Offroad
Ahead of the 50th edition of the Crandon World Championship Off-Road Races®, which will be broadcast live on Red Bull TV, get the inside track on one of the world's most exciting off-road events.
Since 1970, the best off-road truck racers in the business have thrilled crowds in the rural US state of Wisconsin on a purpose-built track that serves up some serious mud-slinging action from, among other things, a heavy collection of 900bhp trophy truck monsters.
Situated in and around Crandon's forests and lakes 100 miles north of Green Bay, an arm of Lake Michigan, the Crandon International Off-Road Raceway is 400-acre facility that, every Labour Day Weekend, hosts the Crandon World Championship Off-Road Races®. These include fast and furious battles between two-wheel-drive trophy trucks, 4×4 trucks, side-by-sides (SxS) and a mind-boggling variety of other off-road machinery, like super buggies and modified karts.
Inspired by the early off-road races in Baja, the very first World Championship Off-Road Races® – or Crandon Brush Run 101 as it was then known – took place in 1970, with drivers clocking up 101 miles (162km) over a 25.25-mile (40.5km) course. Since those crazy early days, organisers have shortened the track somewhat and drivers now compete on a 1.5-mile (2.4km) track that allows thousands of fans to witness all the action.
Over the years, off-road royalty has descended on Crandon in ever greater numbers to do their thing, including US rally raid specialist Bryce Menzies, US racing legend Robby Gordon, two and four-wheel expert Ricky Johnson, and multiple champion Chad Hord.
This year's World Championship Off-Road Races® take place from Friday, August 30 to Sunday, September 1 and you can livestream the finals on Sunday courtesy of Red Bull TV. First, though, here's a little more trivia about this unique off-road spectacle.
It all takes place on the 'Big House' track
Every year, more than 50,000 fans gather around the longest short-course off-road track in the world, which is also the fastest short-course track anywhere, too, with speeds exceeding 160kph. All of which has earned the circuit its nickname, the 'Big House'.
Robby Gordon – a US racing legend who's competed in more motorsports disciplines and events than you can wave a pair of driving gloves at, including NASCAR, IndyCar and the Dakar Rally – was filmed driving a 900bhp Pro 2 truck around the 'Big House' in 2012. Watch his circuit tour here.
One of the unlikely stars of the show is Woody
The World Championship Off-Road Races® have their very own opening ceremony – a parade through the historic logging city of Crandon. Trucks and drivers competing for the main prizes are led down the main strip by local legend Gopher and his trusty Woody,a mad-looking, timber-framed truck that celebrates the city's lumber industry.
The vibe of the World Championship Off-Road Races® is most definitely festival-like, with off-road nuts camping out and throwing themselves into this one-of-a-kind event with abandon. Crandon even boasts an off-road recreation park complete with 480km of county ATV/UTV trails, which are all accessible from the Crandon International Off-Road Raceway.
A word of advice, though: if this year's livestream inspires a visit in 2020, then get to grips with the local vocabulary beforehand. Otherwise, you'll be left scratching your head every time you hear words and phrases such as 'bubbler', 'uff-da' and 'how's by you?'.
The race was actually inspired by another legendary off-road event
Despite being several thousand kilometres northwest of Baja Mexico, it was a late '60s TV broadcast of the legendary Baja 1000 desert rally that inspired a bunch of Wisconsin off-roaders to start their own event.
On September 6, 1970, a local off-road club called the Crandon Jaycees organised the first-ever Crandon Brush Run 101 on a course that traversed the toughest terrain imaginable, as well as a huge swamp. In the end, only 19 entrants finished, with two guys from Chicago – Jim Zbella and Wally Schauer – winning 3h 2m 15s after setting off. They won a massive $500.
The event flourished and in 1975 46 competitors entered, racing in front of tens of thousands of people at an extended two-day Crandon Brush Run 101. Nine years later, organisers decided to develop a proper, permanent track -- the Crandon International Off-Road Raceway – which has since grown to accommodate 50,000 fans, 2,000 campsites, a vast pit area and permanent grandstands.
By the late 1980s and early '90s, big names like Walker Evans, Robby Gordon and NASCAR champion Jimmy Johnson were competing against locals and the event started getting TV coverage. Now, 50 years after that first Brush Run, Crandon's World Championship Off-Road Races® features a $200,000 (£162,928) prize purse – the largest ever in short-course off-road racing.
Watch out for the Good Old Boys
After 50 years of racing, there are plenty of Crandon veterans around and every year they're invited to dust down their machines and tackle the World Championship Off-Road Races®, just as they would have in their prime. Because this year is the 50th anniversary of the event, enthusiasts and off-road pros alike are also being given the opportunity to drive the original Brush Run 101.
