2008 Dunefest
- Winchester Bay, Oregon
ATVs, UTVs, Sand Rails, Motorcycles,
and More...
Reedsport, Oregon - Winchester
Bay and the Umpqua Dunes National Recreation Area
has been home to Dunefest since its beginning in
July of 2000. The five-day festival has been a main
attraction for ATV enthusiasts and sand-aholics
that offers vendor booths, drag races, and 24/7
access to some of the biggest dunes on the west
coast, not to mention some awesome scenery.
Leaving the main Interstate in Oregon and heading
down highway 38 towards the coast is like taking
a trip into the past as the landscape it dotted
with rustic looking farms, that are shadowed by
tree covered mountains, and small towns that are
reminiscent of days gone by, but if you are in
a hurry to get to the dunes, you may want to allow
a little extra time as there is always plenty
of road construction on any of the highways that
head out to the coast. As you drive through what
seems to be a dense forest along the riverbank,
you round the next turn and suddenly find yourself
in the small fishing town of Reedsport with banners
flying, welcoming all to Dunefest.
When the first Dunefest was held several years
ago, it was a smaller event that was geared toward
sand drag racing, but over the years the event
has grown to new proportions featuring live music,
freestyle shows, and grand prix style races in
the sand. This year, several of the major manufacturers
took notice of the event and made their presence
known in a big way. Big rigs from Can-Am/BRP,
Kawasaki, Yamaha, Arctic Cat, and Suzuki, who
was there celebrating their 25th anniversary,
lined the dunes just south of the main stage.
“This is a great event and we feel this
is a perfect way to celebrate our 25th anniversary,”
said Suzuki’s Glen Hansen.
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ATV
Racing Legend's, Gary Denton, Suzuki LTR
250 Quad Racer |
At Suzuki’s rig, there were many quads on display,
including Quinn Michaels’ Outta Control Customs
show stopping “Spider Quad”. Also on
display was one of Gary Denton’s former championship
LTR 250 Quad Racer and one of the first ATV’s
Suzuki produced, the 1982 Suzuki Quad Runner LT
125, which the Suzuki crew was thinking about entering
in the drag races. “We were going to enter
the LT 125 in the Suzuki Shoot-out drag races, but
the quad was lent to us to bring out here for display,”
stated Hansen. “It’s still in working
order and I’m pretty sure the owner would
probably like to keep it that way,” he said
with a laugh.
Suzuki has been a huge player in ATV racing this
year with some very impressive results. “We
are really proud of Dustin (Wimmer). He did a
fantastic job this year as did the rest of the
team,” said Hansen. “Suzuki has always
been heavily involved in racing and we plan to
continue that tradition.” Another bit of
info that the Suzuki crew let slip is that they
will be doing a mid season release in September
and have a few surprises lined up. Unfortunately,
those surprises will have to be kept hush-hush
until then.
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One
of Suzuki's 1st ATVs the 1982 Quad Runner
LT 125
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2008
Suzuki LTR450 Quad Racer Custom Built Spyder
Quad |
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