TOP-TEN 2021 UTV RACING SERIES

Last updated Apr 8, 2021

With Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing canceling its 2021 season, where will the defending champions go? Find that out and more in UTV Action’s guide to the top-ten 2021 UTV racing series! LOORRS was the premier short-course racing series in terms of organization, safety and close racing and in television coverage, and the series has produced a lot of racing greats and up-and-comers like Sheldon Creed and Hailie Deegan. The Texas UTV Racing Series was the first to resume racing in 2020 and had the largest payouts, and we covered the 2021 Texas UTV Racing schedule and news in the January 2021 issue of UTV Action (see “Schedule” for race dates). It was also the first to hold its first 2021 round on January 9th. With one throwaway in the 10-round series, you’ll be out of the $30,000 Pro championship hunts if you miss the second round on February 20th. Texplex Park announced its record payout increase to $200,000 for the 2021 Texas series, but Oklahoma’s CroSxS series promptly announced its $210,000, nine-round UTV race series, the largest to date.

MIDAMERICA OUTDOORS CROSXS UTV SERIES

MidAmerica Outdoors is northeast Oklahoma’s largest OHV park and a premier destination for family fun off of the UTV tracks and trails. With 1200 acres of wooded trails and hill-climbs, two UTV tracks, a lake and a regulation drag strip, MidAmerica Outdoors is a prime location to host the nine-round CroSxS UTV racing series. Sponsored by Maxxis, Gates, Raceline, Tucker, Rugged Radios, Partzilla and more, CroSxS promises a pro payout of $25,000 for a championship and $1000 per pro-round win. Second is worth $10,000, and third is $7000. Expert classes pay $750 per race win and $400 per amateur-class win. It’s the year’s richest in our guide to the top-ten 2021 UTV racing series.

Classes include Spec 170, 170 Limited, 170 Mod, Youth Factory Stock 1000, 1000 Turbo Expert, 1000 Turbo Amateur, 1000 N/A Expert, 1000 N/A Amateur, 800cc, Women’s Turbo, Women’s N/A, Mod N/A, Vet 50+ Turbo, Vet 50+ N/A, Pro Turbo and Pro N/A. See www.crosxs.com for rules and requirements. Besides the mud round at Hillaroasa ATV Park in Arkansas on April 10th, MAO will put on short-course, woods and MX rounds with a different course each round. MAO has 180 RV sites with full hookups, 30 furnished cabins, dry-camping areas, bath houses, Polaris UTV/ATV rentals, a pro shop, large swimming pool, concert pavilion, food courts, commercial wash bays, Wi-Fi and more.

CROSXS 2021 UTV RACE SERIES

1. Mar. 20 Jay, OK

2. Apr. 10 Blevins, AR

3. Apr. 24 Jay, OK

4. May 29 Jay, OK

5. May 30 Jay, OK

6. June 26 Jay, OK

7. Aug. 7 Jay, OK

8. Sept. 5 Jay, OK

9. Oct. 30 Jay, OK

Contact www.crosxs.com, (817)999-9820

CHAMPIONSHIP OFF-ROAD TOUR UTV SERIES

Championship Off-Road also stepped up in 2020 and put on a great short-course series, and CJ Greaves won both the Pro Mod and Pro Stock UTV championships (also winning $25,000 from Yamaha’s bLU cRU contingency program), while other winners include Kyle Chaney, Rodney VanEperen, Andrew Carlson and Kyle LeDuc. Championship Off-Road expands the 2021 Tour to 12 rounds held at such iconic venues as Crandon International Raceway, ERX Motorsport Park, Dirt City Motorplex, and Bark River International Raceway.

Championship has Short-Course Kart, Mod Kart, SxS 170, and MORR Amateur UTV classes, in addition to Pro Mod and Pro Stock UTV classes, so it’s a true development series for future stars. Rules and requirements can be found at www.champoffroad.com, and CORT even has approved tires for parity in racing. UTVs can run 28×10.5R14, 30×10.5R14 and 30×10.5R15 BFG T/A KM3s; Cooper Evolution Winter; General Grabber A/TX, AT2 and X3; or Kenda Mastondon HT, Klever X/T and Kongur in 26-30-inch sizes. Maxxis racers can run Razr and Razr Plus on Mod Kart and 170 UTVs, and Pro UTV classes can run 26-29-inch Ceros. UTVs can also run MRT’s Rally Snake, Pro Armor Crawler XR, Hoosier Knobbies, and GBC Kanati Mongrels. CORT is promoted by ISOC Racing.

