New Big Air Added To Crandon's Historic Track
Posted on Wednesday, August 01, 2012
CRANDON, Wis., (July 25, 2012) – Things just got a bit more interesting for the upcoming short course World Championships at Crandon International Off-Road Raceway. Veteran track builder Cliff Flannery had the dozer out this week, putting the blade to the rich northern Wisconsin clay loam and crafting several new jumps into the legendary Crandon track – all under the watchful eye of TORC’s Menzies Race Team and defending PRO 2WD champ Bryce Menzies (Red Bull/Ram/Mopar/KMC Wheels).
“We’re still tweaking the jumps a bit from the way I first envisioned them, but the Menzies Team has been here to give their input and I think we’ll come away with some pretty neat features that the fans and drivers will enjoy,” said Flannery.
The most noticeable feature will be the new Skybox Jump – sending racers 100-150 feet through the air down the 80-90 mph straight-away right in front of Crandon’s VIP seating section on the east side of the track. According to Flannery the drop-off tabletop-style jump was requested in the past by TORC PRO 4x4 drivers Johnny Greaves (Monster Energy/Toyota/Maxxis) and Ricky Johnson (Red Bull/Ram/Mopar/KMC Wheels) as a way to ratchet up the excitement even more on the fastest portion of Crandon’s track.
“You’re pretty much wide open there, flying all the way down to flat,” said Menzies, the test driver for Crandon on the new Skybox Jump. “It’s going to be pretty insane when you get three trucks side-by-side hitting it at speed. But it all adds to the show for the fans and will play a huge role racing.” Menzies went on to say that drivers are going to have to finish their turns sooner on the top of the hill leading into the Skybox Jump. “You’re normally still sliding (sideways) in the area where the new take-off is for the Skybox Jump. And if you do that now it could be disastrous.”
Added Flannery on the Skybox Jump: This is going to prove to be interesting. Spectators will be counting the blocks (the eight-foot long blue concrete blocks that line that portion of the track) to see how far the trucks are flying.”
Also new for Crandon’s Labor Day Weekend is the redesign of the finish line jump below the Red Bull arch. The tabletop area of the jump has been extended back to the north some 100 feet, which means the trucks will be landing in the area where they used to take off from – giving spectators on the hill and in the grandstands a better view of the airtime. Busy on the dozer, Flannery also put a new jump in the area by the timing stand, while also removing the pond in the center of the track and replacing it with a rock wall.
For more information on Crandon International Off-Road Raceway, including tickets, camping reservations and sponsorship information, please contact the Crandon offices at (715) 478-2222. And please visit our new website at www.crandonoffroad.com