Desert Season Is Almost Here: Sand Sports Super Show Highlights

Every year the Sand Sports Super Show held at the Costa Mesa Fairgrounds in, Southern California, is just one reminder that desert season is right around the corner. It is a place were you are able to check out all the latest and greatest in the sand sports market, and giving one more reason to pick up those last minutes essentials before heading out.

This year the show was packed with plenty of amazing vehicles and parts to check out. The show always has something to look at no matter where you look, and this year’s show was no exception. This year the show had plenty of multi-million dollar sand cars and plenty of side-by-sides.

It is interesting to see how much the show has changed over the years with the trends of the off-road market. The show in past years was predominately quads and dirt bikes, with the change of the off-road market and the growth of the side-by-side market, there were very little at this years show.

The biggest attention grabber at this year’s show was Yamaha’s all-new YXZ1000R which we were able to get up close and personal with. In person it looks and feels like it will live up to all the hype it has been getting.

The all-new Yamaha YXZ1000R was grabbing everyone's attention at this years show.

Walking around it was apparent how large the side-by-side market is, and it does not look like it is going anywhere. UTV’s sprinkled the entire fairgrounds with all types of accessories on them. We came across a Bud Light themed Polaris RZR and a RZR on tracks.

One of the many multi-million dollar vehicles on display.

Want something with a little more power? We came across plenty of multi-million dollar sand cars, some that were flown in from overseas just for the show. It is hard not to stop and stare at these vehicles walking around the show.

One vehicle that caught our attention was a street-legal buggy with an LS1 5.7-liter supercharged motor that puts out 550 horsepower. The shape and style of the vehicle is what grabbed our attention, along with the large crowd, which immediately sparked our curiosity.

BJ Baldwin (left) and Aaron Kaufman (right) were out at this years Sand Sport Super Show.

Plenty of off-road celebrities came out to the show. BJ Baldwin was out at the Rigid Industries booth, signing autographs for the fans. One person that we did not expect to see at the show was Aaron Kaufman from Gas Monkey Garage, Kaufman was their racing the Toyo Tires truck.

Caping off each night of the show was the Stadium Super Trucks (SST). This brought the rumble of horsepower to Costa Mesa. The trucks put on a great show each night with Class 1400 desert trucks, Modified Karts, the all-new Arctic Cat Wildcat series, and of course Robby Gordon with the SST trucks.