2021 CHAMPIONSHIP OFF-ROAD TOUR UTVs

1-2. June 5-6 Langlade County Fair/Antigo, WI

3-4. June 26-27 Crandon, WI

5-6. July 9-10 Elk River, MN

7-8. July 31-Aug. 1 DirtCity/Lena, WI

9-10. Aug. 14-15 ERX/Eagle River, WI

11-12. Sept. 3-4 Crandon, WI

Contact www.champoffroad.com

KING OF THE ELEMENTS UTV SERIES

Created in 2019 by Johnny and CJ Greaves, Monster Energy and SxS Sports, the $150,000 UTV Series tested racers’ skills and speed on ice, Supermoto and short-course tracks. Now called the King of the Elements, the 2020 UTV Series crowned Scottie Lawrence (C-A) Pro Mod champion and Rod VanEperen (Yam) Pro Stock champion, with both earning $20,000 in series cash and VanEperen earning a Yamaha bLU cRU bonus. The 2021 King of the Elements starts with the Arctic Derby ice race at Eagle River on February 26th, holds a short-course round on May 21-22 at Dirt City, and does another dirt-track round with jumps on September 17-18. The finale—combining short-course and woods—is to be announced at a later date, with each round getting more than $25,000 in payouts.

KOE is also a series dedicated to grooming future stars with Youth 170 classes, and it partners with Race Driven Polaris/KTM for 2021 to introduce a new UTV 570 class that bridges the gap from 170 to Sportsman UTVs. Reid Votis (Pol) is the defending Mini 170 champion, and Dylan Marquardt (Yam) is the Sportsman UTV champ.

SXS SPORTS KING OF THE ELEMENTS SERIES

1. Feb. 26-27 Arctic Derby/Eagle River, WI

2. May 21-22 Short-Course/Lena, WI

3. Sept. 17-18 Short-Course/Maribel, WI

4. TBA, TBA Elk River, WI

Contact www.sxssportsracing.com

WORLD OFF-ROAD CHAMPIONSHP SERIES UTVs

WORCS is the most-attended series and has a 10-round schedule for 2021; it once again starts and ends at Buffalo Bill’s Casino in Primm, Nevada. A new Idaho round will visit the Cache Valley MX Park on June 4-6, and WORCS celebrates its 20th year with a weekend party in Wickenburg, Arizona, September 3-5.

Besides the Pro Stock 1000s and Pro Production Turbos, there are 13 other championship classes with five adult classes: Production 1000, Stock 1000, Production 900, Production Turbo 1000 and Women’s. Youth UTV classes include 1000 Stock, 800 Production, 650 Production, 600 Stock, 250 Production, 250 Stock 9-12, 250 Stock 6-8, and 250 Limited Stock. See www.worcsracing.com for registration, downloading the WORCS mobile app, and signing up for live text race alerts. Entry fees for 2020 were $175 for UTV Pros, $130 for Amateur classes, $80 for Youth classes, and Unclassified races were $25. ATV entries were $105 for Pros, $55 for adult classes, $40 for Youth and $25 for Unclassified.

2021 WORCS UTV SCHEDULE

1. Jan. 15-17 Primm, NV

2. Feb. 12-14 Blythe, CA

3. Mar. 19-21 Havasu, AZ

4. Apr. 30-May 2 Las Vegas, NV

5. June 4-6 Cache Valley, ID

6. September 3-5 Wickenburg, AZ

7. Oct. 1-3 Devore, CA

8. Oct. 29-31 Mesquite, NV

9-10. Nov. 12-14 Primm, NV

Contact www.worcsracing.com

BEST IN THE DESERT RACING AND TRIPLE CROWN

While the Best in the Desert (BITD) series boasts the highest payout at $220,000, most of the purse goes to truck, buggy and bike classes. BITD has a six-round series for 2021, its silver anniversary year, and the March 24-28 UTV Legends race is new for 2021. UTV Legends pits desert and short-course legends together on a special course designed to level the field, and it will have many non-race activities like one of three Pre-Fun Runs. In addition, the BITD Triple Crown returns with the Tensor Tire Parker 250, an all-new Reno-to-Vegas The Other Way Challenge, and the Bluewater Desert Challenge. In 2020, Phil Blurton won the Turbo Triple Crown and a $6700 bonus, 10 percent of the $67,000 total purse. Total BITD 2020 bonuses were $337,500.

