The Eley Area 2 Steel Challenge Championship was held in San Luis Obispo, California, in August 2024—and a year and a half later, people are still talking about it.
So who pulled it off? Kurt and Maria Grimes, along with a dedicated team, are the backbone of Area 2 in Steel Challenge. What does it take to run a renowned match with 471 registered shooters? And who exactly are the Grimes? I reached out to find out.
Randall Miller: How did you get started in Steel Challenge?
Kurt Grimes: I had always been interested in shooting from when I was younger, but in the mid 1990s we moved to the California Sierra foothills and my next-door neighbor invited me to a local run and gun match. To say I was hooked was an understatement; I could not wait until the next match. The Match Director was an avid steel shooter and was always talking about the Steel Challenge match. Back then the Steel Challenge match was only once a year, but it was a big deal and quickly became the highlight of the year for me.
Then in 1997 our son, who was 10 years old, decided he wanted to shoot with me. We started shooting as many matches as we could find. As the yearly Steel Challenge match got closer, we would start practicing about six weeks before the match and would shoot almost every day after work or school, then come home and reload for the next day. The Steel Challenge community has always been like a family and that aspect makes it easy to stay involved.
Maria and I are co-conspirators in everything in life—on or off the range. I tried for 20 years to get her involved in the shooting, but she always wanted it to be a father-and-sonson thing for us, plus she said, “I’m not that competitive,” which we both laugh about today. But I did notice that when she and I would head out to the range to function fire a new build or test a new load, that I was just loading mags and she would do the shooting. That told me she enjoyed pulling the trigger, so I kept on her. Fast forward a few years and one day she says she wants to shoot a match and give this thing a try. We made that a family day at the range with our son and his wife—we all had a blast. The next few days there were many questions and she was wondering how to get better. I knew the hook was set for her.
Things I thought I would never hear Maria say: “Don’t worry about the yardwork, we are going to the range,” or “I need more ammo,” or “I signed us up for a couple matches this weekend,” and “I need you to build me another new gun.”
RM: You are captain of the Steel Target Shooting Team. What does that mean to you?
KG: I was truly honored the day we were asked to take on the role of team captain. We are very fortunate to have this position and the trust of Larry Joe Steeley and the entire staff at Steel Target Paint. It was not a decision that I made lightly.
We have some of the best shooters out there on the team and we are humbled to be a part of the inner workings of that group. It truly does feel like a family and what is better than watching your family members excel. One of the best parts of being in this leadership role is all the ideas that get bounced around and suggestions that come our way. Making decisions that truly benefit the team shooters and the shooting sports as a whole is our primary goal.
RM: The Area 2 match has a reputation as being one of the best ones. What did you do to make this match so successful?
KG: Not everyone has the opportunity to get to the World Speed Shooting Championship (WSSC) in Alabama, so my goal as an match director is to give the shooters the closest thing possible with an area match.
When the WSSC started, there was only one match a year. There much effort put forward to make it an event that all shooters wanted to attend. That should be our goal when putting on any major match. It takes a ton of time to organize and make all the moving parts come together to make any match a success. We do everything in our power to make the match all about the shooters and try to give them the best experience possible.
Range Officer staffing is crucial to success; these volunteers are the backbone of any great match.
We were lucky enough to have a couple of shooters who own and work at a survey company, so we GPS-located the target positions and boxes, then laser leveled everything. We are the only club I have ever seen laser level the starting positions 10 feet from the box and 2 feet high to ensure consistency.
What do the shooters get for their entry fee? We try to make sure that every shooter has more value in their prize bag than the cost of the first gun. And if you’re doing a prize table, make it truly random. For our match, when you check in, you pull a random number and get the corresponding prize bag.
Awards are a great way to show that you value the shooters, and rewarding them for doing well goes a long way toward keeping shooters engaged. Raffles, meanwhile, are a great way to generate funds for prize money.
Food is another value add, and we go all out on this one. We have one of the best BBQ crews around, serving ribs and chicken all weekend long. Friday kicked off with hot dogs or chili dogs for everyone. Saturday was ribs with homemade beans, San Luis sourdough garlic bread and salad. Sunday was half chicken with beans, potato salad and we went around with warm garlic bread throughout the day.
Beyond the main meals, we ran a snack cart stocked with fruit, nuts, granola bars, trail mix, chips, all varieties of candy bars, breakfast bars and cookies. Steel Target Paint provided more than 1,000 ice cream bars. To wash it all down, we had sodas, iced tea, flavored water, juice, lemonade, Gatorade, plus a pallet of bottled water. And to cap things off, we served root beer floats at the awards ceremony.
The extras are always cool ways to do things that are unexpected for the attendees and spectators. The little things make the difference and create memories. Our goal is to have everyone want to come back and bring fellow shooters. We had a core group of four people that were responsible for putting on the 2024 Eley Steel Challenge Area 2 in California and we all had a common goal—make the match the best it can be.
Every range has a different set of circumstances that can create roadblocks, so look for a way to get around them if you can. There are so many things that can make a match memorable, it can be hard to pin down just one thing. But our goal is to continue the Steel Challenge legacy and keep matches fun.
RM: Is there anything else you would like to add?
KG: Shooting is a great family sport. It’s a sport that is not only fun but challenges you in many ways. Maria and I love that we are doing this together. After all, a couple that plays together stays together. See you on the range!
2024 STEEL CHALLENGE AREA 2 MATCH BY THE NUMBERS:
- Shooters and exhibitors from 15 states and two countries
- More than 600 meals served: ribs, chicken and hot dogs
- 1,800 bottles of water
- 826 soft drinks
- 10 gallons of vanilla ice cream
- 120 cans of root beer
- More than 1,000 ice cream bars
- 90,000 rounds fired during competition
- At least 2,230 steel plates painted
- 40-plus match sponsors
- 40 staff members
- Eight months to organize
- 446 scored guns, 471 signed up
- $8,000 in Lewis class prize money
- $80,000 in prizes
- 29 guns in raffles
- 60 lbs. of oranges
- 20 lbs. of bananas
- Countless bags of chips, nuts, trail mix, cookies and snacks
- More than 25 lbs. of candy bars
- 148 award plaques
- More than 70 WSSC pre-registration slots earned for the World Match
- $1,800 in tips for our paint crew
Article from the March/April 2026 issue of USPSA’s magazine.
