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.
8-474: The Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group (MTEG) was a sanctioning body for an American short course off-road racing series that took place inside stadiums . Some events were televised, including on TNN and ESPN . Mickey Thompson raced desert trucks in the SCORE International series. Thompson said that he was seen "by nothing but cactus and jackrabbits." He reasoned that he needed to bring
16-632: 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. 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
24-627: 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; 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. Differences in rules and regulations resulted in
32-460: The 1970s, when Mickey Thompson founded the SCORE series. 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. Thompson developed the idea into a separate series as MTEG and concentrated on stadiums / arenas. At around the same time, outdoor road course racing developed in
40-553: 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 . In 2020, the Midwest's Championship Off-Road began its inaugural season. A Western series, Great American Shortcourse , was founded a year later by LOORRS executive Lee Perfect and King of
48-474: The Hammers organizer Dave Cole. 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
56-696: The excitement of desert racing to a wider audience. The body and series were established by Thompson in 1979. The first event was held in the Los Angeles Coliseum . The body also sanctioned motorcycle races called Supercross. The stadium series survived Thompson's 1988 murder. The body went bankrupt in 1996. The concept of stadium off-road racing was revived with the creation of the Stadium Super Trucks in 2013 by former series champion Robby Gordon . Short course off-road racing Short course off-road racing became popular during
64-504: The previous year. 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. Thompson's concept of stadium racing was revived by former MTEG racer Robby Gordon and his Stadium Super Trucks in 2013. However, after
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