— Strong Corporate Support Emerges In Sophomore Season —
CRANDON, Wisconsin (June 22, 2021) — For racers, fans and corporate supporters, the short-course off-road landscape over the past decade was tumultuous at best. One of auto racing’s most dynamic and viscerally exciting disciplines, the sport’s ultimate potential has also been hindered by a lack of cohesiveness and focus and consistency.
But, as Crandon International Raceway prepares to host its 28th annual Forest County Potawatomi Brush Run weekend, all of those hindrances seem a thing of the past.
In only its second season since being formed at the end of 2019, the AMSOIL Champ Off-Road series has quickly cultivated a culture of inclusion and success as short-course racing in the Midwest is stronger than it has been for a decade or more. This weekend’s second round of racing at Crandon will bring a huge field of competitors in a wide variety of truck, buggy and UTV categories, as well as a growing and impressive list of top-tier corporate supporters.
MARKETING ACTIVATED: For many consumer brands a key element to their marketing efforts revolve around direct interaction with customers. With six official tire companies active in the 2021 Champ Off-Road season partnerships with brands like Falken (top) and Cooper have a strong presence at the race weekends. (Photos: Champ Off-Road)
Led my ISOC President Carl Shubitzke and managed by Series Director Frank DeAngelo, the AMSOIL Champ Off-Road series comes to Crandon this weekend bolstered by the largest field of racers at the Brush Run event in decades. Approximately 250 Sportsman and Pro teams have nabbed all the track’s asphalt and grass pit locations. In fact, for the first time in memory more competitors are expected at the Brush Run than competed in the previous year’s Polaris Crandon World Championship Off-Road Races held on Labor Day weekend.
Armed with the momentum of successfully promoting a nearly complete inaugural schedule despite the worldwide pandemic, the off-season brought news of a new title sponsor in Minnesota-based AMSOIL and an impressive gathering of tire company partnerships that include Cooper, Falken, Kenda, Maxxis, Toyo and Yokohama.
That support resulted in the series inking a deal to broadcast its Pro category classes on the CBS Sports network. ISOC’s production arm (Long Haul Productions) had already perfected its live stream shows in 2020, including the use of a live action drone that was one of the first ever seen in professional motorsports.
ISOC is no stranger to live action sports, as the company has long promoted the most successful snowmobile series (the AMSOIL Snocross series) in the world. A unique partnership with the United States Air Force has now also crossed over from the Snocross series to the Champ Off-Road series in 2021.
BRING THE WORLD’S BEST: The 2021 AMSOIL Champ Off-Road season opener in Antigo represented one of strongest in decades, including highly competitive fields in the unlimited Pro 4 category (top). A stacked group of unlimited Pro 2 racers included Keegan Kincaid (center), Jerett Brooks (at left) and Mickey Thomas Jr. (Photos: Champ Off-Road)
“We are extremely pleased with the momentum that the Champ Off-Road group is carrying into this weekend’s 28th annual Crandon Brush Run races,” explained Crandon Promoter Marty Fiolka. “For our fans, participants and corporate partners the single most important element in entertaining our guests is with great, competitive racing. In 2021 we can focus more on adding to our customer experience than worrying about not having enough racers, especially in the Pro truck classes. We want to provide a world class product on the race track. Now the best of best will be at Crandon for both our events.”
The packed schedule for this weekend includes 33 races in two days, with a wide variety of competitors young and old competing in a wide range of truck, buggy and UTV categories. A gathering of over 20 unlimited Pro 2 category trucks are expected to take the green flag this weekend at Crandon, and with an equally impressive field of unlimited Pro 4 and Pro-Lite trucks also taking place.
A main attraction for this weekend’s Brush Run races will be Sunday’s exciting Forest County Potawatomi Community Cup finale, a Crandon tradition that pits unlimited Pro 2 versus Pro 4 trucks via a staggered start. Last year Michigan’s Kyle Kleiman took home the custom trophy and a $10,000 cash prize.
The 52nd Polaris Crandon World Championship Off-Road Races®, featuring the Crandon World Cup, will be held over Labor Day weekend from September 1st – 5th, 2021. The massive gathering is the largest, oldest and most prestigious short-course off-road races in the world, and includes Pro and Sportman AMSOIL Champ Off-Road series racing as well as a complete field of Ultra4 series competitors. The 6th annual Crandon World Cup for Pro category racers will also take place, with the sport’s best drivers earning coveted Crandon World Championship titles and the biggest prize of all — the annual Crandon Cup finale.
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ABOUT CRANDON INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY:
Every athletic form of competition has its iconic “holy grail” location; magic places that organically merge time, place and history in locations often imitated — but certainly not duplicated. For off-road racing, that unlikely theater of speed is found deep within Wisconsin’s Northwoods at a place better known as the “Big House.” Located just 100 miles northwest of Green Bay and just outside of the tiny hamlet of Crandon (population: 1,386), for 52 years Crandon International Raceway has provided three generations of fans with dirt throwing, high-intensity action and history-making performances. Crandon’s purpose-built, 400-acre facility is the finest on earth and has long hosted the largest crowds in short-course off-road racing history. Featuring more than 2,100 grass camping sites, fans enjoy two big weekends of racing each year at Camp Crandon. For more information please visit www.crandonoffroad.com.
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