OFF-ROAD CROWDS Mojave County Fair

9/21/2010 6:01:00 AM Off-road event at fair so popular that people turned away

Erin Taylor Kingman Miner Staff Reporter KINGMAN Arizona - The off-road show at the Mohave County Fair Saturday proved to be so popular that crowds had to be turned away five minutes before the show even got started. The show was slated to begin at 7:30 p.m., but crowds began filling the grandstands as early as 6 p.m. Entrance to the area was halted just before show time, with an estimated 2,000 people in the crowd. The show featured motocross, Tuff Truck racing and an off-road scramble. Gordon Both, chair for the fairgrounds special events committee, called the show a resounding success. "The whole idea of the show was to build momentum," he said. Attendance totals for the fair won't be available for a couple of weeks, but Both said that anecdotally, he saw an increase in the number of people at the fair all day Saturday in anticipation of that night's show. "You couldn't hardly walk around in the afternoon or find a place to park," he said. "That's a good problem to have." The show lasted until just before 10 p.m. Both said a sand drag racer that runs at 1,000 horsepower started the show off. He said organizers wanted to get the louder activities out of the way so as not to disturb neighbors in the surrounding area later in the evening. The show was self-funded, with numerous donations coming from local businesses. "That is just the cool part, how the community came together to make this happen," he said. Those businesses included River Rat Motor-sports, Brown Drilling, True Value, A-1 Rentals, Gastineau Construction, England Homes, Napa Auto Parts, Glass Chiropractic, Precision Automotive, DSM Events, Mertenz Heavy Hauling, Brately and Sons Construction and Cathy Helton Real Estate. KGMN also raised money for the Boys and Girls Club by selling opportunities to "whack a wreck" with a sledgehammer. The cars were provided by Kingman Auto Recycling. The Walapai 4-Wheelers, which provided rock-climbing demonstrations with their vehicles throughout the day, also provided assistance during Saturday's show. Courtesy Kingman Miner OFF-ROAD 1.com