CHAMPIONSHIP OFF ROAD: A NEW SERIES

Championship Off-Road was formed in late 2019 to fill the absence of a mid-west pro series in short-course. New ownership is nothing new in these parts. When Marty Reid sold the original CORR series to Jim Baldwin in the early 2000’s, Baldwin moved everything out west. The World Series of Off-Road Racing was then formed to fill the void. The 2008 failure of Championship Off Road Racing (CORR) saw a major split in drivers and sponsors. The Off-Road Championships known as TORC was formed with Ricky Johnson as an owner. The series was then sold to BJ Birtwell and the Armory Media Group. Birtwell then sold the series to Utah based Mountain Sports International (MSI). MSI was voted out by an association of track owners and Midwest stakeholders, and Lucas Oil was brought in to run professional racing in the Midwest in 2019. The series was named the Lucas Oil Midwest Shortcourse Series. At the end of 2019, Lucas Oil pulled out of racing in the 14 | DIRTSPORTSWORLD.COM

Midwest and folded the series. The International Snow Cross Series (ISOC) formed Championship Off Road in 2020. The first planned event at Crandon International Raceway was cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns.

Above: Kyle Kleiman secured a Pro-2 win in Round 2.

The inaugural race was held in July at ERX Motorsports Park in Elk River, Minnesota. Fans were allowed to attend. Specific attendance numbers were not released by either the series or the track, however the event appeared to be well attended. ERX spent the off-season re-designing the course. A new turn that goes up a sweeping hill was added to make racing more exciting. Several restless west coast racers made the trek to ERX to get some track time while their races were postponed. Among them, Ryan Beat, who debuted a new Pro-2, completely built in-house. While Beat struggled with mechanical issues, other racers found their mark. Keegan Kincaid, running a two-tone

black and white paint scheme split down the middle of his truck won Round 1. Mickey Thomas and Kyle Kleiman were behind Kincaid on the podium. In Round 2, it looked as if Ryan Beat had found his groove. Beat had the top spot and was running out front in a strong show of force before a mechanical issue would end his day at the halfway caution. Kyle Kleiman would move into the top spot and stay there all the way to the checkered flag. Keegan Kincaid had to settle for second. Ricky Gutierrez, also from the west coast, secured his first national podium with a thirdplace finish.

In the Pro-light class, Kyle Greaves was untouchable. Greaves would come away with a weekend sweep his first weekend in the truck. Rookie Carson Parrish managed a second-place podium in both Round 1 and 2. Not a bad way to spend his first weekend in Pro-Light. Cole Mamer had made the trek to ERX. Mamer earned a spot in third on the podium in Round 1, but lost that spot to Zach Szymik in Round 2 after suffering issues during the race despite being the top qualifier and running up front.

Above: It was a weekend sweep for Kyle Greaves Below: Carson Parrish managed a second place podium spot, two days in a row.

There are few drivers that have achieved 100 career short course wins. Carl Renezeder hit that milestone in 2012. Kyle Leduc now joins this elite club of the best of the best. Leduc hit his 100th win in Round 1 of the Championship Off Road Series at ERX Motorsports Park. His family was there to celebrate with him. Kyle Leduc is one of those drivers that dominates the Pro-4 class almost every time he hits the track. Leduc is unstoppable. A builder of his own trucks, he knows exactly the short course setup he needs for success. The veteran driver knows how to make his truck slide through the corners, float over the jumps and knows every spot where to gain extra speed on the competition.