SODA (Short-course Off-road Drivers Association) was an off-road racing sanctioning body in the United States. Off-road racing is a format of racing where various classes of specially modified vehicles (including cars trucks motorcycles and buggies compete in races through Off-road The United States of America —commonly referred to as the
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Demise
Most drivers from SODA moved to CORR (Championship Off-Road Racing) after the 1997 season, which basically ended SODA's existence. Championship Off-Road Racing (usually abbreviated CORR) is a sanctioning body for Offroad racing in the United States. A greatly diminished series continued on for at least a few years afterwards.
History
The series was televised in the 1980s and 1990s. Series races appeared tape delayed on ESPN/ESPN2[1] (often during in the winter months). ESPN, originally an acronym for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is an American Cable television network dedicated to ESPN2 debuted on October 1, 1993, as a sister station of ESPN. Most races were held in Wisconsin but a few were held in Michigan. Wisconsin ( or wɪˈskɑnsɨn (French Ouisconsin) is one of the fifty United States of America, located in the north central part of the United States Michigan ( is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. The crown jewel of the series was the off-road championship event held at the Crandon International Off-Road Raceway - the "home of the world championship off-road race". The Crandon International Off-Road Raceway is an Off-road racing racetrack that has hosts the "World Championship Off-Road Races"
The vehicles used were primarily Trophy trucks, buggies (which were based on the original Volkswagen Beetle called Baja Bug), and a few stock cars. Trophy Trucks are the largest and fastest class of Off-road racing vehicles which are designed and built to resemble modern Pickup trucks. The Volkswagen Beetle, officially known as the type 1 and originally called ‘Käfer’ is an Economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen The term Baja Bug generally refers to a Volkswagen Beetle modified to operate on sand dunes and beaches although other versions of Air-cooled Volkswagens are sometimes All vehicles had heavily modified suspension.
Video game
In 1997, Sierra Entertainment released a SODA-themed racing video game called SODA Off-Road Racing. Sierra Entertainment Inc is a Worldwide American Video game developer and publisher founded in 1979 by Ken and Roberta SODA Off-Road Racing is an Off-road racing simulation released for both DOS and Windows PCs
Classes
- Class 11, Stock 1600cc engine buggies with driver only
- Class 12, Stock 1600cc engine buggies with driver plus co-pilot (Sometimes run with Class 11)
- Class 1-1600, 1600cc engine buggies with driver only
- Class 2-1600, 1600cc engine buggies with driver plus co-pilot (Sometimes run with class 1-1600)
- Class 9, Modified Buggies with up to 1914cc Air-cooled engines, or 1600cc engines water-cooled
- Class 4, 4 wheel-drive full size trucks
- Class 5-1600, buggies with driver only
- Class 7s, 2 wheel-drive four cylinder trucks
- Class 8, 2 wheel-drive full size trucks
- Class 13, 2 wheel-drive full sized trucks with more restrictions than Class 8
- Heavy Metal, combined race with Class 4 and Class 8 trucks
Tracks that held races
Many tracks held races:
- Bark River Off-road Raceway, Bark River, Michigan
- Crandon International Off-Road Raceway, Crandon, Wisconsin
- Glen Helen Raceway, San Bernardino, California
- Ionia Fairgrounds Speedway, Ionia, Michigan
- I-96 Speedway, Lake Odessa, Michigan
- Langlade County Speedway, Antigo, Wisconsin
- Lake Geneva Raceway, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
- Luxemburg Speedway, Luxemburg, Wisconsin
- Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin held a single event inside the paved road course in 1996
- Sunnyview Expo, Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Drivers
- 7-time series champion Jack Flannery. Bark River Township is a Civil township of Delta County in the U The Crandon International Off-Road Raceway is an Off-road racing racetrack that has hosts the "World Championship Off-Road Races" Crandon is a city in Forest County, Wisconsin, United States; it is in the northeastern part of the state, about 100 miles north Ionia is the largest city in and the County seat of Ionia County, Michigan, United States. Lake Odessa is a village in Ionia County of the US state of Michigan. Antigo is a city in and the County seat of Langlade County, Wisconsin, United States. Lake Geneva Raceway (also LGR was a Motocross, Demolition derby, Off-road racing, Stock car, and Kart racing racetrack in Lake Lake Geneva is a city in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. Luxemburg is a village in Kewaunee County, Wisconsin, United States. Road America is a road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on Wisconsin Highway 67. Elkhart Lake is a Village in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States. Oshkosh is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States, located where the Fox River Jack Flannery is a retired American Off-road racing driver who was active in the 1980s and 1990s His championships were occasionally compared to those of Dale Earnhardt. Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr ( April 29, 1951 &ndash February 18, 2001) was an American race car driver best known for his career driving
- Brendan Gaughan - NASCAR driver (1995 Class 13 champion, 1996 Class 8 champion)
- "the Legend" Walker Evans - 1994 and 1995 Class 4 (2WD) Series champion
- Art Schmidt
- Jeff Kincaid
- Scott Douglas
- Curt LeDuc
References
- ^ http://racedesert.com/race/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=228076, Retrieved from August 27, 2007 Google cache but no longer accessible; Douglas scored double win at Lake Geneva Race; July 13, 1997; Retrieved September 29, 2007