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Casey Phillips
Photos by: Casey Phillips
Lake Nona Classic Quad
Scrambles in Orlando Florida
September 23, 2006
 The Lake Nona Classic Quad Scramble is an all
ages, three day riding and racing bonanza held
in central Florida annually. The Lake Nona
Classic Quad Scramble was held just south of the
Orlando in Lake Nona FL. The quad scramble was
hosted by Florida Trail Riders and sponsored by
Answer Racing and MSR. This was an action packed
event with great racing for everyone in a safe
and friendly environment. As soon as we pulled
up to the event, you could feel the energy and
excitement in the air. We knew this weekend was
going to one we would never forget!
We downloaded a flyer from FTR’s website that
provided us with information about the race such
as; hotel names and numbers and campground
information. The roads to the Lake Nona Classic
were well marked; the event was just a few miles
off of Hwy 417, which is just south of the
Orlando International Airport. Once we turned
onto the main road for the event we traveled
down a dirt road for about a mile, the
registration and check in area were at the end
of the dirt road. After filling out some general
information on a form and paying an entry fee of
ten dollars per vehicle, we were let into the
event. Everything was well laid out for anyone
going to the Classic. There were camping areas
and also Pit areas behind the spectators parking
area. We could see all of the riders preparing
for their upcoming races!! How cool is that?
 The racing trail or track is approximately
8.6 miles of Florida sand, grass and mud along
with a couple of hard banked turns and lots of
whoops. If you have ever ridden in Florida you
know how dusty the terrain can be and how
difficult it can be to maneuver your quad in the
soft sand, but this isn’t the case on this trail
because FTR uses this track a few times a year
so it is well maintained. The track was very
well marked with flags giving the riders enough
time to react to the hard turns and trying to
help keep them on the track. There was plenty of
manpower scattered throughout the trail to flag
riders if needed, and emergency medical personal
on the seen incase of an accident. This was a
very well organized event that seemed to run
like clockwork. You could tell that the
organizers of this event took their time
planning this weekend to ensure that everyone
had a great time racing and were safe too!
 There were 25 classes for this quad scramble,
riders from Quad peewee ages 4 to 6 to Quad AA
16+. The first order of business was everyone
got to practice from 8:30 am to 9:30 am giving
every rider a chance to view the track and to
think of strategies for their upcoming races
later in the day. The riders had a meeting
following the practice session; they received
the rules and regulations for the race and were
given a pre-race pep talk. Some of the
regulations that all riders had to follow were:
Each rider had to wear a transponder, which
determined the amount of laps they did. These
transponders could be purchased at the event for
twenty dollars. They also had to have two color
plates that distinguished which class they were
riding in. Racing began at 10:30 am with the
pewee and junior classes. Their races ran in
intervals of fifteen to twenty minutes each
until around 1:30. From 1:30 to 5:30pm, the
senior divisions began to ride. Each division of
classes ran races for two-hour intervals. These
classes were the AA, A, B, Vet’s, seniors, super
seniors and master classes. During the races,
these riders had blazing speeds from the
starting line, ripping up the trails with very
fast lap times of 7 to 11 min. average. Once all
of the races had ended, they capped the day off
with an awards ceremony.
 During the races I had some opportunities to
speak with a few fans and riders. We had a
chance to speak with the father of Derrick S.
rider # 127c a rider of a Polaris 500 outlaw,
while he was ripping down the track in the Quad
C Open Class. To see more pictures of Derrick
you can see him on
http://www.edgewaterquads.com/profile.html.
Both Derrick and his father have been long time
FTR club members and racers of the series. They
shared a lot of information about the club, and
the Lake Nona Classic Quad Scramble with us. Mr.
Strattor told us that Derrick placed 3rd in the
point’s series last year and was looking to
place higher this season. Mr. Strattor races
Dirt Bikes in the FTR series and unfortunately
we didn’t get to see him in action this weekend.
FTR host not only Quad Scramble but also, Hair
Scrambles, Enduro’s and MX events. Speaking to
Derrick and his dad, our ATV club has become
inspired about joining FTR and wanting to begin
racing with this organization. We all felt that
if we were going to join another organization
this was definitely the one to join.
 The last day of the Lake Nona Classic Quad
Scramble was Sunday the fun day! Everyone that
wanted to participate in the ride the trail was
allowed to the fee to run the trail was 25
dollars for the day. To start the last day of
the event there was a riders meeting at 9 am.
The riders for the Sunday fun day were broken up
into classes, Adults, Women, Children and
Motorcycles. There were many different types of
ATV’ s running down the trail from 4x4 to super
fast 450’s. Everyone enjoyed himself or herself
on this day, and you could still feel a little
competition in the air left over from the day
before. We plan on joining these great people
for a little fun and racing at the Lake Nona
Classic Quad Scramble next year. Who knows,
maybe next year a member of our quad club can
participate in the race too.
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