Racing doesn’t always have to be about speed. Sometimes, it’s about endurance, navigation, and overcoming whatever comes between you and first place.

The 48 Hours of Kentucky presented by Terra Trophy is an endurance rally where teams compete in a rally style race through offroad and overland trails across Southeastern Kentucky. Starting at the Appalachian Overland Triangle (AOT), teams are challenged to cover more than 550 miles of rugged terrain that takes them through notable off-road parks like the Leatherwood Off-Road Park, Hollerwood Offroad Park, and portions of the Kentucky Adventure Trail (KAT) and Daniel Boone Backcountry Byway (DBBB).

Drivers must be careful though, while travelling on public roads, teams must strictly adhere to the speed limit and traffic laws. Breaking one could mean a team is disqualified.

Unlike traditional off-road races where spectators gather around a single course, 48 Hours of Appalachia spreads that action across hundreds of miles. Photographing this event ended up being tricky, fun, and a lot of hiking.

One of the biggest highlights of the weekend was seeing the incredible variety of vehicles and seeing how they would tackle the rocky terrain. Highly modified Jeeps crawled over rocks with ease while specialized builds relied on speed and suspension. Trail capability, large MAXXIS tires, and winches all played a factor in who would come out on top.

Terra Trophy divides competitors into three classes based on vehicle build and tire size – Small Tire, Big Tire, and Unlimited. Despite the differences in equipment, every team is faced with similar routes – meaning every team needs to balance speed and strategy in order to come out on top.

Josh Parrish would travel 556.94 miles at an average speed of 20.3mph to claim first place in the Small Tire class. While other competitors finished earlier, they would be disqualified due to excessive speeding on public roadways.

Erik Miller would finish first in the Big Tire class after travelling 544.67 miles in just 24 hours and 8 minutes. Craig Doyle would be the only other Big Tire competitor to finish without a DNF and solidify a second place finish.

Philip Moss would claim the top spot for the Unlimited Class by travelling over 560 miles in just 23 hours and 16 minutes.

Rather than staying at the event headquarters, our role was to head out to the trails and photograph competitors where the rally truly came to life.

We spent much of day one at the Leatherwood Off-Road Park on a small trail known as “Bleepin’ Jeeps” – a rough creek bed with water and large rocks that made navigation tricky. Big Tires were challenged by large rocks where Small Tires had to struggle with slippery conditions. Winching was necessary if any class wanted to make it to the top.

Day two took us to a different location – Hollerwood Offroad Park. Here, we sat out on a 3 mile hike (6 miles by the end of the day) to photograph competitors on a trail known as “Big Widowmaker” – another creek bed with boulders that took real navigating to conquer. Proper positioning of tires was required or differentials would slam into the rocks and leave drivers stuck.

Our primary focus was to highlight the off-road trails and how competitors tackled the obstacles, capturing nature and motorsports in the same scene. We wanted our media to not only promote the series, but the trail systems and off-road parks that help make an event like this possible.

What impressed us the most was the community surrounding this event. Competitors, organizers, spectators, and visitors were friendly and supportive of our journey, hanging out with us for hours after they had finished the rally, even after sunset.

Capturing a perfectly built off-road rig is always satisfying, but getting to make new friends and see everyone have fun was the highlight of this event. 48 Hours of Kentucky wasn’t just an endurance rally, but a celebration of adventure, capable vehicles, and the off-road community. We cannot wait to see everyone again.

Next up, we’re headed to Norton, Virginia on June 26-28 as the Appalachian Hillclimb Series faces one of the most challenging events of the season – The Flag Rock Hillclimb. Join us for the FanFest on Friday, June 26 in downtown Norton.

Hope to see you there!