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Off-Road Racing Night Double-Header to Rock Oshkosh
CRANDON, WI – “It’s back in Oshkosh!” That’s the slogan for
the upcoming Lucas Oil World Series of Off-Road Racing (WSORR)
event to be held Friday and Saturday nights this coming July
25-26, 2008.
Professional off-road racing is returning to Oshkosh Speedzone
Raceway at the fairgrounds for the first time since 1996. WSORR
will be bringing its $100,000 posted purse – a record for the
sport – it’s highly-rated SPEED and VERSUS television coverage
and more than 100 PRO and Sportsman off-road racers.
Another first will be back-to-back rounds of racing under the
lights -- a double-header “Nights of Thunder” show. The Oshkosh
races are Rounds VII and VIII on WSORR’s Tour 2008. Round VII
begins at 6 p.m. Friday, July 25. The final round is set for
Saturday, July 26, also beginning at 6 p.m.
For two decades, off-road racing was a fixture on the Oshkosh
scene. “Now it’s back,” said Jake Flannery, chief race steward,
WSORR. Flannery is based at WSORR headquarters located in
Crandon, Wisc. The town is also the home of famed Crandon
International Off-Road Raceway. “Hundreds of fans from the Fox
Valley flock to Crandon for off-road races each year and we
thought it was a natural fit to bring our off-road racing
extravaganza right into the heart of the Valley,” he said.
According to WSORR Assistant Promoter Mark “Gilly” Gelhausen,
the off-road course on the Oshkosh track will be tight and
challenging. “The short 1/-2 mile track will be filled with
sharp turns and moguls and will present a technical challenge to
racers in all classes,” he said. Gelhausen raced in a buggy
class at the last Oshkosh event. “It’s a lot different now,” he
remarked. “Everybody is faster, everybody is louder, everybody
wants a piece of the $100 grand,” he said. “Under the lights,
the high def shows on SPEED will be dramatic.”
Gelhausen noted some of the nation’s top professional drivers
hail from the Fox Valley, including Dan “the Flying Dutchman”
Vanden Heuvel (Appleton), Dave Waldvogel (Fond du Lac), and Josh
Hintz (Green Bay). Young guns of tomorrow going fender to fender
in the exotic 1600 Light Buggy class include Matt Gerald
(Neenah) and Mike Vanden Heuvel (Appleton). “Each of the World
Series classes has at least one racer from the Valley,’ he
commented. Gelhausen cited PRO Super Buggy racers Tom
Schwartzburg and Craig Biesik (West Bend), WI; Formula 4x4 racer
Jim Ridderbush (Appleton), buggy drivers Greg and Ryan Stingle
(Black Creek), and a pair of Stock Truck class drivers from
Abrams, Nick Byng and Don Demeny, as other local racers.
The explosive World Series of Off-Road Racing features 11 race
classes ranging from high performance, high horsepower pickup
trucks to exotic entry level buggies that toss, tumble and bang
in the dirt. Official sponsors include Lucas Oil Products,
Forest County Potawatomi, United Trailers and Sunoco Race Fuels.
Traxxas® is the “Official R/C Car” of the Series. General Tire
serves as "Official Tire”. Additional sponsors for the Oshkosh
off-road show include Potawatomi Milwaukee Casino, Skyjacker, E3
Spark Plugs, BorgWarner and Super Clean. For more information
visit WSORR.com.
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