2024 UTV RACING SERIES – America’s premier SxS racing series By the staff of Dirt Wheels
The Championship Off-Road Tour expands to 16 rounds for 2024, with the Crandon Cup being the series finale. New this year, Champ will be on Fox Sports this season, and the Pro Stock and Pro Turbo UTVs usually get their own hour of coverage.
UTV racing is getting more competitive, lucrative and bigger all the time, and there are several short-course and long-course or desert series to choose from for 2024. As each series competes for participants, purse payouts get larger and manufacturers support them via race support, sponsorships, and contingencies. At this rate of growth, series purses will soon top a million dollars!
All of these series, except the Red Bull Scrambles, got contingency support from Honda for Talon racers in 2023 with Honda kicking in $500,000. Last year Kawasaki supported KRX 1000 racers with contingencies for BiTD, DP4, KOH, Legacy, SCORE, Ultra4, VORRA and WORCS. Yamaha awarded YXZ1000R and RMAX racers for wins and titles in Champ, GAS, BiTD, WORCS and KOH, which we didn’t include because it was in early February. Each series is working out the details for 2024 in this off-season and haven’t announced full details at press time.
CHAMP OFF-ROAD UTV RACING SERIES
The granddaddy of off-road short-course racing, Champ or CORT (formerly SODA, then CORR and TORC) is the oldest-surviving short-course series that boasts iconic venues like Crandon International, ERX Park and Dirt City. The Championship Off-Road Tour released its 2024 short-course SxS, truck, buggy, and kart racing series schedule, kicking off on May 18th at Dirt City Motorplex in Lena, Wisconsin. Crandon International hosts four rounds total in June and late August, and Champ will visit a new venue in Deadwood, South Dakota, to cap off the 16-race season. SxS classes are Youth 200, 570, Sportsman, Pro-Am, Pro Stock and Pro Turbo, and several manufacturers pay contingencies for wins and titles. New for 2024, Champ will be aired on Fox Sports; we hope that Fox’s drone pilots are as good as Champ’s 2023 pilots! Kyle Chaney is the defending Turbo champ, and CJ Greaves is the defending Pro Stock champ.
SCORE starts its Baja racing season this month with the San Felipe 250, and they have classes for everything, even Baja Bugs, with television coverage on ESPN.
2024 CHAMP OFF-ROAD UTV RACE SERIES
1-2. May 18-19 Dirt City Motorplex/Lena, WI
3-4. June 8-9 Antigo Lions Raceway/Antigo, WI
5-6. June 22-23 Crandon International/Crandon, WI
7-8. July 12-13 ERX Off-Road National/ Elk River, MN
9-10. July 27-28 Dirt City Motorplex/Lena, WI
11-12. Aug. 10-11 Bark River Raceway/Bark River, MI
13-14. Aug 30-31 Polaris World Shootout/Crandon, WI
15-16. Sept. 28-29 Black Hills Shootout/Deadwood, SD
Contact www.champoffroad.com
BEST IN THE DESERT RACE SERIES
Best in the Desert is the USA’s premier desert racing series, and it’s supported by the major UTV manufacturers and aftermarket with contingencies and sponsorships. It also enjoys television coverage on ESPN’s Red Bull Signature Series and World of X Games. For 2024, BiTD has four rounds, with one in California and three in Nevada. After a summer break, the iconic and infamous Vegas-to-Reno takes place in mid-August and is America’s longest and toughest race. The series ends in mid-October with the Laughlin Desert Classic. Besides motorcycle, truck, buggy and car classes, there are Quad and Three-Wheeler Pro and Expert classes. SxS classes are Turbo Pro, NA 1000 Pro, Trophy Unlimited, Super Stock Turbo and Sportsman. BiTD historically has hosted the UTV Legends Championship in the past with Youth 200, 570, and 1000 short-course racing, but not in 2024.
2024 BEST IN THE DESERT RACE SERIES
1. Feb. 14-18 Golden State 250/California City, CA
2. Apr. 26-28 Silver State 300/Alamo, NV
3. Aug. 14-17 Vegas-to-Reno/Las Vegas, NV
4. Oct. 17-20 Desert Classic/Laughlin, NV
Contact www.bitd.com, (702) 457-5775
SCORE INTERNATIONAL BAJA SERIES
Score International is North America’s premier and oldest desert racing series, dating back to 1969. All four rounds take place on Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, beginning with the 37th San Felipe 250 in late March and ending with the granddaddy of desert racing, the 57th Baja 1000 in mid-November. Like BiTD, there are classes for motorcycles, trucks, buggies, cars, ATVs and UTVs. SxS classes include Forced-Induction Pro, NA 1000 Pro, Pro Open and Pro Stock. The SCORE series gets great television coverage on ESPN’s World of X Games and enjoys support from the major UTV manufacturers and aftermarket via contingencies and sponsorships.
