American Outdoor Events reveals new short course series

Although Championship Off-Road has been the premier short course league in the Midwest, American Outdoor Events hopes to usurp the throne with its new championship. Tentatively dubbed the National Pro Off-Road Series until a formal unveiling takes place at the Performance Racing Industry Show on 7 December, it will race at virtually the same locations as COR across an identical summer through fall time frame.

AOE owns multiple off-road properties including MidAmerica Outdoors and Great American Shortcourse, the latter serving as the West Coast short course counterpart. MAO, located in Oklahoma and doubling as AOE’s headquarters, hosted the Championship Off-Road season finale last weekend and also oversees a pair of UTV and truck racing series. Other AOE series include Ultra4 USA, American SxS Takeover, and America Pro Rock Racing.

Seven races are planned for 2024 across six tracks. Five of the events at MAO, Bark River International Raceway, Crandon International Raceway, and ERX Motor Park were on the 2023 Championship Off-Road calendar including Crandon’s premier Forest County Potawatomi Brush Run and Polaris World Championship Off-Road Races. Lucas Oil Speedway will host the season finale in October; while not a COR track, the Missouri circuit kicked off the inaugural MAO Racing Truck Championship Series in April. The series also plans to race on the West Coast, though a date and location have not been revealed.

Nearly all of the COR Pro classes—Pro 4, Pro 2, Pro Lite, Pro Buggy, and Pro Turbo SxS—will be featured in the AOE series, with COR’s Pro Stock SxS translating into AOE’s Pro NA SxS. AOE currently does not have plans for Pro SPEC, which was introduced by COR for 2022 as a spec-based truck division, though additional classes are “being considered”. COR’s Sportsman categories operate with some autonomy via Midwest Off Road Racing, though the region’s sportsman short course scene recently underwent its own split with SODA and IODA.

USD$1.5 million (€1.42 million) in prize money will be available, with an additional $200,000 (€189,230) at the non-championship Crandon Red Bull World Cup.

The Pro Series will be led by a Board of Directors with decorated portfolios. Besides AOE founders Jason and Gayla Robinett, the board includes Crandon promoter Marty Fiolka, former IMSA president Scott Atherton, RACER magazine head Paul Pfanner, and Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee Cal Wells III. While Atherton comes from a pavement background, he was instrumental in developing American sports car racing in the 2000s and 2010s; his success there made him a particularly well-regarded pickup by AOE, who hopes his involvement can help grow short course in a similar fashion. Wells’ experience also extends into asphalt as the current CEO of NASCAR Cup Series team Legacy Motor Club and a former Cup team owner.

SPEED SPORT has broadcast rights via the SPEED SPORT 1 network, through which it aired the Crandon World Cup in tandem with COR.

AOE’s arrival will mark yet another major short course series, continuing a string of high-profile championships though AOE hopes to avoid the caveat of dying off after roughly a decade. The original Short-course Off-road Drivers Association oversaw the discipline from inception to the 1990s before Championship Off-Road Racing took over as the preeminent series in the 2000s followed by a short-lived stint with the Lucas Oil World Series of Off-Road Racing. In the 2010s, the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series ran the West Coast while TORC: The Off-Road Championship did the same for the Midwest until both shut down. COR and GAS respectively débuted in 2020 and 2021.

Many factors contribute to the instability, especially on the financial side as support from manufacturers and major corporations have diminished over the years, which can be exacerbated by economic uncertainty and motorsport naturally being a costly endeavour. This is especially the case for a relatively niche discipline such as short course, meaning teams are reluctant to travel long distances due to costs while sportsman series like IODA and SODA have attempted special promotions to reduce expenses.

Championship Off-Road has not revealed its 2024 plans or schedule.

2024 schedule