Mudfest, the annual Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) competition that pits the newest and best off-road vehicles against each other for two days of grueling testing by seasoned automotive writers from all over the nation, will be held on Oct. 11 and 12. It will feature at least 25 different sport utility vehicles.

The event is sponsored by the Northwest Automotive Press Association (NWAPA), an industry group made up of professional automotive journalists based in the Northwest, but with members from across the nation. NWAPA’s membership includes people who write for automotive publications such as Motor Trend, Off-Road Magazine, Four Wheeling, and Popular Mechanics, web sites like Microsoft Carpoint, LACar, and New Car Test Drive, as well as newspapers from all over the nation, including the L.A. Times, San Francisco Chronicle and USA Today.

“Mudfest is now recognized nationwide as the premier SUV event in the country,” said NWAPA President Lary Coppola, publisher of the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal. “It has become a ‘must’ event for manufacturers to participate in. We’re proud to bring them here to the Northwest, where SUVs are among the top-selling vehicles in the nation, and for the opportunity to expose Kitsap County to automakers from all over the globe.”

The first day consists of track testing, which includes timed acceleration, handling and braking maneuvers as well as on-road evaluations. That portion of the event will take place at Bremerton Raceway, as it has for the past four years. Bremerton was selected because of its reputation as one of the best maintained tracks in the region.

The off-road portion will take place at the Thurston County ORV Park west of Olympia. This venue is a favorite because it was designed specifically for off-roading and offers a wide variety of terrain and conditions.

There will be two off-road courses — one that is strictly mud, starting out at least six inches deep and getting deeper by the end of the day; and a more challenging one that offers not only mud, but hill climbing, maneuvering around trees and deep water.

“There’s a reason we call this Mudfest,” quipped Coppola who is serving his second two-year term as head of the group. “The more mud there is, the more fun we have. Plus. driving them under these conditions, professional auto writers get to see firsthand which SUVs are really best off-road. Mudfest separates the posers from the players.”

NWAPA proudly operates Mudfest under the Tread Lightly guidelines, an industry standard which promotes off-roading with minimal environmental impact.