WSORR to Flex Off-Road Muscle

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WSORR to Flex Off-Road Muscle in Minnesota
OWATONNA, MN – A guaranteed $100,000 race weekend purse, special season opening ceremonies, national SPEED TV exposure, dramatic military flyover, and the much anticipated launch of the Lucas Oil World Series of Off-Road Racing Tour 2007 are among the many highlights to an historic weekend of professional off-road racing coming to this city’s Steele County Fairgrounds May 19-20.

Membership ranks in WSORR have swelled considerably over previous years with record counts in many classes. “We’ll definitely bring a little mayhem to Minnesota,” said Doug Davis, WSORR general manager with a big smile. “But it will all be confined to the nearly one mile Steele County Fairgrounds track,” he said.

Spectators at the Owatonna Off-Road Nationals will be treated to a
spectacular track in full view of the grandstands with a high speed rhythm section and a dramatic switchback. “The switchback will be an exciting portion of the track,” said Don Williams, race promoter. “It will be exciting for fans and for SPEED TV viewers,” he said.

"This is the same racing that featured a driver named Jimmie Johnson not
that long ago," said Davis, referring to the NASCAR Nextel Cup champion. "He was a great driver for Chevrolet then and now he has reached the pinnacle of the sport. We have more Jimmie Johnson's and fans will see the next one May 19-20,” he said.

Davis said that fans will be anxious to see the season debut of Rhonda
Konitzer, the top female driver on the circuit. She is assembling a new PRO 2WD race truck for the 2007 campaign. Off-road racers like Konitzer are working around-the-clock to prepare vehicles for the starting line at Owatonna. "Rhonda is special and goes toe to toe with the big boy's out there," he said.

Konitzer finished sixth in off-road racing’s premier event last year -- the
BorgWarner Shootout. "She will have her hands full against top drivers like Evan Evans, Michael Oberg, Skyjacker’s Scott Taylor, and many others," said Davis. "Rhonda is a top ambassador for our sport."
"We are enthusiastic about bringing big-time off-road racing to Minnesota and Owatonna in particular, said Davis. “The interest from the Twin Cities to Mankato, from Rochester to Austin, and by WSORR sponsors has created a special excitement in the air. WSORR racers are anxious to put their considerable off-road racing skills on display for what is sure to be a most appreciative audience," he said.

People from 8 to 80 love off-road racing and there has been a long love
affair between trucks and consumers in the country and certainly Minnesota is no exception to this attraction. Besides the racing action, key light-duty truck manufacturers will be displaying vehicles, among a variety of other vendors and exhibits.

WSORR features professional high performance, high horsepower 4x4 and 2WD pickup trucks racing in their natural environment -- off-road. WSORR is the largest short-course off-road racing sanctioning organization in the U.S.

Key sponsors for WSORR include Lucas Oil, Forest County Potawatomi, BorgWarner, United Trailers, among others.

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CRANDON RACEWAY OPENS ’07 SEASON WITH TRIO OF TESTERS

CRANDON, WI – Crandon International Off-Road Raceway, the most hallowed ground in professional off-road racing, officially opened this week. Gracing the Crandon gates for the first time in 2007 for test sessions were Lucas Oil World Series of Off-Road Racing (WSORR) drivers Chad Hord, Ryan Mulder and Greg Stingle. It was the earliest opening of the track in 15 years.

Hord, Felch, MI, is the country’s number one PRO Light Pickup racer.
Stingle, Black Creek, WI, is a top buggy competitor in WSORR’s 1600 Light class, while Mulder, Channing, MI, took high speed laps in his Nokian Tyre Super Buggy. The trio shared the track for over six hours of quality testing in near perfect conditions. “I can’t imagine it will be like this again this year,” said Mulder. “It was like driving on a brand new surface,” he said.
Hord unloaded and fired up a new Nissan Frontier he will campaign for the
2007 season. “Man, it was great to be first out on the track,” said Hord. “The whole course was fresh and brand new all the way around. Sort of like being the first to skate on the ice after the Zamboni machine is done,” he exclaimed. “The track was just like glass and picture perfect,” said the veteran champion.

“I had good luck with the new first turn,” Hord said. “It has been filled
in on the outside wall. It’s a good improvement,” he said. During the
off-season, Crandon track officials reworked the entrance to the turn and also re-banked the most famous turn in off-road racing circles. Hord was the first off-road racer to test the new Potawatomi Turn One.
Hord said he didn’t get a chance to use the full starting line as the
Crandon Raceway maintenance team was laying sod and seeding the famous American Racing Wheels starting line.

“It was great to put in laps with this new race truck,” said Hord. “I’m
pretty happy how it worked out of the box.” Hord’s sponsors for 2007
include Nissan, Boss Snowplows, Lucas Oil and Kumho Tires.
Crandon International Off-Road Raceway has been accepting reservations for track testing. “With the outstanding late Spring weather we have had, we were able to open a week earlier than usual,” stated Cliff Flannery, track president, Crandon Raceway. The track’s web address is crandonoffroad.com (http://www.crandonoffroad.com).

Crandon Raceway opens the racing season when WSORR rumbles into town for the Forest County Potawatomi Brush Run Races June 23-24. The weekend features the 14th annual FCP Chairman’s Cup race on Sunday, June 24. Forest County Potawatomi driver Johnny Greaves is the defending champion of the Cup in his Toyota PRO 4x4 pickup. The WSORR web site address is WSORR.com (http://www.wsorr.com).