4 Wheel Parts / UTVUnderground Garage Kicks off Sand Sport Super Show in Style
2017 Sand Sports Super Show – Day 1
Costa Mesa, CA (9/16/2017) – The Sand Sports Super Show Presented by Nitto Tire kicked off Friday at the OC Fair and Event Center with a record turnout on the first of three days of the event. Known widely as the ceremonial kick off to the Southwest off road season, the event is bigger than ever this year and caters to all things off road.
Showing the continuing explosive growth in the UTV industry, UTVUnderground Garage celebrated the start of its second year with a party for customers, partners and fans. UTVUnderground Garage is a partnership with 4 Wheel Parts that allows customers all over the country to up-fit and customize their UTVs at 4 Wheel Parts locations, as well as offering UTV parts through its mail order catalog.
Joey “D” DiGiovanni from UTVUnderground was astounded at the turnout for the party. A record number of attendees turned out Friday, showing just how much the off road lifestyle continues to grow.
“The crowd coming in on Friday was insane,” said DiGiovanni. “The UTVUnderground Garage was packed all the way across the booth. That’s really cool for us to see. Just making a quick pass through the show, to see how many people were coming in is a good tell as to where the economy is right now. It’s definitely at a peak right now.”
Along with the kick off party, UTVUnderground has several custom-built UTVs throughout the show. They had four built machines in their own booth, as well as the FatRodv2 and Cinderella, both custom-built Polaris RZRs, in other booths.
“The Fat Rod in the Rockford Fosgate booth looking really good with a brand new wiring job,” said DiGiovanni. “We have a brand new Dynamix Polaris RZR, which is in the SDR Motorsports booth. We built it to unveil it here at the show and it’s being seen for the first time. Then we have Cinderella, which is a 2017 RZR XP Turbo in the Method Race Wheels booth. It’s a really clean and simple build, but it stands out because it has all of the right parts and there’s no graphics.”
DiGiovanni was also celebrating the addition of new partners to the UTVUnderground Garage. Along with existing top companies like Assault, Method Wheels, SDR Motorsports, Rigid Industries and Tensor Tires to name a few, they are equally as excited to welcome new brands like FUEL Wheels and Tires, as well as Pro Armor and AEM.
“UTVUnderground Garage is branching beyond just “A” items like cages, doors and lights,” said DiGiovanni. “Now we’re getting into these mod items like engine mounts and data logging. We also have soft goods. Whips are big this year. The first order we had today was to a gentleman from Qatar that purchased 16 of the new Buggy Whips. It’s pretty cool to see that.”
Matt Martelli with UTVUnderground Garage is pleased to see continued growth in the UTV industry. In less than 10 years, what was then a fledgling part of the industry has grown into a colossus.
“We’re one year old now and things have grown a lot,” said Martelli. “You walk around the show and it’s 90% UTVs, which is funny because Joey was one of the first persons to bring a UTV to this show and he got laughed at. It’s a little redemption, but it’s also the growth of the market. This has turned into a real UTV show. You don’t have to be rich or some gnarly physical specimen to come have fun in a UTV. You see regular people walking around the show with their families and that’s what this is all about. The UTV platform is the perfect entry into off roading.”
Fellow racer Colten Moore was here enjoying the party. Moore, who suffered a spinal cord injury attempting a double backflip on a snowmobile at Winter X Games in January, said he should be back racing a UTV soon and will likely be ready for X Games.
“This is my first time here, so I’m excited to be here,” said Moore. “My recovery is awesome. I cannot wait to be on something flying through the air. If those doctors don’t let me go soon, I’m going to freak out. I’ll be back in the SXS sooner than later because I like to push the limits. As far as I know I’ll be back at X Games. I don’t know that I’ll be doing any backflips, but I’ll be in it for medals.”
Roy Turner from Cyprus, CA brought his grandson to the show and did some shopping. He enjoys the family atmosphere of the UTV lifestyle.
“You can get a four seater and take your kids and grandkids out and have a good time,” said Turner. “It seems like the UTV community supports themselves and it’s very family oriented. There is a lot of product here, a lot of music, and it’s pretty cool. I got a good deal on some PCI radios, and a quick release fire extinguisher.”
Vendors are always a huge part of the Sand Sports Super Show and there are more than 300 here this year. The UTV aftermarket seems to grow exponentially ever year, with everything from hard parts to electronics and lighting. Lighting the way is Buggy Whips, which manufactures LED illuminated safety antennas.
“Our whips can take up to 160 mph, are UV protected for 25 years, have 180 LEDS per foot, and 1,150 lumens per foot,” said Russ Porter from Buggy Whips. “So if you want to see at night, this is the product you need. UTVs are getting faster. We’re running our whips in races now, on Trophy Trucks, on chase trucks. This product is designed to last no matter where you’re at in the world.”
The show continues Saturday and Sunday with doors opening both days at 9 a.m. Tickets are $20 and children 12 and under get in free. For more information, visit sandsportssupershow.com.
Photos & Story by: Harlen Foley // UTVUnderground.com