BEST IN THE DESERT 2021 UTV SERIES

1. Feb. 18-21 Parker (250), AZ

2. Mar. 24-28 UTV Legends/Laughlin, NV

3. Apr. 28-May 2 Silver State 300/Alamo, NV

4. Aug. 11-15 Vegas-to-Reno/Reno, NV

5. Sept. 30-Oct.3 Desert Classic/Laughlin, NV

6. Nov. 3 -7 Bluewater Dez Challenge/Parker, AZ

Contact (702) 457-5775, www.bitd.com

BEST IN THE DESERT UTV PRE-FUN RUNS

1. Jan. 9-10 Parker (250), AZ

2. Mar. 24-28 UTV Legends/Laughlin, NV

3. Apr. 9-11 Silver State 300/Alamo, NV

Contact (702) 457-5775, www.bitd.com

Desert racers have six BITD rounds (including a Triple Crown series), four Score Baja races, the Mint 400 and UTV World Championships.

SCORE-INTERNATIONAL BAJA RACING SERIES

SCORE could only get in two of its four rounds for 2020—the iconic Baja 500 and 1000. For 2021, the schedule again starts with the San Felipe 250 (April 14-18) and ends with the 54th Baja 1000 (November 15-20), which will be an Ensenada-to-La Paz race. Score classes are Pro UTV Forced Induction, Pro N/A 1000, Pro Stock UTV, and Pro UTV Unlimited.

SCORE 2021 UTV/ATV SCHEDULE

1. Apr. 14-18 San Felipe (250), Baja, MX

2. June 9-13 Ensenada (Baja 500), Baja, MX

3. Sept. 14-19 San Felipe (Baja 400), Baja, MX

4. Nov. 15-20 Ensenada (Baja 1000), Baja, MX

Contact www.score-international.com

Ultra4 Racing started 2021 with the King of the Hammers, the off-road Daytona 500, then splits into three regional series to seed the Ultra4 finals in Nevada.

ULTRA4 ROCK RACING SERIES

Like NASCAR, Ultra4 Racing starts its season with the granddaddy of rock-crawling races, the King of the Hammers. In 2020, the KOH UTVs were by far the largest class, with more entries than all 4×4 and bike classes combined. The 2021 KOH schedule included a Class 10-UTV challenge, with $60,000 going to the winner. Starting April 2-3, Ultra4 West, North, and East series each get three rounds, and then the finals are held in Reno on October 15-17. If you want to race the 2022 KOH UTVs, you must qualify via the 2021 Regionals.

ULTRA4 RACING 2021 UTV SCHEDULE

1. Jan. 31 Hammers/Johnson Valley, CA

2. Apr. 2-3 #1W/Moab, UT

3. Apr. 16-18 #1E/Rush, KY

4. May 14-15 #2W/San Felipe, Baja, MX

5. June 10-13 #1N/Broadview, MT

6. June 25-26 #2E/Pittsburg, TN

7. Aug. 6-7 #2N&#3W/Sturgis,SD

8. Sept. 3-5 #3N&E/Crandon, WI

9. Oct. 15-17 Nat’ls/Reno, NV

Contact www.ultra4racing.com

WORCS, BITD, the Mint 400 and UTV World Championships all host rounds at casinos in Las Vegas, Laughlin and Primm, Nevada, so they make good vacation destinations.

ACCLAIMED ONE-OFF UTV RACES

The American Cross-Country Championship (AXCC) was the premier 2020 cross-country UTV series, with seven rounds in Oklahoma, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee, but they haven’t got the 2021 series nailed down by press time. Mideast Hare Scrambles ran a 15-round series in 2020, but only eight had UTVs. They have fourteen 2021 dates, but no venues set at press time. The Iowa ATV Hare-Scrambles Series puts on a great series, including the Heartland Challenge, but IATVHSS hasn’t set its 2021 schedule, either. The Mint 400 is an iconic race that split from BITD a few years back, and it runs UTV races March 3-7. The UTV World Championships will have several short-course and desert events October 13-17.

THE MINT 400

1. Mar. 3-7 Las Vegas, NV

Contact www.themint400.com

UTV WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

1. Oct. 13-17 Lake Havasu City, AZ

Contact www.madmedia.com

CONTACT:

MidAmerica Outdoors

42162 OK-127

Jay, OK 74346

(918) 837-0079

[email protected]