When you race in water as deep as 5 1/2 ft., you need to do some serious waterproofing on your ATV or "swamp buggy".

We recently spotted these pictures in Four Wheeler Magazine of racers at the Florida Sports Park swamp buggy races. Tall skinny tires help drivers keep their heads above water through the deepest water holes. Silicone and other sealants are liberally coated on important component parts such as distributors, carburetor air intake tubes and fuel cells to keep them dry and working. Air intakes are kept as high as possible and exhaust pipes usually go straight up from the engine to reach above the water line.

Despite the modifications, racers disassemble many of the components after every race to get rid of water and sand. They also drain lubrication components from the driveline and clean the starter after every racing weekend.