THE STATE OF MUD IN THE
STATE OF MAINE
BY BRIAN
MORRISON
FROM PRESQUE ISLE, MAINE
Maine actually
has a long and rich history of mud racing. As far as I have been able to tell
there have been events running for at least 27 years. I believe this has been
mostly pit racing. One event in particular, the Mud Run of Champions at
Hunnewell Valley, has been running every year for 26 years and to the best of
my knowledge is only surpassed by Gravelrama for the longest running show in
the U.S. and if not in the U.S., then certainly the north east. Hunnewell
Valley actually hosted a NMRO All Star event one year.
From what I have been able to put together there have been two splits in mud
racing in its history in the state. I am not exactly sure when the first one
happened, but the result was a fast track group being formed which eventually
ended up turning into the premier sand drag club (NEORVCA) in the state. The
second split came in 1992 with the formation of the Maine Mud Bog Association
(MMBA). Since the split in 1992 the MMBA has maintained a common set of rules
across several tracks in the state including: Pittston, Mexico, Oxford, Athens,
Skowhegan, Springfield, Oakfield, Livermore and a few other one off events.
This has led to a dedicated following of drivers who travel around central
Maine to these tracks.
The bog side of things hasn't been organized nearly as well with every track
having their own house rules. Some were based off from the original Hunnewell
Valley rules, but most are local to about a 50 - 100 mile radius. It has been
hard on drivers who want to travel to different events to build a truck that
can be competitive at more than 1 or 2 tracks because of the differences in
rules. If ever there was a situation that screamed out for a set of common
rules it is the bog racing in Maine. (read: MRA Bog rules!)
In 2008 it was suggested that a deep mud series much like the MMBA be started.
I was very hopeful that we could get everyone involved with this and get things
moving in the right direction. Talks sort of stalled out over the winter as far
as most of us could tell and then at the 11th hour 4 tracks in Southern Maine
announced that they had come up with a common set of rules and would run a
points series in 2009. This was good news to be sure, but it did leave half of
the state out. It was really too late in the year for the northern tracks to
adopt the same rules and they are quite different than the house rules most
have been using, so a lot of folks would be required to make changes to fit a
class 100%.
Maine is a pretty long state with the northern most track being in Ashland or
Presque Isle and the southern most one being in Lebanon. That is 330 miles and
5 1/2 hours. The natural dividing line in the state is about Bangor. Most
people race on one side or the other of that line with very little crossover.
There are roughly 6 (5 pit and 1 fast) tracks to the north and 7 (most have
both types) south of there.
I have only been
involved in the sport since 2001. A friend at work told me about a mud run,
which I had never seen, not even on TV at that point. I went to check it out
and really enjoyed it. I went and watched every event I knew about that summer.
The next summer my father and I raced his stock S-10. The following year we
raced the S-10 again until we hurt
the motor and
sold the truck. We then bought a dedicated mud truck and continue to race that
same (more or less) truck to this day. So for me my favorite memory list is
pretty short. I remember going to Pittston in 2002 and seeing a
"rail" or "skimmer" as is the common name around here for
the first time. It was just so impressive. There were a bunch of them and they
put on one heck of show. Nightmare II, Obsession, Rat Patrol are a few of the
names I remember. I know some of these guys raced with the NMRO over in VT.
As far as the web site goes, well I honestly started doing MaineMudRuns.com for
selfish reasons. I was just getting into the sport and was finding it difficult
to find out when events were taking place. I figured that I was a computer programmer
by trade, so doing a web site should be right up my alley. I figured if I
provided a place for people to post their information then I could find out
when the events were myself and go to them. Turns out I was right. I started
the site late in the 2004 season and now a little less than 5 years later we've
had over 100,000 hits on the site. I get dozens of emails a week asking for
information for events all around New England and New Brunswick. Even though
the site says MaineMudRuns, I've tried to include our neighbors to the north
and south as well. I think it helps us all. Since I started the site I've seen
the formation of 5 or 6 new tracks in the state. I don't want to say it was
because of me or the site, but I do think it has helped raise awareness of the
sport and spark an interest in it. Even in the tough economy this year we are
seeing record numbers at events. The first ever event at Go Deep Mud drew over
1000 people. The Barnyard's first event had 127 registrations for the deep mud,
which was a track record. Machias also had a record setting draw for its
Memorial Day event. I am pretty proud of what I have been able to do with the
site. It seems like people value it as a resource and thank me for it and that
is all one can ask for I think.
Photo’s
Courtesy Lindsay Bryant.
They are also all from a MMBA fast track event at Athens, Maine. And Special
Thanks to Brian Morrison!
