TORC: The Off-Road Championship (TORC) was an American short course off-road racing series. It tours throughout the United States featuring professional four and two-wheel-drive Trophy Trucks along with a Pro Light class. TORC was founded by off-road racing driver

Ricky Johnson Richard Bernard "Ricky" Johnson Jr. (born July 6, 1964) is an American former professional motocross, off-road truck and stock car racer. He competed in AMA motocross and Supercross during the 1980s and, won seven AMA national championships. He ...

in 2009. It was known as the Traxxas TORC Series, owing to title sponsor

Traxxas Traxxas is a radio control model manufacturer based in McKinney, Texas. Traxxas offers electric and nitro powered radio-controlled cars, off-road and on-road vehicles, boats, and drones. Company history Starting in 1986, Traxxas began selli ...

, from 2009 to 2013. It was purchased by The Armory in August 2013. It was sanctioned and officiated by the United States Auto Club (USAC) since its inception. A multi-year deal between TORC and

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...

was announced in 2014 where it was confirmed that NBC would carry not only the series' on-track events but its docu-reality series as well. However, the series returned to Fox Sports in 2015. Coverage of events for 2016 and 2017 was broadcast by BeIN Sports. The series has not returned since announcing the cancellation of all events in 2018, the series itself would then quietly fold near the end of 2018 with the series website being taken down shortly after.

History

The series was founded in time for the 2009 season by former motocross racer and Motorcycle Hall of Fame member

as the Traxxas TORC Series after hosting an off-road racing event at his

Perris Auto Speedway Perris Auto Speedway, also known as the PAS, is a 1/2 mile clay oval track located at 18700 Lake Perris Drive on the Lake Perris Fairgrounds in Perris, California. The track features a raised backstretch offering fans a better view over the infie ...

in 2008. There were two large sanctioning bodies in short course off-road racing for 2008: CORR and WSORR. CORR had been sanctioning events on the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

and WSORR had sanctioned

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

events. CORR closed before the end of the 2008 season and canceled its final two racing weekends. TORC took over the sanctioning of most of the Midwest events. USAC assumed complete management of the series starting in 2010. The Armory took over ownership of the series in late 2013 to handle all marketing and operations of the series. USAC remained on board as the sanctioning body. One of The Armory's first acts was securing an exclusive 5-year agreement landing the series championship weekend at Crandon International Off-Road Raceway starting in 2014, ensuring no competing sanctions can race at the track. In late 2015, Mountain Sports International took over managing the series. MSI immediately announced adding sportsman racing back under its sanction starting in 2016. In March 2018, the series announced that it would hold no events in 2018.

Divisions

The series was originally divided into Pro, Sportsman, and Grassroots divisions. The Pro division is headlined by a four-wheel drive (PRO 4WD) trophy truck class. It also has a two-wheel drive trophy truck class (PRO 2WD) and a light-duty two-wheel drive

pickup truck A pickup truck or pickup is a light-duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removable covering) ...

class (PRO Light). The series began with a Sportsman truck division, consisting of four- and two-wheel drive truck classes plus a stock truck class. Sportsman buggies featured regular 70 horsepower buggies plus a light class with restricted 55 horsepower engines. It had three grassroots classes all featuring stock vehicles. The Formula 4x4 trucks were stock 4x4 trucks or SUVs, Classix race cars were stock cars with modified suspensions, and the Enduro trucks were two wheel drive 3/4 ton pickup chassis. The Sportsman division later was later dropped by TORC and a separate entity named Midwest Off Road Racing (MORR) was created to sanction those trucks. TORC restored the sportsman classes for the 2016 season after MSI took over its sanction.

Drivers

Champions

Other drivers to compete for TORC championships include: Brian Deegan, Chad Hord,

Jarit Johnson Jarit Johnson (born January 16, 1979) is an American competitive racing driver. He is the brother of NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, and a former NASCAR competitor; he currently drives a Pro 2 Trophy Truck in the TORC: The Off Road Championship ...

, Scott Taylor and Olympian Nick Baumgartner. The Pro Buggy class saw its youngest champion ever in 2012, Mitchell deJong joined the series at 14 years old and won the championship against adult veteran racers, in just his rookie year.

