The Galactic Swap Meet Sandcrawler Race of Champala officially opens tomorrow along with the opening of the Uli-ah Gafsa Memorial Swap Meet. An extreme sport for extreme sentients, the time trial styled sandcrawler race will see individual sandcrawlers racing across the sand in a mad dash to pick up droids as fast as possible. The catch is that these droids are scattered across the swap meet area, and that the sandcrawler must completely travel to the location of the droid before picking it up with no assistance from speeders, ships, or fast runners. With no set racecourse the competing racers have historically been seen taking a variety of different paths, often taking risky shortcuts to shave off a couple of seconds.

While sandcrawler racing has been done in one form or another for many years by the Jawas of Tatooine, it has only relatively recently ascended to galactic prominence with it first being held for a galactic audience at the Fifth Uli-ah Gafsa Memorial Swap Meet on Sembla. Relatively slow-paced compared to the speeder and sublight races that typically occur, the sandcrawler race is not without its share of excitement. Being dubbed “The fastest 10 miles an hour of your life” for good reason the race will see the often borderline antique vehicles being pushed to their absolute limits. In some previous races, we have even seen sandcrawlers pushed to 11 or even 12 miles an hour as racers recklessly attempt to overtake others. However, the speed record stands at 13mph during the “downhill segment” of Owyn Darklighter’s prize-winning race at Malastare, even though it is rumored that his sandcrawler was illegally modified.

Additionally, many fans of the sport have noted that the sandy plains of Champala which the race is occurring at is notably more humid than the deserts of Tatooine which sandcrawler racing originally hails from. While there is the chance that this may lead to increased sandcrawler malfunction, the racing commission views this as another challenge for the racers to overcome. However, due to the potential of some areas of the track becoming “impassable” due to repeated wear from sandcrawlers a number of alternate droid checkpoints are being added. Exact rules regarding these alternate droid checkpoints will be available when signing up for the race. Regardless of these alternative droids it is expected that racers will travel over 90 Jawa miles to complete the race, or around 50 standard galactic miles.

The final touches are being put on this swap meets sandcrawler race as this is broadcast. Everyone is encouraged to take part regardless of the skill of your racing team, your species, or your political affiliation. If you did not bring your own sandcrawler loans of vehicles are available. In a sense, isn’t madly dashing around in a sandcrawler trying to grab droids while racing through other people's encampments what swap meat is all about?

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Remember to stay safe at the swap meet. Remember that while the spirit of the swap meet is one of fun, don’t be any less cautious in dealing with strangers than you would be in any other setting. We’ve put together the following list of “specific precautions” for swap meet attendees based on previous incidents.

• Research who you are dealing with.
• Check who owns an entity before boarding and that the owner is reputable. Verify with them that the ship is intended to be open to you before entering the entity.
• Do not leave valuables unattended.
• Reputable Jawa middles are always recommended.

Sandcrawler racing would also like to thank those who have sponsored us so far.

• Cybot Galactica who is providing 1,000 droid parts, 500 restraining bolts, and 144 ion gun and armor sets for prizes.
• The Smuggler’s Guild who is providing 5,000,000 credits of prize money.
• Thomas Decoy for providing 1,000 credits of prize money.
• Saba Ku for providing 1 credit of prize money.