CruiserFest 2014

Details: By Jonathan Harris

Driving to Tooele (Too-ILL-uh) for the first time, I had no idea what to expect. Located in the next valley west of Salt Lake, Miller Motorsports Park rises out of the myriad of farmlands and cookie cutter sprawl. Enter the main gate to this 85 million dollar megalith of concrete, asphalt and steel and you are as likely to see individuals as you are entire families engaging in every form of motorsports imaginable. You will find go karts, supercars and bikes galore circumnavigating the four main paved tracks. At this point you are wondering how your dusty, creaky and less than speedy Land Cruiser will fit in and more importantly….where you will pitch your tent. You navigate to the back corner of the course and suddenly it all makes sense. CruiserFest 2014 Toyota Magazine

As you enter the off-road area, the building to the right contains the most complete selection of original Land Cruisers in the world. 40+ vehicles are displayed (while many more are hidden away waiting for a planned expansion to the main building) ranging from the FJ25 to the complete cast of 70 series models used during Expeditions 7 adventure (see page 77). Continuing down the road you see a rock crawling course on the right and a large grassy area, said to have been installed by Mr. Greg Miller specifically and exclusively for the enjoyment of Cruiserfest attendees. The vehicles on display represent most of what Land Cruiser has to offer. Throughout the day on Saturday, presentations from luminaries like the aforementioned Greg, Scott Brady, Bruce Dorn, Kurt Williams and Jeremiah Proffitt among others, presentations that are worth the price of admission in and of themselves.

What really sets this event apart from others was the method of arrival for many of the participants. Nearly half of the 100+ vehicles in attendance traveled to The Beehive State via overland expeditions from Moab, Grand Junction, Denver, Preston and City of Rocks, descending upon their final destination. We did not have the opportunity to attend one of the expeditions this year but thoroughly enjoyed the journey in 2013 and WILL be back in 2015.

CruiserFest is hosted by Greg Miller every year, usually in September, at the Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. Learn more about this year’s event and sign up early for the 2015 event at http://CruiserFest.com