Championship Off-Road Race Preview: Antigo

After a long offseason, the biggest names in Championship Off-Road are finally ready to do battle once again this weekend at the series’ newest venue in Antigo, Wisconsin. Antigo Lions Roaring Raceway will host the first and second rounds of the 2021 season for well over a dozen classes of racers, headlined by strong entry lists across all of the Pro Truck and SXS classes.

Joining last year’s host venues at Crandon International Raceway, ERX Motor Park, and Dirt City Motorplex, as well as the long-awaited return of Bark River International Raceway, the new venue at Antigo sees the sport return to a half-mile dirt oval converted for off-road racing use. This weekend marks the first time that the track has hosted any off-road racing since 2012, and the first time it’s welcomed the Pro ranks since 2005. Its list of past winners includes plenty of Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Famers, with Scott Douglas (Pro 4) and Scott Taylor (Pro 2) the all-time wins leaders at the track.

Another major shift in the short course landscape over the offseason with the closure of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series has led to even larger fields in COR this year, with the series’ published entry lists featuring healthy counts of 11 Pro 4 trucks and 18 Pro 2s. The Pro 4 battles will see Midwest-based racers like Johnny and CJ Greaves and Andrew Carlson attempt to reclaim the title from Kyle LeDuc, who shifted his focus from the west coast last year and scored an 18-point championship victory.

Pro 2, meanwhile, receives a huge boost of entries from the west coast, as 2020 LOORRS champion Jerett Brooks, Brian Deegan, Ricky Gutierrez, and Daely Pentico are among those who will head east to take on defending COR champion Kyle Kleiman, Keegan Kincaid, and Mickey Thomas. After running regularly in both series last year, Ryan Beat gets to focus his second Pro 2 campaign on a single series as well.

The Pro Lite entry list will see Christopher Polvoorde and Madix Bailey, fresh off of battle in the first two Great American Short Course events, continue to do battle in the Midwest, where they’ll look to interject into defending John Holtger and Kyle Greaves’ dominance from last year. The always strong Pro SXS classes will see plenty of double duty among the Truck racers as well, as Pro 4 drivers Carlson, Kyle Chaney, and Scottie Lawrence run the Mod division and CJ Greaves shifts full focus to the Stock class after sweeping both titles last year. With Greaves gone, the door is open for Rodney VanEperen to avenge his six-point 2020 title loss in the Mods.

Tickets for this weekend’s Championship Off-Road opener at Antigo Lions Roaring Raceway are on sale now at antigoracing.com. A full event schedule can be found here. For those who can’t attend, this weekend’s action will stream live at champoffroad.com. Highlights will air on the CBS Sports Network on June 27 at 7PM ET/4PM PT. Following Antigo, the season will continue on June 26-27 at Crandon, as the Forest County Potawatomi Brush Run returns to its traditional early summer date.