-- Five Day Off-Road Festival To Be A Record Breaker --
CRANDON, Wisconsin (August 11, 2023) -- For 54 years, Crandon International Raceway's well-known nickname as the "Big House" was built on hosting and producing the world's biggest and best off-road races. That reputation has only grown since the track's epic 50th anniversary in 2019 thanks to constantly expanding participation by race teams and record attendance. Yet nothing in Crandon's storied history has eclipsed the upcoming Polaris Crandon World Championships and Red Bull World Cup weekend.
One glance at today's newly-released Labor Day weekend World Championship schedule is proof positive that Crandon's unique place among major American motorsports events is solidified. From a Friday night stadium-level Crandon Rocks KISS concert presented by Potawatomi Casino Hotels to four-action packed days and nights of 51 racing events, the 2023 Polaris Crandon World Championships and Red Bull World Cup reflect a highly cooperative convergence of three race series, engaged corporate partners and more than 425 competitors expected from America, Mexico and Canada.
With 2,100 fan and racer sites in Camp Crandon (sold out a record six months in advance) and the addition of an estimated 15,000-plus fans for the KISS "End of the Road" tour concert, track officials are preparing for a combined weekend crowd of more than 80,000 guests to the 400-acre facility -- easily the largest ever at Crandon.
Featuring the Pro and Sportsman classes of the AMSOIL Championship Off-Road Series, the rock-pounding Ultra4 USA Series and the new crowd favorite of the Class 11 category for classic Volkswagen Beetles, the weekend offers fans the highest quality of competition the sport has to offer. Crandon is the largest, oldest and most prestigious short-course off-road race in the world, and gathers the best drivers going all-out to win coveted Crandon World Championship titles and rings for all class winners (Saturday for Sportsman and Sunday for Pro categories).
The amount of world-class competition including the unlimited machinery in the Pro and category truck, buggy and UTV classes, free concerts in additional to KISS, a parade in downtown Crandon and fireworks all add up to the best value in America motorsports. The cost of a Labor Day weekend World Championship wristband is just $75.00, with single day admissions available for $40.00.
Crandon's 2023 World Championship schedule includes several new additions designed to keep fans entertained all weekend long. Thursday will feature full all-day practice and qualifying before the spotlight shines on the sport's youngest racers as part of first annual Crandon Youth Cup. Six categories of drivers ranging from age seven to 18 will compete for cash, prizes, and the weekend's first checkered flags.
Friday's 54th Lucas Oil Labor Day Parade will kick-off a big day in fine style, with all the race teams welcome to bring their vehicles to downtown Crandon before an old-fashioned parade celebrates a favorite American holiday. Then it's back to the track for an afternoon and early schedule of AMSOIL Championship Off Road and Ultra4 USA racing, including the first ever Crandon Cup-style race featuring a duel between Pro Lite and Pro Buggy racers separated by a timed staggered start.
That full slate of races are a preliminary warm-up act for the massive KISS concert, which takes place on the facilities concert grounds beginning at 9:00pm. Produced in association with the Potawatomi Casino Hotel and Rock N' Brews Restaurants, tickets for the Crandon Rocks KISS concert are available at
www.crandonrocks.com.
For the third time in Crandon history all of the Ultra4 USA racing classes, made famous at the annual King of the Hammers event in California, will be competing at Crandon. Every Ultra4 USA category will compete multiple times over the three day World Championship schedule, including the two blockbuster nights of racing known as Crandon's "Rage on the Rocks." Fans will enjoy all the festivities from a recently upgraded and expanded "Project X Ridge," a specially created spectator and hospitality area featuring a bar, stage, live music, and two big screens to watch Crandon's professional livestream and a post-race fireworks show.
Joining the Champions Off-Road series will be a return of race-prepared vintage Volkswagen Beetles making up Continental Tire Crandon Class 11 World Championship presented by Gravel Kings. The popular sedans have been a staple of desert and Baja racing from the sport's earliest days. Race organizers expect almost 20 of the Bugs to arrive from around the United States and Mexico to compete in two rounds of competition on Friday night and on Sunday.
Finally, the "Super Bowl of Short-Course" will spotlight the sport's fastest machines and Pro category drivers in the 8th annual Red Bull Crandon World Cup Sunday. Off-road racing's biggest names will end their season in a day of non-points, big money races to take home coveted Crandon World Championship titles and the biggest prize of all -- the annual Red Bull Cup finale for Pro 2 versus Pro 4 contestants.
For fans and racers, the golden gates of Crandon International Raceway will open at 12:00 noon on Wednesday, August 30th.
"I look at the 2023 Polaris World Championship schedule and it's awesome, crazy, and a little intimidating at the same time," admitted Crandon President Cliff Flannery. "So many people and organizations have come together this year to create something much bigger than an off-road race. It's all about fun, lifestyle and having a great time at the largest event we have ever hosted. Where else can you go and see so many different Pro and Sportsman racers coming together to celebrate a great Labor Day motorsports tradition. Now add world-class music like KISS. It's going to be a rock n' roll party like nothing else we have ever seen."
Weekend tickets and more information can be found by visiting
www.crandonoffroad.com.
