Short course off road racing

Short course off road racing is a form of auto racing involving the racing of modified vehicles on a dirt road closed course of a short length (tens of kilometers / miles or less). It is distinct from long course desert racing such as the Baja 1000, which consists of racing at least hundreds of kilometers / miles over a quasi linear (non-closed) course from one point to another.

There are two forms of short course off-road racing. One form involves the race vehicles on an outdoor dirt road course. The short course off-road racing world championships are held at Crandon International Off-Road Raceway. TORC: The Off Road Championship and Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series are current examples of a short course off road racing series.

Another form stadium racing, where the racing vehicles race a much shorter course inside an arena. The Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group (MTEG) held stadium racing and it was revived in 2013 by Robby Gordon in his Stadium Super Trucks series. However, after the 2013 season, the series began racing predominantly on street circuits, though the series competed at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Dirt Track in 2016.

Short course off road racing became popular during the 1970s, when Mickey Thompson founded the SCORE series. He shortened long course desert racing, condensing it to a short course for easier spectator viewing and to allow competitors much easier access to the pits for mechanical problems. Thompson developed the idea into a separate series as MTEG and concentrated on stadiums / arenas. At around the same time, outdoor road course racing developed in the Midwestern United States from two laps around a 50-mile course in the woods near Crandon, Wisconsin to its purpose-built track. SODA became the sanctioning body in this region.

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