September 30, 2014
Gause, TX
If you were unlucky enough to miss the 2014 RPG Raptoberfest on September 19-21, you missed a great one.
The event took place at Fluharty Farms, 2000 wide-open acres with beautiful oak trees, rolling hills and a rockless 20 mile off-road track.
Over 100 Ford Raptor pickups were there, plus 10 of the best known Raptor aftermarket accessory vendors, all looking to put their Raptors to the test.
The event kicked off with a guided prerun lap to get everyone familiar with the course, after which the track was open until well after dark so everyone could use their retina-searing aftermarket lighting provided by the biggest names including Rigid Industries (The Official Light of Raptoberfest), Apollo Optics, and many more. After the track was closed, bench racing ensued, and continued long into the night. Since most participants opted to camp on site, there was no shortage of stories, exaggerations, out-right lies and fun.
Saturday started off with a little rain, but luckily it was just enough to keep the dust down and give the trucks a light coating of mud. The track was open all day on Saturday and everyone had plenty of opportunities to see what their truck could do on the sweeping corners and rock free terrain of the Fluharty Farms track.
Saturday evening consisted of an amazing BBQ dinner by Mr. Toodies BBQ from Hearne, Texas (http://www.yelp.com/biz/toodies-bar-b-que-hearne) followed by the Orchard:Africa Charity Raffle. The evening concluded with more night runs and a fabulous on-site concert by the Aaron Einhouse Band (http://www.aaroneinhouse.com).
The Orchard:Africa Project charity is a cause very near and dear to the hearts of Herb and Chris Fluharty, owners of the farm, who graciously allow TRR to use their beautiful property. So at every event we hold a raffle to raise money for Orchard:Africa. TRR founder Trey Palreiro had promised the Fluhartys he’d double the $10,000 raised in 2013, and thanks to the amazing generosity of Raptoberfest participants, the goal was smashed, raising $25,500! This wouldn’t have been possible if wasn’t for the amazing raffle prizes donated by TRR’s sponsors: RPG Offroad, King Shocks, Rigid Industries, Addictive Desert Designs, Method Race Wheels, ReadyLIFT, Rogue Racing, Texas Motorworx, Raptor Addict, Baja Coyote, Apollo Optics, The Car Stereo Company, and Raptor Custom Embroidery.
Raptoberfest was the final event of 2014, but rest assured 2015 will be full of great Raptor events, with the possibility of new TRR events in new states! Don’t miss out.
A huge thanks to all of the participants, and sponsors for the generous donations to Orchard:Africa, we raised $25,500 for the charity, of which 100% will be used to build community centers in South Africa.
