The State of Mud in the State of Maine

 

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!