Hello and Welcome to TX ELITE RALLY. If you don’t know who we are, here is a little background on our history and why we do these events.
FOUNDER
My Name is Richard Crowder and I have had a passion for the open road since a very young age. I love Family Road trips; my family took many when I was a child. Driving mostly throughout Texas and some just into New Mexico to visit Family that lived in those areas. My father’s parents lived in East Texas amongst the tall trees and amazing backroads that I love driving through the twisting roads. My mother’s parents lived out in West Texas which gave me a love of Open Road driving, just the WIDE OPENNESS of it! I loved seeing and experiencing all that Texas had to offer growing up in the 1970s and into the 1980s (Yes I am OLD but FOREVER YOUNG at HEART). We lived in England for a couple of years in the Mid 1970s where I got to experience Rolling Country Roads lined with stone walls, Amazing Cliffs along the English Channel, and Beautiful rocky beaches at the bottoms of the cliffs. I moved on with life growing up and getting busy like a lot of us do and forgot how much I loved driving.
The late 1990s came along and I bought a car to just play with without knowing how much it would change my Life. I come from a CAR NUT family background – My father had just a few toys along with my Uncle Herb in their younger years (55 Belair, 60’s model Buick convertible, Lincoln Coupe, 1968 Plymouth Road Runner- this one was my 1st memory of cars) – Not to forget cruising the streets with my Older Brother and all his friends in different cars and trucks. It was a 1995 Civic EX that thru lots of hard work and long hours became a Fully Sponsored Show Car. Chris Jenkins and I met thru the building of this car and I had no clue it would lead us to where we are today. He is my partner for the TX Elite Rally – more from him in a bit. I was reintroduced to open Road diving again when some of my Sponsors of that car had me drive to different states for Events, making LIFE-LONG Friendships along the way. The One that stands out the most would be the – SUPER STREET West Leg Tours that took me to Atlanta Georgia for NOPI Nationals. Through one of those Drives, I met (Doug Parks) the Man that would allow me to live a DREAM of mine. He hired me to be the Show Support Driver for AUDIOBAHN and for 4yrs I got to Travel all through this BEAUTIFUL country we call AMERICA going to Car Shows and Dealer events. I did not just use the Major highways, as I was driving and talking with other Big Rig drivers they told me of backroad shortcuts across states that took me on some of the most AMAZING SCENERY one’s eyes can be blessed to see. Life happened and once again I had to give up the OPEN ROAD.
Now through Friendships made over the years, I was asked to help run events for ParkUpFront, through those events I was asked to help support the Rallies they put on, and my LOVE, MY PASSION for the OPEN ROAD has been stoked again. The FIRE is burning and I want to share ALL the Amazing, Beautiful things there are to SEE and Experience this county has to SHOW US!
CO-FOUNDER
My name is Chris Jenkins and I too have a passion for cars and traveling. I grew up west of the DFW metroplex on a goat farm. I was always trying to fix and drive anything with wheels and have been hooked ever since. I was also fortunate to get to travel with my parents and grandparents throughout the US and the Caribbean (I love scuba and am also a certified Divemaster). I have only been able to explore a small fraction of this earth and can’t wait to see what else is out there.
I met Richard back in the 90s while being in the car club and going to shows. I helped him and others with their cars to see what they would become. I always enjoyed the friendships along the way and many are still going strong today. After seeing what Richard accomplished with his show car and all the sponsors/relationships he was able to build, I wanted to do the same. I followed him to all the shows to learn everything I could. Eventually, I was able to build relationships and acquire sponsorships to build my Turbocharged RX-8, with Richard as my mentor. We traveled to many shows and I will never forget everything we saw, everyone we met, and the great times we had.
After starting a family and raising my kids, I am back at it going to events, building another car, traveling to places I haven’t been, and enjoying the friendships made along the way. I love planning events and putting all the pieces together and seeing everyone have a great time.
MEDIA
Hey! I’m Sarah. Some know me as Rockwallgirl. I am a photographer. I was born in a small town in West Virginia and moved to Texas when I was 12. I have had a passion for cars ever since I was a little girl. While most girls were playing with Barbies, you could usually find me outside under a tree playing with my Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars. My passion comes from being a daddy’s girl. My dad was a coal miner but in his free time, he would spend hours tinkering with cars and creating mods that were unheard of back in the 80’s. He was also a part-time photographer for several years and I enjoyed watching him do photography and then develop the images in the darkroom he built in his workshop. I like to photograph all types of cars from exotic cars to Rat Rods. My photography journey has taken me to many fun places and allowed me to meet so many awesome people. I have photographed several family, maternity, and engagement sessions but my passion is cars. I love to go to car meets & shows but ESPECIALLY love Rallies!
