This was a fun read. I've heard of the Gambler before but it was interesting with the story and pictures you posted. This very nearly has me wanting to look for a Craigslist special despite not having the space
This was a fun read. I've heard of the Gambler before but it was interesting with the story and pictures you posted. This very nearly has me wanting to look for a Craigslist special despite not having the space
In reply to edizzle89 :
Slammo on the forums here is the owner of the Subaru we did it in and he's done two Arkansas Gamblers. I'm SURE he'd love to tell you all about what to expect and how it differs from the Texas Gambler. From what I hear it's 100% worth it, a great event with super neat roads.
In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :
Don't you have enough XR4Ti parts sitting around to scab together an whole car by now?
In reply to josolanes :
If you do it right, a Gambler car can 100% be useable outside the Event. Dallas is going to pull the Forester Struts and big tires and put STi struts and snow tires on and take the car Rallycrossing in the offseason. The car has fully functional heat and AC and passes inspection and he's using it as a spare daily and beater car. It would be pretty easy to justify something like a small crappy pickup as a parts runner/gambler.
The event is right at an interesting intersection between motorsport and just screwing around with cars. The better the car is and being a car the better your road miles will be, however you still need to be able to do truly dumb things in it. The "good" cars all had a lot of forethought and planning and good proper building to make them what they were. As a car building exercise it's probably more interesting than autocross or rallycross and if you throw your mind into it I think it rivals the Challenge as far as creativity and execution.
In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :
I do but I'm berkeleying sick of working on the things 
Something like this, lifted, knobbly tires, a hydraulic handbrake, a welded diff...
mazdeuce - Seth said:pilotbraden said:Well now, all "I wonder where I could find a two door Dodge Raider......
Not a Raider but a trooper II
I have talked to several friends and we will have a car maybe two or three at the Detroit gambler
I looked at some YouTube videos of last year's Detroit Gambler 500 and they estimated 1,200 cars participated it looks like a real circus Zoo combination and lots of fun
My boss and his brother are going to be doing the 2 the crack and back in June. $500 cars starting in Lampasas Texas to the Grand canyon and back with challenges in between. Sounds like great fun.
Thanks for the great writeup Mazdeuce and thanks for joining me, my friends, and my hooptie on our adventures.
Gamblin The Ozarks is a lot of fun. While it doesn't have a pure off-road segment like what was at Rally Ready, the road navigation portion is mostly unpaved forest service roads that make getting to the latitude and longitude coordinates a bit less straightforward. There's also some great teams and themes, and everyone has a great gambler spirit. Here's a compilation of my video clips from 2016, which gives a good feel for the event.
And here are my video clips from this event:
Bringing this back up as I am looking at doing the Gambler 500 in TN. Anyone ever do one from the entering/team lead standpoint?
What I currently have:
- a Gambler 500 scheduled to be near me.
- 3 or 4 buddies willing to commit time and skills to help build, or some $$$ for the project purchase/modifications to take place
- 1 buddy who really wants to help drive/navigate it
That was a great writeup! I'm surprised I missed it when it was first posted. I am doing the Utah gambler 500 this weekend in a V6 AWD Saturn Vue. Hopefully we can keep it running throughout the event!
I still have massive wood for that MKVIII.
I have family in Bastrop that always asks me to visit and now I need to know more about this Rally Ready place...
In reply to 2002maniac :
Please take and post a million pictures. Slammo was on the Arkansas gambler a couple weeks ago, unfortunately I had too much family stuff to attend.
You'll have a ball, they're cool events.
In reply to STM317 :
The guy who runs Rally Ready is Dave, a good friend of mine. Find them through Facebook or off their website and tell Dave that Seth sent you. Word of mouth is his best tool for the business and he loves to know how people heard about them.
EvanB said:In reply to dculberson :
Detroit Gambler is coming up, April 28 I believe.
Hmmmmm i did just buy a $500 car.
In reply to Patrick :
Its a hilarious good time! Unsurprisingly attracts some raging idiots though... We managed to run it in a bone stock aircooled Vanagon! (we did avoid the hairy mud and off road stuff, but still got stuck once). If you want some company when you run it I can get you a van full of misadventure to follow along.
Interesting, maybe I should see if I can get a seat in one of these events as a professional driver.
I call myself a professional because I have a decade of experience driving in off-road navigational rallies, including 24hr events, that push vehicles to the limits of their obstacle-clearance abilities, in my own vehicle which is often mechanically and electrically questionable 
In reply to GameboyRMH :
Sounds like the definition of "Professional"...
Well I won't really feel like a professional until I actually turn a profit from driving, or at least get a free seat in a sport where the driver could never be expected to get out and fix the car
Nice article Seth. It's got me thinking about stuffing the big block Chevy I've got laying around into an AMC Eagle with some homemade suspension based on what the trophy trucks run and using it in both the 2019 Challenge and some Gambler events.
The next Texas Gambler 500 is scheduled for March 9-10th, 2019. As posted a few weeks ago in Facebook.
What GRM's are thinking of doing it?
I'm hoping to take my stock '99 jeep xj. Or maybe get a clunker with my brother.
Only time will tell.
I thought the Gambler 500 looked fun when my buddy did the Detroit one a couple years ago. When they announced there was going to be one in Illinois, I was thinking about participating until it ended up being a bunch of hill jacks that had found a legal excuse to destroy cars, plus nothing interesting came, it was all beat up 4x4s and the occasional sedan or minivan on its last legs.
I was out there with a group of Toyota’s when the gambler crowd came through, and I got a bit of drone footage, you might recognize a few rigs:
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