2024 SCORE INTERNATIONAL SERIES
1. Mar. 20-24 San Felipe (250), Baja, MX
2. May 29-June 2 Ensenada (500), Baja MX
3. Sept. 11-15 Ensenada (400), Baja, MX
4. Nov. 12-17 Ensenada (1000), Baja, MX
Contact www.score-international.com
The World Off-Road Championship Series has nine rounds for ATVs and bikes this year, but UTVs only have a eight-round championship chase.
MidAmerica Outdoors has a five-round UTV short-course series starting in May in Oklahoma, with each round getting a $100,000 purse, and there’s $250,000 for the championship.
WORLD OFF-ROAD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
WORCS is a long-running short-course desert racing series for ATVs, UTVs and dirt bikes, and it also gets heavy industry support via manufacturer and aftermarket contingencies and sponsorships. For the past several years, the series has been split for ATVs, bikes and UTVs, but now all race together over three days of practice and racing. There are 15 UTV classes, from Youth 170, 570, and 1000 to Pro Turbo and Pro NA 1000s. ATVs and bikes get nine 2024 rounds, while UTV championships will be decided by eight rounds of racing for points in California, Utah, and Nevada.
2024 WORCS SCHEDULE
1. Jan. 5-7 ATV/MC/SxS/Taft, CA
2. Jan. 26-28 ATV/MC/SxS/Devore, CA
3. Feb.23-25 ATV/MC/SxS/Marysville, CA
4. March 15-17 ATV/MC/Lake Havasu City, AZ
5. Apr. 12-14 ATV/MC/SxS/Blythe, CA
6. May 17-19 ATV/MC/SxS/Cedar City, UT
7. Sept. 6-8 ATV/MC/SxS/Vernal, UT
8. Oct. 4-6 ATV/MC/SxS/Mesquite, NV
9. Nov. 1-3 ATV/MC/SxS/TBA (location coming soon)
Contact www.worcsracing.com
UNLIMITED OFF-ROAD RACING TRIPLE CROWN
The Mint 400 has held the title of the toughest and most spectacular off-road race in America since 1968, and it’s chronicled in Hunter S. Thompson’s book (and movie) “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” Now, the Mint 400 is one leg of the Unlimited Off-Road Racing’s triple crown with bike, buggy, car, truck, Ultra4, ATV and UTV classes. Classes for UTVs are PR-100, Pro Big Engine, PR-100 Production, Pro Turbo, Pro NA 1000, Pro Unlimited, Pro Super Stock Turbo, Pro Super Stock NA, Rally Modified, Stock, Sportsman, Youth 1000, Youth 570, Youth 250, Youth 170, and Youth 170 Production. They even have military vehicle classes. For the last two years, the UTV World Championships have been part of the California 300, but Youth short-course will be part of all three rounds for 2024.
UNLIMITED OFF-ROAD RACING TRIPLE CROWN
1. Jan. 10-14 Parker 400/Parker, AZ
2. Mar. 6-10 Mint 400/Las Vegas, NV
3. Oct. 6-10 California 300/Barstow, CA
Contact www.unlimitedoffroadracing.com
RED BULL SXS SCRAMBLES SERIES
Red Bull UTV racing started out as a single Stone Scramble event at Tennessee’s Brimstone Recreation, and it has grown ever since and expanded to nine rounds for 2023. Red Bull has tentatively posted five rounds for 2024, starting with the Sand Scramble at Glamis, California, in March. Dirt Wheels reported on the Ranch and Beach Scrambles in July and August 2023 issues, and there are Pro and Sportsman classes. Mia Chapman is the defending Pro Scrambles series champion, and Grayden Bloxham is Sportsman champion.
TENTATIVE 2024 RED BULL SXS SCRAMBLES SERIES
1. Mar. 9 Sand Scrambles/Glamis, CA
2. May 4 Ranch Scramble/Decatur, TX
3. May 18 Beach Scramble/Wildwood, NJ
4. June 22 Solstice Scramble/Wasilla, AL
5. Oct. 12 Farm Scramble/Gawin, IA
Contact www.redbull.com
MIDAMERICA OUTDOORS $750,000 UTV RACE SERIES
America’s most lucrative UTV racing series, the MidAmerica Outdoors crew upped the pro purse to $750,000 for 2024’s five-round short-course series. Each round will have a $100,000 payout, and series champions will split $250,000. MAO is a premier facility with a Pro Shop, restaurants, RZR rentals, cabins, swimming pool and tubing course, pit bike and RC tracks, sound stages, sand drags, a VIP area, food trucks, pubs, RV hookups, and primitive camping in Jay, Oklahoma. The course is laid out in a big valley with lots of hills and jumps, and the MAO crew are constantly adding features and cabins. They’re also building a second short-course track and drag strip. Cody Miller is defending Pro Turbo champion, and Owen VanEpren is the Pro NA 1000 champion.
