Third Annual NOVA Jeepers
Show and Shine at Chrysler of Culpeper
Culpeper, VA
September 9, 2006

mouse over pictures for description

click on picture to see full size

What a great Show!

Chrysler of Culpeper were great hosts. They cleared the lot for us and gave us more room than we could have needed. They also donated a few prizes to the raffle which was cool. I left there with a really nice compass/stopwatch combo that came straight out of the Jeep catalog. So, thanks for that.

One of the great things was that they had a 2007 Wrangler Unlimited on display for us to crawl around and check out. I had high hopes for this one and I give it a mixed review. There are some great improvements over the previous models that show they were listening to those of us that use them, but there were also several spots where I had to look at it and wonder "what the fuck were they thinking?" The salespeople watched us and chatted it up with us and I think they even learned a few things. Even had a line going at a few points to crawl under the Jeep, which was cool considering that one of the salesmen told us that, in ten years of selling cars, he has never seen a single person crawl under the car they were looking to buy.

Spent $100 on raffle tickets, along with the $20 worth I got when I registered to show my Jeep. I was not dissapointed as I won a few items, however after taking home close to $1000 worth of winnings last year, I felt that I would have still been ahead had I not won a thing.

I got a custom trail flag courtesty of Devil Woman flags, a years subscription to JRations magazine courtesty of Primedia, a $25 gift certificate from Outlaw Motorworks, a BDS shirt, and a compass/stopwatch combo from the dealership.

I got to play on an RTI ramp for the first time. I didn't expect a lot from my Jeep considering that I pieced together my suspension from used parts. However, I was impressed when I ramped an 813 on a 25 degree ramp, which converts to a 1004 for a 20 degree one. Nowhere near the highest in the show, but more than enough to impress the hell out of me.

I had my Jeep entered in the show, but didn't expect to win anything especially considering that I hadn't even washed it for the event. In fact, I spent the night before rebuilding the front brakes and remounting a tires so that I could even make the drive there. I was shocked to find out that I won first place in the Modified TJ class. So, thanks to the judges as it really means a lot to me, especially since I know that I built my Jeep from pieces I slowly put together and not from a kit as most people do.

Randy Woods was in attendance, as he is for pretty much every event and show. In the off road world, it is pretty much guaranteed that Randy will not only be at your event, but will be one of the big providers of prizes for your raffle. He does a ton for the community and deserves a big thanks from everyone in it. This is why the raffle organizers felt the need to award him with a plaque thanking him for his service. It is very well deserved, and we all owe him a thank you the next time we see him.

All in all a great day.