2025 Championship Off-Road schedule continues to crystallise

While the 2025 Championship Off-Road schedule is not expected to be released until the first week of November, pieces of the puzzle are starting to be put together.

For example, what is certain is that the season will begin with a new date when the series visits Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri for the Show-Me Off-Road Shoot-Out. Announced in August, it will be Champ’s first time competing in Missouri. While mainly known for its dirt oval, the track hosted short course from 2007 to 2020 and again in 2023.

Most of the returning tracks from 2024 will do so on three-year contract extensions that retain them on the calendar through 2027. One such venue is Antigo Lions Roaring Raceway, which will kick off the summer with the Antigo Off-Road National. Concurrent with this, Antigo will host the second annual Race for Kyle Cup, a Pro 2 versus Pro 4 race introduced in 2024 to honour the late Kyle LeDuc, who created Antigo’s redesigned track in 2023. The Antigo Lions Club plans to make additional renovations ahead of the 2025 weekend.

“After speaking with Carl (Schubitzke) and his team, as well as with racers, I am excited about continuing Kyle’s vision for our track,” said Antigo Lions Club secretary Zach Zagar. “Having a three-year agreement makes this possible. It’s great to know that we are all working together to take the event to the next level.”

The Dirt City Motorplex has a round locked in for 26/27 July. Located in Lena, Wisconsin, Dirt City has hosted the Dirt City Off-Road National since the inaugural Champ season in 2020, while its Mayhem at the Motorplex was upgraded from an independent, sportsman-only race to the season opener in 2024.

Bark River International Raceway will continue with the Off-Road Rumble in the UP. One of the oldest tracks in short course, having opened in 1976, it held a unique triple-header in 2024 when the Off-Road Rumble was coupled with a make-up race day for the Forest County Potawatomi Brush Run‘s Saturday being rained out.

“We are reaching a milestone that only one other venue has reached in short-course off-road racing, and our partnership with Champ Off-Road ensures we will celebrate our fiftieth year. To be included in the conversation with Crandon as hosting this type of racing for half a century is an honour,” Bark River Lions Club treasurer Scott Kwarciany offered.

The Brush Run is one of two rounds at the legendary Crandon International Raceway, alongside the iconic Polaris World Championship Races to decide the series champions. The latter is held on Labour Day weekend in tandem with the non-championship Red Bull World Cup. Both the Brush Run and World Cup are combination races between Pro 2 and Pro 4.

The series also intends to race at Deadwood in South Dakota, which currently hosts Championship Snocross (also organised by COR’s sanctioning body International Series of Champions). It was originally planned as the last race of 2024 before being pushed to 2025. However, The Checkered Flag understands there are some snags in acquiring the necessary permits to build the track, which will not be on the Snocross course.

While an alternative site could be further west in California or Arizona, South Dakota’s Black HIlls Shootout remains pencilled in for now. The West Coast boasts a strong short course scene that rivals the Midwest, though it does not have a series at the moment following the demise of Great American Shortcourse. Two months before the 2025 COR season kicks off, the Mint 400 in Nevada will host short course racing.

Announced 2025 Championship Off-Road races