Red Bull has grown its SxS Scrambles series over the last few years. It is the only short-course series to have a bona fide beach race. They’re in Texas this month for the Ranch Scramble.
The famed Mint 400 is run this month as one third of Unlimited Off-Road Racing’s triple crown. Although they haven’t announced the 2024 purse at press time, it’s one of the most lucrative series.
Best in the Desert trims its 2024 season down to four events with the biggest being the 500-plus-mile Vegas-to-Reno challenge. The UTV Worlds will be spread across the series instead of getting a stand-alone round.
2024 MIDAMERICA OUTDOORS $750,000 UTV RACE SERIES
1. May 24-27 Jay, OK
2. June 12-15 Visions Off-road/Jay, OK
3. July 19-21 Jay, OK
4. Aug. 16-18 Jay, OK
5. Oct. 4-6 Jay, OK
Contact www.midameriaoutdoors.com
GREAT AMERICAN SHORT-COURSE
Formerly Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series (LOORRS), Great America Short-course (GAS) is a West Coast series with Champ-style truck, buggy, UTV and trophy kart classes. SxS classes include Production 1000, Production Turbo, Weller Racing SR1, Youth 1000 and RZR 170 classes. GAS kicks off its 2024 season with two rounds at Wild Horse Pass in Chandler, Arizona, in mid-March, and the final eight rounds will all be in southern California.
2024 GREAT AMERICAN SHORT-COURSE SERIES
1-2. Mar. 16-17 Chandler, AZ
3-4. May 18-19 Devore, CA
5-6. June 8-9 Victorville, CA*
7-8. Oct. 5-6 Devore, CA
9-10. Nov. 2-3 Victorville, CA
*Night race
Contact www.greatamericanshortcourse.com
DP4 DESERT SXS RACING SERIES
Desert Productions 4 is a UTV-only desert racing series, and there are five classes and five rounds for 2024. The format is based on bike desert scrambles races that have been going on for 50 years, with loops of 20 to 50 miles. Classes are Pro Turbo (1000cc max), Pro NA 1000, Production 1000 Turbo, Production 1000, and Stock 1000 for UTV racers 16 years old and up. The first four rounds are single-day races of varying length, and the fifth round is the three-day Cali Rally. Ethan Bloom won two 2023 rounds, and Dakar champion Ricky Brabec won the final day of the Cali Rally. Nevada’s Legacy and VORR also received a lot of manufacturer and aftermarket support, but VORR hasn’t announced 2024 dates, and Legacy has a tentative schedule at press time.
2024 DP4 DESERT SXS RACE SERIES
1. Jan. 20 Ridgecrest, CA
2. Mar. 23 Johnson Valley, CA
3. May 18 Barstow, CA*
4. Aug. 24 Ridgecrest, CA*
5. Nov. 1-3 Cali Rally/
Johnson Valley, CA
*Night race
Contact www.dp4racing.com
TEXAS OUTLAW $100,000 SERIES
Starting out as the Texplex UTV Race Series in 2020, the seven-round Texas Outlaw Series will have a brand-new facility in Bowie, Texas, for 2024. Pro purse will be $100,000 split between Pro Outlaw/Turbo and Pro NA 1000, and there will be Youth 170 Stock, 170 Limited (5–12), 250 Mod, Youth NA 1000, 1000cc Turbo, NA 1000, Vet 40+, Women’s and 570–800cc classes. Entries are $90 for Youth classes, $125 for Amateur classes and $275 for Pro classes per round. Spectator day passes are $20, and weekend passes are $35; children under 10 and seniors over 65 are free. Cody and Hunter Miller are perennial favorites and have dominated the Pro Turbo class since Cody Martin won the first Texplex Turbo title. Texas Outlaw also puts on the Outlaw 12-Hour the first weekend in December with a $50,000 payout. ο
2024 TEXAS OUTLAW $100,000 SERIES
1. Mar. 2 Bowie, TX
2. Apr. 6 Bowie, TX
3. May 4 Bowie, TX
4. June 8 Bowie, TX
5. Sept. 7 Bowie, TX
6. Sept. 28 Bowie, TX
7. Oct. 19 Bowie, TX
Contact www.outlawseries.com
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