For the Antigo Times

CRANDON – Leading drivers will battle it out for the big prize at the Big House this Labor Day weekend as TORC: The Off-Road Championship presented by AMSOIL returns to the legendary Crandon International Off-Road Raceway for its exciting championship finale.

“Crandon’s the bad boy of off-road and everyone wants to be a part of it,” said double defending champion C.J. Greaves. “Crandon brings in everyone because it’s just plain fast: you’re doing 100 miles per hour through Turn 1, sideways. And then there’s the whole scene, the crazy crowds, bands going on at night, and the energy of tens of thousands of people going nuts.”

He is locked in a battle with his father for the PRO 4WD championship, as veteran racer Johnny Greaves seeks to reclaim the title. The two drivers have been locked in a tight race all season long, with the younger Greaves now leading the standings by six points. A long shot is Showdown in Charlotte race winner Scott Douglas, who will be looking to return his AMSOIL PRO 4WD to the top of the box in Saturday’s season ender.

At least one championship title is assured for double defending champ CJ Greaves. He heads into the Saturday finale preparing for his PRO 2WD victory lap. Despite dogging his rival all season, Crandon local Keegan Kincaid is mathematically out of contention heading into his home event by a heartbreaking single point.

In the Atturo Tire PRO Light class, Kyle Hart is all but assured his first championship crown. As long as he takes the start on Saturday, he’ll lock up the title. The second-generation racer, who finished third in the championship last season, has had a successful second year of competition in the TORC Series’ fiercely competitive development class.

The TORC Series finale joins the 47th annual Off-Road World Championship weekend in Crandon, with PRO racing in four classes: the powerful, four-wheel drive PRO 4WD trucks, the 900 horsepower rear-wheel drive PRO 2WD machines, the fiercely competitive Atturo Tire PRO Lights, as well as a return of the PRO UTV division.

The big weekend also features a full slate of Crandon events including exciting Sportsman racing, live concerts, an in-town pit stop challenge and Sunday’s AMSOIL Cup and Crandon World Cup races. When the gates open on Wednesday for the traditional Labor Day weekend celebration of motorsport, tens of thousands of fans are expected to load into the facility — which includes 2,500 groomed grass campsites.

The TORC Series returns to Crandon after a successful doubleheader weekend as part of the Forest County Potowami Brush Run in June. In addition to providing a great fan experience, off-road racing provides a substantial economic benefit to its host communities. The Forest County Chamber of Commerce has assessed the direct economic impact of the two weekends featuring TORC Series racing at Crandon at over $8 million.

MSI Live is producing television and high-definition digital programming for both major motorsport weekends at Crandon International Off-Road Raceway this year.

Gates open on Wednesday for campers and on-track action begins Thursday when PRO racers hit the track for the first time at 11 a.m.

ABOUT CRANDON INTERNATIONAL OFF-ROAD RACEWAY
Off-road racing begin in Crandon, Wisconsin in 1970 with the inaugural Brush Run 101 race through the forest surrounding the small town. The event grew so large that in the 1980s track officials added a spring race — renamed the Brush Run — to augment the hugely popular fall World Championship Off-Road Races that attract up to 45,000 fans each Labor Day holiday weekend.

ABOUT TORC: THE OFF-ROAD CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY AMSOIL
TORC: The Off-Road Championship presented by AMSOIL is the nation’s premier short-course, off-road truck racing series. A collision between action sport and motorsport, TORC is the ultimate battleground for 900-plus horsepower race trucks competing to win the TORC National Championship. Action-adventure sports events company Mountain Sports International acquired ownership of TORC at the end of 2015 and brings its core strengths in HD digital broadcast production and event management to the growing series. Full television coverage of the 2016 TORC National Championship is carried on the FS2 television network with HD digital broadcasts available live and on demand on www.torcseries.com, the FOX Sports GO app, and Sony PlayStation.