Luxury SUVs like the Lexus LX 570 have a reputation as “mall crawlers”: vehicles with the ability to go off-road but no experience doing so. Tanks that go without being tested.
A few years ago, Lexus and JTGrey Racing changed that – using the LX. The off-road racing version of the full-size flagship featured 37-inch race tires, custom shocks, competition-ready seats, and several HID auxiliary lights.
Not only did the LX go into the rough, but it won there, too. According to Lexus, “Racer Joe Bacal and his JTGrey Racing team piloted the LX 570 to victory taking the 2010 SCORE Stock Full Championship. Along the way, the team took first place in the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge, SCORE Terrible’s Las Vegas Primm 300, the MasterCraft Safety Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250, and Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 races.”
We’re looking forward to getting our hands on both the 2016 GX 460 and the 2016 LX 570 later this year and taking them to a place few people seem to take them: an off-highway vehicle park for splashing through mud, blasting down trails, and billy-goating up and over imposing rock formations.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
Where do you go for answers when you have a Lexus with a gorgeous leather interior but are not sure about how to maintain that luxurious look? The "Club Lexus" forums, of course.
