Off Road: Veterans, rookies to battle

April 25, 2008|By MARIO RENTERÍA, Sports Editor

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PLASTER CITY WEST — It was in 1986 when Bill Krug of Tucson, Ariz., decided to step into a Class 1600 vehicle with his wife as a co-pilot in an off-road race.

On Saturday, Krug, 79, and his wife Linda, 65, will step into a sportsman unlimited vehicle to race against racers who weren’t even born before 1986.

The Krugs will race in the MDR Productions King of the Desert 250 here — the second of five MDR season races.

“We’re very excited. My wife hasn’t been able to ride with me for quite some time,” Bill Krug said.

He’s been away from off-road racing for about two years and will make his return to off-road racing Saturday, precisely when the automotive technology class from Vista High will make its debut in the series with its sportsman buggy.

Krug may have been born on the scariest day of the year — Halloween, but he’s definitely not afraid of anything.

Krug has 12 class championships and four overall championships in different off-road circuits. He did the SCORE Baja 250 by himself when he was 70 years old.

Suffice it to say Saturday’s race will be another drive in the park for Krug.

“I’m just happy and healthy, that’s all that matters,” Krug said.

Tim McCreary kicked off his tenure as the new automotive technology class teacher at Vista in August with a focus on off-roading.

He filled his class with off-road motorcycles and an older buggy and hasn’t lost his students’ attention.

“It’s an instructional tool for the kids,” McCreary said. “We started a project of building a race car.”

While it will be the class’ debut in the MDR circuit, it won’t be its first race. The class buggy debuted in the SCORE Baja 1,000 last season under McCreary’s racing team, McCreary Racing International.

McCreary is no stranger to off-road racing — he has 14 years of experience.

His students stripped the vehicle down, then rebuilt it from the ground up. They prep the vehicle before racing, are part of the pit crew and some are even co-pilots.

“The kids are pumped up and that’s what it’s all about,” McCreary said, “getting them interested in real life and not just out of the book.”

The race is set to take off at 8 a.m.

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