Crandon International Raceway purchased by president, companies formed for operations

Crandon International Raceway in Crandon, Wisconsin is one of, if not the premier short course off-road circuit in the world. After a few rocky years regarding its ownership, track president Cliff Flannery is stepping in himself and has purchased the facility.

Flannery’s family is long involved with the short course scene, with his late brother Jack being one of the sport’s pioneers in the Midwest. Nephew Jamey, who races a Pro 4 in Championship Off-Road, attempted to buy Crandon in 2020 but the deal fell due to what Cliff called “several unforeseen reasons.” Cliff, a 2017 inductee into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame, has been involved with Crandon since its founding in 1968; under his head, Crandon has evolved into a 425-acre facility that includes non-motorsport activities like camping and ATV riding trails.

The track long ran under a non-profit structure where ownership and all operations are split between its board of directors. With Flannery’s acquisition, the raceway’s owner is formally transferred to a company called Crandon Off-Road Entertainment LCC. Another agency, Crandon Motorsports LLC, was established to oversee and promote races and other events.

Despite the ownership change, the track’s lead staff like manager Tina Kulaf and promoter Marty Fiolka will remain intact. Fiolka, a longtime media guru in the off-road world, leads Crandon’s promotions and marketing arm via his firm The Rennsport Group; TRG joined the Crandon team in 2015.

“The road to today’s announcement has been a long one that required us to overcome some bumps along the way,” Flannery stated on Friday. “This small but very faithful community, and our hard-working staff, have spent the better part of our collective lives building Crandon International literally by hand. After fifty-three years, it was time to make a change on how we operate and do business. I am proud of where we have come, and also what we have achieved. Considering the success of the past six or seven years, our future looks better than ever.”

The 1.75-mile raceway hosts a variety of events, with the headliners being the World Championship Off-Road Races and Red Bull Crandon World Cup on Labor Day weekend. Championship Off-Road, a new short course series that débuted in 2020, has two weekends at Crandon with the Forest County Potawatomi Brush Run and World Championship; the World Cup is a non-points event for COR. The World Championship is the oldest short course event, having first been held in 1970. Many racing series including COR’s predecessors Championship Off-Road Racing (CORR) and TORC: The Off-Road Championship have sanctioned races at Crandon, while the Stadium Super Trucks held an exhibition there in 2012 followed by a points-paying round during the inaugural season a year later.

Follow @tcfoffroad on: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram