a track with jumps and bumps if you want to see limits get pushed all the time. Sorry NASCAR, bad move.

It was Donny Schatz taking the win in the 51st Knoxville Nationals Saturday night in Iowa. Schatz, is a multiple time winner of the event as well as a past World of Outlaws Champion. Schatz drives for NASCAR driver Tony Stewart in sprint car racing’s premiere division.

The Tony Stewart Racing Team had a difficult start to their week by blowing a motor on their preliminary race on Wednesday. Donny Schatz fought through the strong field of cars starting in the 13th position. Schatz had taken over the lead well before the mid-point of the race and never looked back.

Although sprint cars do race on the dirt, its not exactly off road racing. But we love it anyway. No motocross jerseys at the Knoxville Nationals but we like bring the best racing in the world to you computer anyway!

Marcos Ambrose won Monday’s Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen. The win was Ambrose’s first in the Cup series. Ambrose is now in his second full season of Sprint Cup competition, moving up from the Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series in the last 5 years. Ambrose is a 2-time V8 Supercar Champion who came to the US from Tasmania. Ambrose is the first Aussie to win a Sprint Cup event.

Marcos Ambrose led the most laps on Monday but had to pass Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch with 2 laps to go in order to seal the victory. The Australian driver has won 3 events at Watkins Glen in the NASCAR Nationwide Series as well as just missing a Cup win at Sonoma in 2010.  The very eventful race at Watkins Glen saw 2 major wrecks and a scuffle between Boris Said and Greg Biffle at the end of the race. As always, the NASCAR drivers provided a great show on a road course.

Ok, lets get back to dirt bike gear.

With 4 events left in the Lucas Oil Motocross season, Ryan Villopoto is in the points lead. Chad Reed was the early leader but has faded has the terrible crash at Millville. Ryan Dungey has won the last 2 events overall.

Chad Reed has had sometime to recover from the crash and will come back strong. Chad Reed needs a strong finish at Unadilla to stay in the fight for the season championship. See this weekend’s race on Speed and NBC. Put on the motocross boots and win Chad Reed!

Travis Pastrana had what we called an epic fail weekend at X Games 17 in LA. The extreme sports superstar failed to land the “TP Roll,” in the Best Trick competition on Thursday July 28th. Pastrana broke his ankle and heel of his foot. The crash caused Travis to miss his NASCAR Nationwide debut that was supposed to be on July 30th. Pastrana had been working on the “TP Roll,” for the better part of 3 years. This is where Travis showed his dedication to his fans and his sport.

Travis Pastrana could have put up the dirt bike gear for the weekend and rested until his operation to repair the ankle. Instead he wanted to race. This is where he and the Rally Car crew showed amazing determination.

Pastrana’s Rally car crew designed a hand throttle control so that Travis could run July 31′s Rally Cross competition. Pastrana practiced the car one day before the event and crashed it. Despite the damage, once again Pastrana’s crew went to work and fixed the car and made it race ready for Rally Cross competition.

Pastrana raced with his foot secured to the floor board with no shoe on. Travis made the finals with a crashed car, hand controls, and bone fragments littered throughout his foot. Pastrana was actually in bronze medal position on the last lap when he over drove a corner and crashed again. The pain of the crash was visible on his face in the on board camera. 

Despite the Friday crash, Pastrana did what he didn’ have to do. He put himself in harms way and raced. If it was for his fans, for himself, or for his sponsors, it will go down as one of the most heroic performances by a racer ever.

The X Games begin today! We could hardly stand the wait considering all the story lines this year. Here are a few stories we will be following over the next 4 days.

Carey Hart-Hart and his Hart Huntington team of riders will participate in many events. Carey Hart himself will race in the freestyle/motocross event known as Speed and Style. Supercross star Chris Blose will try his hand at Step Up. Jeremy Stenberg will join Hart in Speed and Style. Stenberg will also compete in Best Whip, and Freestyle. Look for Hart and Huntington to have a strong showing in the Moto X category.

Travis Pastrana-Travis Pastrana will have his hands full when he competes in 1 or more events everyday from Thursday thru Sunday. Pastrana will compete on his dirt bike, in a NASCAR Nationwide car, and in a Rally Car. In two different states that arent exactly near each other. Epic Pass for Pastrana would be to Medal in every event and finish in the top ten at the NASCAR race. Epic Fail would be to injure himself Thursday and miss the remaining events on his calendar. That would be terrible!

Robbie Maddison-Maddison will set aside his dirt bike gear to compete in Rally Car for the first time at X Games. How will he fair against the experts like Ken Block, and Marcus Gronholm? Can’t wait to see if he takes to 4 wheels as well as Pastrana, and Deegan.

Tanner Foust- Foust has been dominant in 2010 and 2011 in a rally car around the world. Foust won the gold in both Rally car and Super Rally last year. Can he repeat? So far I would put my money on Foust over all Rally racer for good reason.

Enjoy this year’s X Games. We only get to see this kind of star power once per year.

Yes, that special time of year is almost here. The time when every extreme sports athlete and fan converge on Los Angeles California for the Summer X Games. BMX, Skate, Moto X, and Rally Car events are on the menu. Of course are favorite events are Moto X and Rally Car.

We are all glad to see strong representation from top teams like Hart and Huntington, Metal Mulisha, Red Bull, and Nitro Circus. The dirt bike gear of the top riders will be out in force to dazzle the crowds at home and live in person. Look to us for updates all weekend long on our Facebook page, and here at OffRoadAccessoryReview.com.

Don’t forget that superstar Travis Pastrana will be making his first start in the NASCAR Nationwide division on Saturday July 30th in Indiana in between competing in Moto X events Thursday & Friday and then wrapping his busy weekend up Sunday in Rally Cross. We can hardly wait.

The Red Bull US Grand Prix is this weekend at Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca. The historic race track in Monterey, California will host the greatest road racersin the world. Not to mention, its a great event to ride your motorcycle to. The track accommodates bike traffic very well for this race that will be broadcast around the world.

The road racer of the Moto GP World Championship sport heavy leathers, not motocross gear. Something we don’t look into very often, but this is a great event. Don’t forget, the umbrella girls will be out in force advertising for their team’s sponsors. Begins Friday July 22.

Carey Hart is one of the most popular freestyle motocross racers from the 1990s. Carey Hart has taken on many challenges since his days as a motocross racer and a freestyle motocross artist.

Carey Hart’s most recognizable business since his motocross days is the Hart and Huntington Tattoo Company that started in Las Vegas and expanded to other popular vacation spots like Hawaii. From the tattoo company spawned a clothing line that was based on the tattoo art. Carey Hart also stayed true to his motorsports by fielding race teams in Supermoto, Lucas Oil Off Road Trucks and no AMA Supercross. The H&H team also recruited long time Metal Mulisha racer Jeremy Stenberg to pilot one of their off road trucks.

Oh ya, he is also married to Pink. (If you didn’t already know that.)

Carey Hart like few other racers have found an ability to make money by not just being a champion, but also by being a business man and entrepreneur. Through his business ventures Carey Hart can do what he loves most, race at the top levels of any motorsport he chooses. Very few racers can say that they built an empire from what used to be hard work and a dirt bike helmet.