In November of 2013, I married Daniel, the love of my life. Daniel purchased his Challenger after we got married and he did a few little mods to his car then we decided to start attending car meets. One of the first meets we attended was where we met Richard. The first time we met, it was as if we had known him for years. He told us stories of the car scene “back in the day” and told us some other stories and some other stories and we learned very quickly that he has a LOT of stories to tell! We have been blessed to get to know him more over the years and he introduced us to Chris, whom we also hit it off with immediately. One of my favorite memories with Richard is the day we attended 5 car events in one day! Now THAT’S dedication!
This is not a hobby, it’s a lifestyle. The environment can be a car meet, racetrack, or a narrow mountain road. Wherever this journey takes me I will value every minute and look forward to photographing the next adventure. Having a fast car makes the journey more enjoyable, but no matter where the drive takes you, it’s always better when you’re cruising with a group of like-minded individuals.
I mainly love cars for the people they attract. It’s the collectors, the mechanics, the car drifters, and other enthusiasts that all seem to have a common love and a lust for life, and they are the kind of people I want to surround myself with. If I can surround myself with those people and have great fun being around gorgeous cars at the same time, then I’m going to jump at the chance! For as long as God gives me breath in my lungs, I will be passionate about cars!
Life’s a road trip! Enjoy the ride!
MEDIA
Hola! My name is Daniel Herrera. I enjoy all kinds of traveling, whether it’s somewhere close, out of state, or out of the country. Cars and motorcycles have always been my passion. As a young lad, my family and I migrated from Guatemala to Canada, in the 80’s as refugees. Before we arrived in Canada, we spent half a year in the capital of Mexico, while our refugee asylum paperwork was being processed. Getting to Mexico was the very first “trip” we took. I don’t remember much of it and the struggle it was to get out of Guatemala. I just remember that it was our first “trip”. When we left Mexico City, we ended up on the west coast of beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia. We lived there for a couple of years, then crossed the country to the east of Canada, the province of Ontario. My mom couldn’t drive and my sisters and I were too young at the time to drive. My dad was the only one who could, so he drove us across into Ontario. The trip was 6 days. My dad was a car enthusiast as well. His favorite era of vehicles was from the 40’s and 50’s. Although he never owned any classic cars, he always pointed them out whenever we’d see them on our travels. He did have many vehicles but for the sole purpose of buying to repair them so that he could re-sell them for extra income to provide for us.
I was about 7 years old when I started helping him fix cars, but I hated it. Ha-ha. As I grew older, developed a curiosity about wanting to know how to fix them and also how to customize them. By the age of 14, I bought a car off of my dad that he had just bought. I had worked that summer and had some money saved up, so I jokingly asked him if he’d sell me the car. He saw that I was serious, so he sold it to me. The car lasted about 2 months because of some electrical problem that neither he nor I could figure out. It was a 1986 regal Somerset. I was a 14-year-old with no money, so I couldn’t fix it. When I turned 15, he had a couple of other cars. Since the Buick wasn’t in running order, he gifted me the older car that he had. I didn’t know how iconic this car would turn out to be until I became an adult. The car was an ‘84 hatchback Toyota A-86. After the A-86, I had some other cars that were “just cars” THEN, but nowadays, collector cars. We moved around a lot growing up. We moved back to Vancouver, again by driving. From there, we made a trip to Guatemala by, you guessed right, driving. That trip was 8 days one way. In 1994, we moved to Texas from Vancouver. We only lived in Texas for half a year and then moved back to Ontario Canada again. All our trips were made by land. By the time I was 16, I began driving to long-distance places myself, such as New York, New Jersey, and northern Canada. The last long trip I did was when I decided to move back to Texas on my own. I drove my ‘89 4Runner from Canada to Texas. I was 21.
Every car I’ve owned has always had some sort of modifications done to it. Whether it being a loud stereo system or outer exterior looks. I never liked stock vehicles. Even the smallest “mod” makes it you’re own.
Fast forwarding to 2016-2017, I purchased a white Challenger, one of my first domestic cars. A couple of months later, we met Richard at a car meet. He had just purchased his white challenger as well. We didn’t meet up again until months later. From there on, we instantly became really good friends (now like family). Throughout that friendship, my wife Sarah Herrera, and myself have met many great people. We love and enjoy being part of such a great community of car/bike enthusiasts. We appreciate every make and type of style of vehicles and the people that build them!
-Life is too short to drive boring cars.
TX Elite Rally, as you have read, was born from the passion for cars, travel, the people you meet along the way, and the LIFE-LONG FRIENDSHIPS, that you too can make!!!
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Join us at our next Rally – see some open country – while experiencing open roads with a few (Wink Wink) curves thrown in for flavor and let’s see where the TRIP takes US!!!
Our mission is to set up fun, safe, memorable events and make lifelong friendships with all that attend.
– CURRENT SPONSORS –
