The 56th Polaris World Championships at Crandon promised much – and delivered

Every form of sport has its Super Bowl or World Series. In motorsports we tend to talk about a particular series' premier venue as Indianapolis, Daytona or Monaco. 

In desert off-road racing, that's the Baja 1000. In short course off-road, it's Crandon International Raceway on Labor Day weekend. Officially the Polaris World Championships, this year's just-concluded event is the 56th. And winning any race during the weekend is special, but particularly the Sunday World Championship races and, for the Pro2 and Pro4 competitors, the Red Bull Cup.

“It's the biggest show for us,” said Jimmy Henderson after taking victory in the Pro4 World Championship race. “It's our Daytona 500 Indy, 500 whatever you want to call it. This is Crandon in the fall. With all these fans, 50,000, 60,000 people… there's nothing like it. It is our pinnacle. To finally be a World Champion against the best drivers in this class we have this year with Mickey Thomas and Cole Mamer being added, R.J. [Anderson] is back… to be able to win against that crowd, it's truly the best we have.”

After sweeping the Pro4 races for the weekend, Henderson would end up third in the Red Bull Cup later that day, behind CJ Greaves and Anderson. The Red Bull Cup pits Pro2 and Pro4 competitors against each other, with a staggered start to account for the difference in lap times. The faster Pro4s start well after the Pro2s; they have to catch them – easy – and get by the full field – more difficult – to have a shot at victory. 

Anderson, in a Pro4, was carrying the colors of mentor – and the guy that got Anderson's father into the off-road racing world – Walker Evans, who passed away in August. Anderson has won two Cup races at Crandon previously, but he was visibly feeling the emotion of this one. 

But he was also quick to give props to his competitors. Running only a partial season this year, the champion short-course racer and star of viral videos for Polaris knew that what he accomplished was certainly not easy.

“We're running a part-time schedule, and to run against these guys. CJ Greaves, Jimmy… if you think you can just come out here and it's going to be easy, you're definitely wrong,” Anderson said. “These are bad dudes behind the wheel, and I've got a lot of respect for them, so to come out here and battle with these boys is an honor.”

No matter how accomplished a driver is in the sport – and CJ Greaves is among the most successful, following in the footsteps of his father Johnny, an absolute legend of short course – Crandon can be cruel. Running three classes, in his six races leading up  to the Red Bull Cup, Greaves crashed or broke in just about all of them. But Crandon, and especially the luster of the Red Bull Cup, makes a racer persevere. 

There are a number of things that add to Crandon's allure. History is one; it's the oldest continuously running short course track. There's the rabid fan base – tens of thousands of spectators packed into the grandstand and on the hill along the front straight. Add in the parade in downtown Crandon that allows fans to get up and close to the teams and the race vehicles. The land-rush start – you think three-wide at Indy is nuts? Imagine the whole field strung out horizontally, in one or two rows, with a standing start, funneling into a fast, banked, gnarly Turn 1. 

Photo by Richard S. James

And that brings me to a personal segue… some 30ish years ago, flipping channels on the couch on a Saturday afternoon, I came across a bunch of odd open-wheelers lined up in the dirt. Some cowboy-looking dude ran along the row, checking that each one was ready to go. Then those things that looked like Formula Vees on steroids launched off the line, ran into this crazy-looking right-hand turn, and then hit some jumps. It was like nothing I had ever seen before, and I was hooked. What I was witnessing was 1600 Buggies at Crandon.

It would be a few years before I saw short course in person as it made its way to the West Coast, and a couple of additional years before I was following the Cowboy, trailing the steadicam operator as part of a television crew, just before the field got the green for the land-rush start. It was, to overuse a word, an absolute rush.

To once again witness a field of determined racers in high-horsepower, extremely capable off-road vehicles jamming through that turn this year was special. It ignited memories of seeing short course for the first time on TV, my first time in person, and the first time at Crandon on Labor Day weekend. 

The best part? The absurd number of spectators that had made their way to this dirt track outside a tiny Wisconsin hamlet, every one of whom was as enthralled with this moment as I was. 

There are moments in my motorsports journey that will stick with me: My first time laying eyes on the front straight at Le Mans; my first trip emerging from the tunnel into the infield of Indianapolis Motor Speedway; and my first time witnessing a land-rush start at Crandon.

And looking back from that first time to now, the way Crandon International Raceway has developed is remarkable. What Cliff Flannery has done with the place is nothing short of amazing – the facilities shame some road courses and paved ovals. And the crowds exceed some IndyCar and sports car races. The sponsorships and manufacturer displays were impressive as well. Credit for that goes to Marty Fiolka, a member of the Off Road Motorsports Hall of Fame who promotes the event.

But what really matters is the racing, and Crandon provides it in spades. The Red Bull Cup may not have been the barn-burner that it often is, but hard racing across two days in many classes made up for it. Sunday's Pro Lite World Championship was especially good. 

Even the Sportsman classes put on a some good shows, which brings up another point – imagine club racers getting in some races on Saturday before the Indy 500 or the Grand Prix of Monte Carlo – that's effectively what happens with the inclusion of the Sportsman categories, including everything from kids in karts to homebuilt trucks developed from street vehicles.

Throw in Class 11, Ultra4 (including some new rock sections) and RallyX, it's hard to argue that the 60,000 fans aren't getting their money's worth.

It all comes together to make the Polaris World Championships one of the great weekends in motorsports, and its why every short course off road racers keeps Labor Day weekend open.