Catching up with Casey Currie: His Endless Summer of 2016
CORONA, California (August 10, 2016) – It has been a busy summer for Casey Currie. He has been all over the Western United States and Baja California, Mexico racing, jeeping and spending time with fans, friends and family. Per his usual schedule there has not been much down time for Casey, but he would have it no other way. Now after racing the Lucas Oil Short Course Series at Glen Helen and Estero Beach, and jeeping through Rubicon, down the Baja Peninsula on the Trail of Missions and around Moab with our nation’s veterans, Casey is mixing it up and headed to the east coast for three events: the BFGoodrich Tires 36 Hours of Uwharrie and TORC races in Charlotte, NC and Crandon, WI. Keeping the same crazy schedule, just changing up the locations.
Casey’s summer started in June down in Baja California, Mexico, but not in a driver’s seat…rather with a microphone in-hand as he co-hosted the CBS TV coverage of SCORE International’s Baja 500 with Dianna Dahlgren. Two weeks later, Casey stepped back into his comfort zone at the Lucas Oil Off Road Series races at Estero Beach. One of his favorite tracks, Currie raced hard with technical expertise, despite having issues with his truck’s fuel system. But there would be no downtime for Currie as he only had one day to go back to his shop, change gears, and head back down to Baja for the 10-day Trail of Missions. Over the next 10 days, he and the other Trail of Missions participants made stops all the way down the peninsula with a production crew in tow, creating a tv show to come out in September.
When Casey got back to the states after his Trail of Missions trip, it was already July; and there was much to do. Days after the Fourth of July, Casey headed to Long Beach for the KMC Jeep Bash. Always happy to be around his fans and hundreds of fellow Jeepers, Casey made this beautiful day at the Queen Mary a day of meeting, greeting and hanging out in the Southern California sun. Days later, Casey headed up to the high Sierra Mountains for Axial Fest 2016. Alongside fellow Axial enthusiasts, Casey spent hours Jeeping the challenging trails and enjoying the company of his competitors while putting in a top 3 finish out of 70 competitors!
Currie wasn’t about to rest at that point…now it was back down to Southern California to finish preparing for the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Rounds 9 & 10 under the lights at historic Glen Helen. It was a special weekend where Casey was selected as one of 14 drivers who would honor one of the victims from the December San Bernardino shooting. Before the first race, Casey and some of his fellow drivers had a special meet and greet with some of the survivors, friends and family of the victims and the first responders. The two night races were full of unpredictable young drivers, but Casey’s competitive, expert driving kept him in the mix with an intact truck, when so many others had early ends to their races.
When asked about the first few months of his summer, Casey commented, “June was a crazy and amazing month! It is always great to spend so much time in such a beautiful region like Baja. Building my new Jeep for the Trail of Missions, while preparing for the short course race and making so many fun appearances at events like Axial Fest and KMC Jeep Bash, I can’t imagine doing anything else. I have such great partners in Monster, BFG, KMC, Axial, and so many others. They allow me to do so much and keep me going at this kind of pace. August is just going to take me to the other side of the country!”
Now that the racing weekend was over, once again, Casey had only a few days to finish preparing his Jeeps for the Jeepers Jamboree weekend through the Rubicon Trail. It would be 4 days of Jeeping…with a twist…no cell or internet service. Don’t think that slowed him down though. Casey, as usual, made the most of every minute, getting in valuable face-time with other Jeep industry leaders and Rubicon Jeepers. When his four “isolated” days were over, it was a mad dash to switch vehicles and head Moab, Utah for a special joint event with Monster and Veteran’s Charity Ride to Sturgis. For the next few days, Casey took these brave veterans from the front lines, out on the beautiful trails of Moab, getting some few precious moments to celebrate what they have done for our country.
“I am truly humbled – I look at these 30 veterans and I think about what they have done for all of us here in the US. The sacrifices they have made, their families have made, and would make again. Bringing these brave men and women to some of the most beautiful scenery in all of America, brining them a little bit a awe, is so special.”
Now, Casey has landed in North Carolina and his East Coast run has begun. This weekend he will be running the BF Goodrich 36 Hours of Uwharrie where he will be canoeing, skeet shooting, jeeping, performing hi-lift challenges and many other tasks in hopes of being crowed the first Uwharrie Champion. Then it will be off to compete in the TORC Series races in Charlotte a week later on August 19th and 20th. Totally different styled tracks than what he is used to in Southern California, Casey is excited to be heading back to the open tracks that he won a championship on a few years ago. He will be finishing off his summer over Labor Day in Crandon, WI, where he will be racing for the TORC Series Keys to the Big House and Crandon World Cup. Currie is ready to end his epic summer on a high note at what promises to be one of the biggest off road races of the year.