'Rednecks With Paychecks' Get Down And Dirty In Off-Road Mudcrawl

DALLAS, TX — The name alone tells you either (a.) you have to be there, or (b.) you can't run far enough fast enough in the opposite direction.

Rednecks With Paychecks includes anything that rolls off-road and revelry aplenty in the in Saint Jo, Texas, not far from Gainesville. This year, their Fall Mudcrawl takes place Sept. 16-19.

As spokesman Eric Lenington told Patch, the bi-annual four day event is "a kind of redneck Burning Man. It's a crazy festival where everyone brings some kind of ride that's usually not highway registered — ATVs, buses and lawn mowers with enormous tires, mud buggies and trucks, jeeps — you name it. The weekend is really about showing off your creativity and your ride."

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Naturally the competitions have been created in the same spirit of fun and imagination.

Here, the amusements run the gamut from silly to serious competition. There's trail riding, mud slinging, :and music and to share their love of a good time," says the spokesman. "The weekend is really about thousands of mud sport enthusiasts camping together to enjoy competitive off-road events."

Competitions include the Barbie Jeep Downhill, Pro Mega Truck Series Megatruck Racing, the Engines and Egos ATV/UTV Bounty Hole Series, Multi-Class Truck Tug-o-War, 2-Wide Truck Bounty Hole Racing, SXS dirt track racing, and PR's "World Famous Bikini Contest. "

When night falls, the campers gather to show off their rides, and the party runs late, Lenington explained. "People park and circle around to show off. One year I remember someone built a pirate ship on top of a suburban with a mast you could dance on. It's pretty crazy."

There's a main stage that offers Texas Country and "national hick-hop artists" are featured, as well as food trucks from all over the country and booths from top off-road supply companies.

High Roller Energy Drink was recently added as a sponsor and, Lennington added with pride, "they are releasing a 'Rednecks with Paychecks' energy drink at our next event.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the event, which began as a way to reclaim family land that had been sold off over generations, one patch of ground after another.

"The whole thing was started by Derrick Morris, who was a firefighter and had his grandfather on his deathbed," as Lenington tells the story. "This was his idea to raise money to buy back the land, and the first year, he anticipated 1200 people and 4,000 showed up."

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