Short course off-road racing is a form of auto racing involving the racing of modified vehicles on a dirt road closed course of a short length (tens of kilometers / miles or less). It is distinct from long course desert racing such as the Baja 1000, which consists of racing at least hundreds of kilometers / miles over a quasi linear (non-closed) course from one point to another. [1]
Short course off-road racing became popular during the 1970s, when Mickey Thompson founded the SCORE series. [1] He shortened long course desert racing, condensing it to a short course for easier spectator viewing and to allow competitors much easier access to the pits for mechanical problems. [1] Thompson developed the idea into a separate series as MTEG and concentrated on stadiums / arenas. [1] At around the same time, outdoor road course racing developed in the Midwestern United States from two laps around a 50-mile course in the woods near Crandon, Wisconsin to its purpose-built track. SODA became the sanctioning body in this region; [1] much of SODA's success was tied to the increasing support of manufacturers and it became the predominant short course series after Thompson's death. SODA fell out of favor with the creation of Championship Off Road Racing (CORR) in 1997 by announcer Marty Reid, though CORR folded in 2008 due to bankruptcy. [2]
Differences in rules and regulations resulted in a schism between the West Coast and Midwestern United States, though series like CORR hoped to bridge the gap by racing in the other region. [3] [2] Both sides grew leagues of their own with the West Coast-based Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series and Midwestern TORC: The Off-Road Championship both debuting in 2009, the latter replacing the World Series of Off-Road Racing which had also gone defunct the previous year. [4] LOORRS and TORC thrived with financial support from Lucas Oil and strong drivers, respectively, for over a decade. However, financial troubles and the loss of title sponsor Amsoil caused TORC to shut down after 2017, while the COVID-19 pandemic led to LOORRS being folded in 2020. [2] [5]
Thompson's concept of stadium racing was revived by former MTEG racer Robby Gordon and his Stadium Super Trucks in 2013. [6] However, after the 2013 season, the series began racing predominantly on street circuits, though it has occasionally returned to off-road courses and stadiums such as the Charlotte Motor Speedway dirt track and Lake Elsinore Diamond. [7] [8]
In 2020, the Midwest's Championship Off-Road began its inaugural season. [9] A Western series, Great American Shortcourse, was founded a year later by LOORRS executive Lee Perfect and King of the Hammers organizer Dave Cole. [10]
There are two forms of short course off-road racing. One type involves the race vehicles on an outdoor dirt road course. The short course off-road racing world championships are held at Crandon International Off-Road Raceway.
Another type is stadium racing, where the vehicles race a much shorter course inside an arena. The Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group previously used the concept followed by the Stadium Super Trucks.
The Short-course Off-road Drivers Association was a short course off-road racing sanctioning body in the United States.
Richard Bernard "Ricky" Johnson Jr. is an American former professional motocross, off-road truck and stock car racer. He competed in AMA motocross and Supercross during the 1980s and, won seven AMA national championships. He later switched to off-road racing. He won the Pro 2WD Trophy Truck championship in the 1998 Championship Off-Road Racing and 2010 TORC Series. He also won the Pro 4WD class at the 2011 and 2012 TORC Series. In September 2012, Johnson won the 4x4 world championship race at Crandon International Off-Road Raceway and later that day won the AMSOIL Cup pitting the two and four wheel drive trucks. Johnson won the 2014 Frozen Rush, the first short-course off-road race on snow.
Johnny Greaves is a professional American off-road racing racetruck driver from Abrams, Wisconsin. He has competed in numerous major off-road series, including SCORE International, Short-course Off-road Drivers Association (SODA), Championship Off-Road Racing (CORR), World Series of Off-Road Racing (WSORR), and Traxxas TORC Series (TORC).
Evan Walker Evans is an American professional off-road racer. He raced in the Championship Off-Road Racing (CORR) series in the 1990s when he was the Pro 2 champion in CORR despite racing using hand controls since he is a paraplegic. He continues to race occasional races as of the end of the 2012 season. Evan Evans is the son of off-road racing "The Legend" Walker Evans.
Jack Flannery was an American off-road racing driver who was active in the late 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Flannery won six short course off-road championships in Short-course Off-road Drivers Association (SODA) and one in Championship Off-Road Racing (CORR). He had over 150 event wins in his career. He was the first person from the Midwestern United States to be inducted in the Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame and his induction was unanimous. In his induction statement, the hall of fame said that Flannery "brought short course off-road racing to the mainstream by being the first Midwest native to organize a professional off-road race team that was capable of competing against, and beating, the best off-road racers in the world."
