So you say you're not from the Southwest and that you'd never venture to Baja? You say you're after some high-speed, high-horsepower race action that doesn't involve monster trucks or mud boggin'? If either of the above descriptions applies, Championship Off Road Racing (CORR) is the place to be.
CORR is the Midwest's answer to Baja-style prerunner and Trophy Truck racing. The same suspension technology that allows the Herbst brothers to hurtle along Baja's trails from Ensenada to La Paz also allows Curt Le Duc to slam his Skyjacker-backed Ford F-150 through waist-high whoop sections and off of the supercross-style jumps built into CORR's courses. Want to see bypass dampers and dry-sump oiling systems bolted to 4130 chrome-moly space frames? Look no further than CORR. As with Southwest desert races, CORR provides classes for several types of vehicles, ranging from specially built Pro-4 and Pro-2 trucks to Sportsman-level trucks based on stock vehicles. CORR also has classes for VW-powered buggies, adding to its similarities with Baja.
This season is CORR's sixth, making the series a comparative youngster next to seasoned legends such as the Baja 1000. sJust the same, CORR packages high-flying, fender-slammin' race action with something that's usually not on the menu: convenience. Convenience? Absolutely. Most Trophy Truck fans drive hundreds of miles to catch a glimpse of their favorite drivers and machines as they streak past in a cloud of roost. Additionally, long off-road races typically start right at the crack of dawn, or ten minutes thereafter. Don't get us wrong: We love the adventure that comes with watching our favorite mega-suspension Trophy Trucks, and we don't mind peeling our eyelids open for an early-morning race start. CORR, however, lets us watch our heroes fly by more than once, lap after lap, and it allows us to sleep in because the races start in the early afternoon.
This year's CORR series kicked off in Dresser, Wisconsin. Trollhaugen Ski Resort hosted the 0.6-mile track, which ran in and around slopes usually set aside for a snowboard park. Throughout the weekend, carnage ruled the course. The only way for teams to avoid body damage to their trucks was to stay off the track! Despite the mayhem, racers seemed to revel in the challenge. The crowd, used to seeing monster-truck racing at the Dresser venue, roared its approval with each rollover and shattered fender. Clearly, racers testing their mettle at Dresser needed not only racing experience but a special kind of insanity as well. At the end of the weekend's racing, enough piles of shattered fiberglass body parts were collected to create several monuments.
Perennial racer Johnny Greaves took top honors in the high-profile Pro-4 division at Dresser. His Forest County Potawatomi-sponsored Toyota Tundra started in the Seventh position, necessitating a charge through the pack to take the win. Greaves bided his time, letting others in front crash or break. Greaves was in front when it counted - at the checkered flag. Last season's Pro-Lite runner-up, Rick Huseman, drove his Fabtech Ford Ranger to First place in CORR's ultra-competitive Pro-Lite division. Huseman, who hails from Riverside, California, jumped into CORR five years ago after local success at Southern California's Glen Helen raceway. Huseman's weekend gave him a three-point advantage over Chad Hord, who drove a Kumho tire-shod Toyota.
Currently, the CORR series is divided among venues in Wisconsin, Michigan, and New York. With enough interest and sponsorship, CORR has the potential to make the rounds wherever race fans, dirt, and track-building equipment can be brought together. Be on the lookout: CORR may soon invade a town near you.