| Mudfest, the Northwest Automotive Press Association’s (NWAPA) annual Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) of the year competition, was a huge success according to Larry Hall, chairman of the event. The winners in each of the four categories will be announced at a special luncheon to be held Nov. 1 in conjunction with the opening of The Seattle Auto Show.
The event, which was held Oct. 13-14 pits the newest SUVs against each other and against the defending champions from last year in two days of grueling on and off-road and track event competition.
The track testing was held at the Bremerton Raceway, located at the Port Of Bremerton’s Bremerton National Airport. The off-road portion was conducted at the Thurston County ORV Park, west of Olympia.
“Bremerton Raceway is an excellent facility for such an event,” said Hall. “It’s a first class track, and one of the best maintained in the state. We were here last year and were so impressed we not only came back, but will be back two more times within the next four years.”
The event alternates between venues in Washington and Oregon each year.
The NWAPA, which subscribes to the Tread Lightly philosophy of off-roading, is made up of working automotive journalists from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Northern California. Many in the group are nationally recognized writers whose work is published regularly in some of the most recognized automotive publications and web sites in the world.
Money raised from the event is used to fund journalism scholarships for prospective automotive writers at colleges in Washington and Oregon. | 