Rob MacCachren is an American off-road racer from Las Vegas, Nevada. MacCachren won over 200 off-road races including five editions of the Baja 1000.
TORC: The Off-Road Championship (TORC) was an American short course off-road racing series. It tours throughout the United States featuring professional four and two-wheel-drive Trophy Trucks along with a Pro Light class. TORC was founded by off-road racing driver Ricky Johnson in 2009. It was known as the Traxxas TORC Series, owing to title sponsor Traxxas, from 2009 to 2013. It was purchased by The Armory in August 2013. It was sanctioned and officiated by the United States Auto Club (USAC) since its inception.
The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, also known as LOORRS, was a short course off-road racing series in the United States and also in Mexico beginning in 2015. The series featured events in Arizona, California, Nevada, Missouri and hosted a weekend of racing in Ensenada, Mexico at Baja International Short Course near Estero Beach. The title sponsor for the series was Lucas Oil Products, whom also owned, sanctioned, and operated the series. It effectively replaced the CORR series starting in 2009.
Carl Renezeder is an American off-road racer for Team Renezeder Racing. As of the end of the 2016 season, Renezeder has won 125 short course national events he has competed in Lucas Oil Off Road Racing (LOORR), Championship Off-Road Racing (CORR), and World Series of Off Road Racing (WSORR). He has won nine short course off-road racing championships. Renezeder was also the first driver in short-course off-road racing history to win championships in both two wheel drive and four wheel drive trophy trucks in the same season when he won the 2009 Unlimited 2 and Unlimited 4 divisions in LOORRS.
Off-road racing is a form of motorsports consisting of specially-modified vehicles including cars, SUVs, trucks, motorbikes, quadbikes and buggies racing in off-road environments.
Rick Huseman was an American race driver from Riverside, California. He raced off-road and his career peaked in the highest level in a four wheel drive short course racing truck. He won the 2009 Traxxas TORC Series (TORC) and 2010 Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series (LOORRS) championships before dying in an airplane crash in late 2011. He had won 50 races in his career between Pro Light and Pro 4.
Chad Hord is a professional American off-road racing driver from Felch, Michigan. As of 2012, he races a PRO 2 short course truck in the Traxxas TORC Series (TORC).
Scott Taylor is a retired American professional off-road racing driver from Belvidere, Illinois. His off-road racing career began in 1974 with buggies and his career peaked in the premiere two-wheel-drive truck class called Pro2. He retired from driving after the completion of the 2013 Traxxas TORC Series (TORC) Heavy Metal race at Crandon.
The Stadium Super Trucks (SST), formerly known as Speed Energy Formula Off-Road, is an American short course off-road racing series created by off-road racer and former IndyCar and NASCAR driver Robby Gordon in 2013. Sanctioned by the United States Auto Club (USAC) in America with title sponsorship from Gordon's Speed Energy brand, the series utilizes identical off-road trucks that originally competed primarily in American football stadiums, but in 2014 began racing mostly on street circuits and road courses, often in conjunction with the IndyCar Series race schedules.
Sheldon M. Creed is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing. He is a member of Drivers Edge Development, a driver development program for Chevrolet-affiliated racers.
Christopher Polvoorde is an American off-road racer from Southern California. He has raced in many different forms of off-road competition including short course, desert racing, and rally raid, while also dabbling in other disciplines like dirt track racing.
Kyle LeDuc is an American professional racing driver. He mainly competes in short course off-road truck racing, where he has seven Pro 4 class championships, six of which came in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series (LOORRS), and over 100 career wins. As of 2022, he races in Championship Off-Road (COR) and Extreme E, the latter for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Ryan Beat is an American professional off-road racing driver. He competes in the Championship Off-Road Series, driving the No. 51 Pro 2 Chevrolet for his team Ryan Beat Motorsports.
Jerett Brooks is an American racing driver. He mainly competes in short course off-road racing such as TORC: The Off-Road Championship, Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, and Championship Off-Road.
Championship Off-Road, officially known as AMSOIL Championship Off-Road and abbreviated to COR, is an American short course off-road racing series. Founded in 2020 and sanctioned by the International Series of Champions (ISOC), the series mainly competes in the Midwestern United States.
