Off-Road Grand Prix – “The UFC of Motorsports!”
ORGP & PDG meet the Masses in the Midwest

- report from bumpracer.com
 

Abrams, WI (February 5, 2009) - On a sub-zero evening in Northern Wisconsin, the leaders of Off-Road Grand Prix, Ricky Johnson and Mitch Covington, along with two members of the Professional Drivers Group (PDG), Scott Douglas and Johnny Greaves, presented the footprint of off-road racing’s only national race series. Nearly two hundred drivers and race team members filled the banquet hall at the Fly-Away in Abrams, Wisconsin to listen and present questions to the leaders of both groups. Also on hand were newest staff members of Off-Road GP, Eastern tech director Terry Severson, and Office Manager, Tiffany Landru. Their wealth of knowledge and experience are key assets for the success of this off-road racing series.

The meeting began with Ricky Johnson explaining the process that took him to the formation of the Off-Road GP, and the soon to be completed purchase of the World Series of Off-Road Racing. The infrastructure, the permanent facilities, and the history of the sport were all key elements to his decisions. Ricky made the point about the passion he has for this sport and how he intends grow and promote this unique form of Motorsports. The future will see RJ from driver to race series owner/director. One point, RJ made was the way he is presenting the series to sponsors and to the marketplace. Short course off-road racing, does bring desert racing to the masses, but ORGP want to be known as the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Challenge) of the Motorsports world. The mix the speed, the bumps, jumps and side by side racing, with the technical and strategy aspects of the teams and their race vehicles and that’s what the ORGP being to the Motorsports world.

As noted before, the ORGP will be sanctioned by the United States Auto Club (USAC). Along with all the on-track and tech duties, USAC will include ORGP in their marketing, on their website, and at the year end awards banquet in Indianapolis. The USAC website will be key in the creation of streaming video with side bar stories on the drivers and other stories,that develop throughout the season. In conjunction with the SEMA show, the ORGP will also have its own awards banquet also honoring all Sportsman and PRO drivers in Las Vegas.

Mitch Covington spoke on some of the business aspects of the series and what to expect in the coming days and weeks. Key points such as sponsors and television coverage will become official in the days ahead. The three PRO truck classes will be included in the television package.

Johnny Greaves and Scott Douglas stepped up to the microphone to discuss what brought the drivers together, to form the Professional Drivers Group (PDG). Several PRO drivers on the West Coast got together to try to understand what direction the future of this sport was heading. At the same time, the group believed it needed a unified voice to express their wants, needs, and opinions, to keep their livelihood intact. The drivers continued to meet over the course of 4-6 weeks to put their plan together. In turn, meetings were held with sponsors and race promoters.

After everything was said and done, the PDG determined that the race series and marketing package Ricky Johnson had put together was the direction the drivers and the sport needed, to continue for the long term. In the near future, the PDG will be launching its website to keep everyone updated with all the latest information.

Questions came from all over the banquet hall and covered a variety of topics. The series is a strong believer in the sportsman racer, and creating opportunities to “move up the ladder” into the PRO ranks. The sportsman series will have an east coast and west coast points series as some of the classes differ depending which side of the Rocky Mountains you race.

As stated before, Terry Severson is the Technical Director in the East, and R.J. Anderson, of Walker Evans Racing, will head the tech director duties in the West. The technical directors will assist USAC with nuisances of off-road race vehicles when it comes to the inspection process as well as the liaison between the racers and the USAC tech committee.

After about two hours, the informal meeting adjourned and the 2009 bench racing season began. The response to the meeting among the group was very upbeat. Everyone had positive comments about how the leaders of the ORGP and the PDG came to Wisconsin to keep everyone updated and in the loop with all the developments in the sport.

The Schedule for the 2009 Off-Road Grand Prix

May 15-16 Phoenix, AZ
May 29-30 Perris, CA
June 20-21 Crandon, WI
July 11-12 Bark River, MI
July 25-26 Oshkosh, WI
August 8-9 Bark River, MI
August 29-30 Perris, CA
September 5-6 Crandon, WI
September 26-27 Perris, CA
October 31-November 1 Las Vegas, NV
November 2 Las Vegas, NV Awards Banquet

For more information about the Off-Road Grand Prix, please visit: www.offroadgp.com or www.wsorr.com

For more information on the Professional Drivers Group, looking a future press release with information about its upcoming website as well.

-Mike Reusche, MT Graphics mtgraphics@ymail.com