For 40 weekends out of the year, Creighton leaves behind his wife of ten years and a young daughter to travel across the country as the driver of the Maxxis auto support rig. He’s a one-man show supporting Maxxis’ drivers, fans, and anyone else that might need a little help. The hours are long and so are the drives. Being able to park the truck is another challenge.

The Maxxis automotive support truck made its debut in February 2005. The 43-foot Freightliner-based motor home is powered by a 500 horsepower Detroit engine. Creighton carries a generous supply of tires, along with a tire machine, welder and compressor. The Maxxis rig also features a 62-foot awning-covered display and pit area at auto events. Starting in April, the truck was joined by a 36-foot trailer able to tow as many as three rock crawl rigs at once, recently giving rock crawl competitors Bob Standage and Dan Patterson a lift.

Creighton was offered his job after developing a positive relationship with the company as one of the first rock crawl competitors Maxxis ever sponsored, so it is fitting r ock crawl events are his event primary destination. Creighton serves as one example of how to make the professional sport of rock crawl work for you.

For a tire company like Maxxis, rock crawling has been one of the big initiatives in getting name recognition in the automotive sector. “Rock crawling has provided an opportunity to put Maxxis on a world stage,” says Creighton. Creighton takes the attention gained from rock crawling and uses a “win-on-Saturday, sell-on-Tuesday” type of marketing and business approach. Maxxis’ engineering development team has been able to develop five different compounds in just four competitive seasons. Creighton is especially proud of the Creepy Crawler. “It is such a great, all-around tire. It’s decent on the road and amazingly quite. You’ll see the tire on more and more trail rigs out there.”

He sees the sport of rock crawl still in the investment stages and that tire companies are putting more money into the sport than any other kind of sponsor. “All tire companies spend a lot of money that hasn’t transitioned into big sales, whether it’s Toyo or BF Goodrich,” says Creighton. He assures Maxxis is sticking around to continue to grow with the sport because it is a great way to develop company products.

“People know Maxxis as putting it on the edge. The sport needs to progress in that way, creating energy that was there in the earlier years. A lot of people need to stop bickering and look at the big picture of how we can make rock crawl a household name.” Creighton sees one hole in the big picture of the rock-crawl-world-domination plan is the lack of capital to spend on marketing. It’s a hole he views as mainly needing to be acknowledged by the promoters. “Great strides are being made in man-made parks, but there isn’t money to market effectively in the cities.” However, Creighton also encourages competitive teams and clubs to not sit back and wait but to take up the grassroots marketing reins that work for him. “Doing this will also bring more ownership of the events to teams and clubs,” he points out.

“We’re five years from quitting jobs to do this full time,” he says, referring to the prospect of team members being able compete professionally without having to hold down day jobs. If Creighton started his involvement with competitive rock crawl back in 2001 and he’s now the Maxxis Tire Guy, in many respects, his timeline is accurate.

For the 2006 rock crawl season, like any other tire sponsor Creighton is hoping the company gains recognition through first place wins. This will be the first year Maxxis is sponsoring the Super Modified class, which includes UROC East Coast competitor and ATV racing legend Marty Hart. With faith in the new guys, Creighton plans to show the world Maxxis is not just some other tire company. “We can compete with the big names. We want to take some wins from the other guys.”

Creighton states competitors looking to be sponsored by a business like Maxxis need to take a few critical factors into mind and into action. “We’re looking for guys that have several different angles -- a hip team, a team with a high success rate, and are marketable and want to market themselves beyond just showing up to the events,” he says. Other attributes that make a team attractive for Maxxis sponsorship include a team that is “fiercely competitive as well as fiercely professional.”

Creighton continues to learn and develop new ideas everyday. “I am learning how dedicated the people are, what kind of influence it has, and how it influences others,” he said. “Rock crawl type sports create a loyalty.”

Here is how Creighton feels the rock crawl community views him: “I hope they see me as a guy who is much like themselves. Not just an outsider pushing a sponsor or product, but someone who understands the sport.” One of the most rewarding memories Creighton has is in the form of a compliment from Dustin Webster. He was publicly thanked by Dustin at one of the women’s events for not just coming to the one event, but for being at all the events and supporting rock crawling in general.

Creighton’s work is rewarding to him, which he describes as being able to go out the events and really get to know the competitors and others involved in the sport – not to necessarily make his next sale, but in Creighton’s words, to “become better friends.”

With friends like Creighton, who needs a competing tire? For more information about Maxxis Tires, contact Creighton at: Creighton@kingrockracing.com