The specially badged one-millionth engine will be installed in a Dodge Ram Heavy Duty 3500 Quad Cab (not the one pictured here, however), and that truck will be the grand prize in the Dodge Rodeo Sweepstakes. It will be given away to some lucky sweepstakes winner in December at the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.
Cummins has been supplying I-6 diesel engines to Dodge since 1989. During that time, the Cummins turbodiesel has increased its horsepower and torque ratings by 91 percent and 39 percent, respectively, culminating in the current High Output Cummins turbodiesel, which puts out 305 hp and 555 lb-ft of torque.
Coolest Reading Places SpecialA Tribute to Our Troops
As the hostilities in Iraq began to wind down, we started to get "Coolest Reading Places" submissions from members of our military taking part in Operation Iraqi Freedom. To say a belated "thank you" to them and to all the members of our armed forces serving us around the world, here's a special section.
Political & Environmental Watch
Our buddies at SEMA's Washington, D.C., office are hard at work keeping tabs on legislation that will affect us and our hobby, in good ways and bad. Here's an update as to what's going on around the country.
*A group called the Forest Roads Working Group (FRWG), comprised of a few conservation, hunting, timber industry, and recreation interests, recommended implementation of the Clinton-era Roadless Rule, placing 58.5 million acres of national forest land off-limits to road building and to off-highway vehicle recreation. The regulation is currently on hold pending the outcome of several lawsuits. The Bush administration, meanwhile, is considering its own version of the rule. The U.S. Forest Service is contacting various interested parties to develop a consensus on roadless policies. The FRWG recommended several modest changes, but also suggested that the current rule play out unchanged for a few years to better identify any flaws that need correction. Clark Collins, executive director of the off-highway vehicle advocacy group BlueRibbon Coalition, expressed disappointment that the FRWG did not take into account the needs and desires of off-roaders or understand the value in motorized recreation. "We definitely have a problem with their desire to implement the rule and then have us all hope that by participating in a collaborative process afterwards that our interests will receive some consideration," said Collins. "There's legal off-highway vehicle recreation taking place in those roadless areas. For them to totally ignore off-highway vehicle recreation as a value worth protecting in roadless areas is a basic flaw in their recommendation."
*The Department of the Interior intends to refer to a 1991 Bureau of Land Management (BLM) inventory of potential wilderness areas rather than a more generous 1996 inventory conducted by the Clinton administration. This action would exclude from consideration millions of additional BLM acres beyond the 23 million acres identified in 1991 (unless Congress specifically directs the government to protect more land). Utah implemented the new policy after a court settlement with the Interior Department that will exclude up to 3 million acres of BLM land identified in 1996 as potential wilderness. In a separate action the Interior Department also established procedures making it easier for Utah officials to claim rights of way on thousands of dirt roads that run across federal lands, most of which were created between 1866 and 1976, when federal mining law encouraged settlement.
Calendar
Aug. 8-10 CORR Lucas Oil Series U.P. Off Road 100, Bark River, MI. Information: 317/ 272-2827, www.corracing.com.
Aug. 9 California 200 off-road race (night race), Lucerne, CA. Information: Mojave Desert Racing, 626/442-9320, www.mdrracing.com.