Tracks

Before the inaugural season, TORC announced that it secured an exclusive deal with

Bark River International Raceway Bark may refer to: * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Places * Bark, Germany * Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland Arts, en ...

and a 15-year exclusive deal with Crandon International Off-Road Raceway. It partnered with NASCAR-related tracks in 2013 including Tony Stewart's Eldora Speedway and Friday and Saturday events in conjunction with the Sunday NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Chicagoland Speedway. TORC did not race at Chicagoland in 2014 but announced shortly after the completion of the season that it would once again host an event at the facility's dirt track in conjunction with the NASCAR Nationwide Series race there June 18–20, 2015., *

Antelope Valley Fairgrounds The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous (ecology), indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and b ...

(2012–2013) *

(2009–2017) *

Buffalo Chip Powersports Complex Buffalo most commonly refers to: * Bubalina, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York Buffalo or buffaloes may also refer to: Animals * Bubalina, a subtribe of the t ...

(2014–2015) * Charlotte Motor Speedway (2011–2012, 2014–2016) * Chicagoland Speedway (2010–2013, 2015–2017) * Crandon International Off-Road Raceway (2009–2017) *

Cycle Ranch Cycle, cycles, or cyclic may refer to: Anthropology and social sciences * Cyclic history, a theory of history * Cyclical theory, a theory of American political history associated with Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. * Social cycle, various cycles in soc ...

(2011) *

Dodge City Raceway Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid ...

(2013) * Eldora Speedway (2013) * ERX Motorpark (2016) *

Gateway Motorsports Park World Wide Technology Raceway (formerly Gateway International Raceway and Gateway Motorsports Park) is a motorsport racing facility in Madison, Illinois, just east of St. Louis, Missouri, United States, close to the Gateway Arch. It features a ...

(2015) *

Langlade County Speedway Langlade may refer to: Places * Langlade, Wisconsin, a town, United States * Langlade (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated community, United States * Langlade County, Wisconsin, United States * Langlade, Gard, a commune in the Gard départ ...

(2010) * Las Vegas Motor Speedway (2009) * Sunnyview Expo Center (2009–2011) *

(2009) * Pikes Peak International Raceway (2011) *

Primm Off Road Raceway Primm may refer to: Places in the United States Nevada and California * Primm, Nevada, an unincorporated community * Primm 300, an off-road race * Primm Valley Resorts, a group of three hotel-casinos ** Primm Valley Resort, a hotel and casino ** ...

(2013–2014) *

Red Bud MX Red Bud MX is a US motocross race track located in Buchanan, Michigan, USA. The track is located just north of town, surrounded the agricultural farming fields. It is home to one of the largest motocross tracks in the Midwest, is favorite to many p ...

(2011–2013) * Texas Motor Speedway (2009, 2015–2016)

Television coverage

In 2009, PRO events were televised on national television in the United States with ESPN2 covering the 2009 events at Texas, Crandon's spring event, both Bark River events, and the second Perris event.

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

televised the first 2009 event at Perris and it broadcast Crandon's World Championship Off-Road Races race live.

Marty Reid Martin Reid "Marty" Klingeman (born February 3, 1953), known professionally as Marty Reid, is an American television sportscaster who worked for ESPN from 1982 to 2013, covering motorsports for the network. Reid served as the network's lead Ind ...

was the lead play by play announcer along with Tes Sewell. Former Miss USA

Kimberly Pressler Kimberly Ann Pressler (born May 21, 1977) is an American sports reporter, businesswoman, model, and former Miss USA who currently works for FOX on Professional Bowlers Association ( PBA) telecasts. Ms. Pressler has been featured in People Magazin ...

was the pit reporter. From 2010 through 2012, ''The Off Road Championship'' aired on Discovery HD Theatre (now Velocity) and was produced by The Armory (www.thearmoryagency.com) with executive producer B.J. Birtwell. Season 1 consisted of twenty 1-hour episodes which aired from Sept 2010 to March 2011. Four seasons of the program have been produced. These shows featured a style which TORC refers to as docu-reality, the distinguishing feature of which consists of more talk and less live-style racing action coverage. For 2013, Speed TV broadcast live coverage of the Saturday evening PRO truck events for all the race weekends, excepting the final September event at Primm which was scheduled for NBC. Speed covered two races live, which coverage was also re-aired on Fuel. NBC also broadcast one event. The Armory continued to produce TORC's Television programming in 2014 and 2015 on NBC Sports and Fox Sports, respectively. Bobby Gerould and National Sprint Car Hall of Famer Brady Doty were the broadcast host and PXP announcers while noted motorsports broadcaster Tony Bokhoven was the Pit Reporter.

References

External links

*
The Armory website
{{Off-road racing Auto racing organizations in the United States Off-road racing series Sports in the Midwestern United States Recurring events established in 2009 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2018 Defunct auto racing series Articles containing video clips United States Auto Club