OK...here it is...NEXSC (Rhymes with sexy!! New England Xterra Speed Championship) will be held the three days of September 29-October 1st!!

Location--Western Massachusetts State forests...will be 3 "stages" in length...two during the day, one at night...exact course will not be annouced until the day of the rally....

More info to follow...for now--to get the ball rolling I have a general release form--basicly releasing me(the organizer) from any respnsibility should something bad happen to your or your vehicle...If you plan on running this rally please PM me your address--I will add your name to the list of potential attendees at this point and mail you the release for you to sign and return to me...With this form I will begin your "folder" which will be given to you upon arrival at the rally complete with maps and other info and allow me to send out more info on lodging, food, medical facilities etc., to you...More information will be coming shortly and at regular intervals....Do not miss out on this first of a kind Xterra event!!!

Not that it's any of my business (it's really not since I won't be attending) but I just wanted to ask what type of event is this?

I only ask because when I see the words speed and rally in the same sentence as Xterra it concerns me. It's something of an oxymoron.

Actually, my only thought was if this is really a racing type of event or an event where the participants will be competing on time or other means of competition? And if it is, understanding of course that you have put together some sort of liability waiver, what requirements do you have regarding safety?

Knowing that there are very few X's out there with a proper cage, seats, harnesses, and safety fuel containers, I would hate to see someone get hurt in a roll or crash while participating in an activity that their truck was ill equipped to run in.

Or I could be totally off base and you guys are doing something totally different. Either way. Have fun and be safe.

NEXCSCSC (New England Xterra Common Sense Conservative Speed Championship) Nothing crazy, just something fun and different Dan has thought up for us .

It is going to be a timed event though the "speed" part of the title is just there for effect more than anything....can't imagine anyone toping 35 mph on any of the non-paved sections....and yeah...the first thing I am sending out to anyone interested is a waiver holding every individual responsible for themselves, their guests and their own vehicles...seeing as I am the "organizer" of this event this was something I felt I had to do...safety wise since there will be no true high speeds, i feel that seat belts and a proper communication system are sufficient at this point...secondly I will attempt to mitigate risks by #1--designing the course to make sure traffic will flow in a single direction, #2--provide adequate spacing between participants, and #3--provide EXTREMELY detailed map of the course which will indicate road conditions--pavement, rough pavement, dirt road, width of road, etc., in addition to reccomended speeds for each section...And lastly and I believe most importantly....There is little incentive to go faster than one would be comfortable--People might push their limits or go faster than one should IF there was a large pot of gold at the end....In this case there is not...(Taking a breath........) Therefore I believe there is little more risk associated here than a typical drive on the freeway or a trip to your local off road park, dunes, or salt flats...

Socal...I respect your opinion and appreciate and welcome any feedback you have on this subject...If you feel I am WAY out of line organizing something like this I would like you to say so...

By the way--seperate from the safety issues--its not an Xterra only event...I already have 2 Fronty/Hardbodies and one Subaru coming!!

The Subaru has it locked up.... WRX vs. a X, WRX has more letters, so it wins already, not to mention the fact that it is a rally car dumbed down for the average consumer.

To be honest, when I see this description I understand what you are shooting for.

But...

Any time you put human beings behind a wheel of a motor vehicle, you are going to bring out the competitive side of your participants regardless of the prize. Case in point; the winner of the Baja 1000 takes home about $4,000. It's not about the prize. When you factor in speed and bring out the stopwatches, you are in effect encouraging people to bring out that competitive nature.

All it takes is one cowboy to drive over his head of push himeself and his truck beyond his limits and you will have chaos on your hands. And no simple liability waiver will protect you. You as the organizer and promoter of the event in effect are acting as a sanctioning body. And in sanctioning the event you are responsible for a certain extent of the safety of your participants.

There isn't a timed event in the country , for any vehicle in the dirt that doesn't require some sort of cage, harnesses and a fuel cell. Other things to consider:

• insurance
• tech inspection to insure the safety of each vehicle/ What is going to be required?
• course marking
• cross traffic/non-involved parties entering the course
• flag men/broken vehicles- recovery
• pre-running. will the course be marked ahead of time? Will participants be allowed recon?

To be honest, beyond my own personal experience of attending varous events, I have no idea of everything that is involved in a race/rally. I do understand though is that there is a very good reason that off-road and race vehicles have progressed in leaps and bounds in the area of safety. Yet, despite the technology, people still crash, roll injure and even die.
You take a big step when you transition from a trail club run or an informal gathering or a poker run to a rally type event where you are encouraging people to compete either against each other or a stopwatch.

I hear all your concerns and understand them. I as the person getting these people together are ultimately responsible for what goes on--I am well aware of the consequences--we had a roll over on an trail run I was "host" for last fall and though I was not directly involved--I was neither driver nor spotter for the individual who rolled, I had brought everyone together, suggested the run, etc.--I felt awful about it. Had anyone been seriously hurt I would have felt that I was to blame in some small part...
All that being said, I still feel as if it is a worthwile event to undertake...At this point I personally know every single person who is planning on attending. I have to determine my own comfort level with this and make sure it does not go beyond this...Right now its just a bunch of friends going out and driving a pre-determined course---And with that I am comfortable...

Website is now up for NEXSC!! just a simple front page with a couple links, a bit of info and a way to contact me if you would like to attend this event!! Will be updated and have info added to it on a regular basis...Come join us for a fun couple days in the woods of Western Mass!!!

NEXSC site!!

Cool. Have fun!

And now NEXSC has its on logo thanks to Uncle Junk!!

Check out the NEXSC page for a look see!!

NEXSC

Here is what the logo looks like!! Have magnets with the logo on it on the way to help you all remember the date...let me know if you need/want one and I will send it out to you...

If you guys want NEXSC.com, net, org, etc I can host it for you.

No charge of course.

Looks like we have a long distance attendee to the NEXSC!! Kyle Updegrove-Owner of Kennesaw Mountain Accessories has just notified me he is interested in coming up from Georgia to run the event!! Please see the below two links--One to a pic of the Fronty Pre-runner he plans on using for the event (he also plans on bringing up a built Pathy to run with a seperate team), and two for a link to the basic info for the event...Even if you do not want to run in the event, come on up for a fun weekend in the woods and watch the action!!

KMA Fronty!!

NEXSC!!

Just to let everyone know...I now have magnets available with the logo shown on the NEXSC site and seen in the above post, to help you remember the date...Excellent interest so far...Right now we have 15 people stating that they plan to attend. This includes two Subarus, a # of Xterras, at least 2 Frontys, 2 Pathys, and 2 Hardbodies...