Crandon International Raceway Confirms Its Place Among America’s Premier Motorsport Events
Crandon International Raceway is closing out another landmark season on a wave of momentum, as promoter Marty Fiolka reflected on the track’s growth, its deep community roots, and major new initiatives for 2026 and beyond during a featured appearance on Race Industry Week.
Home of the iconic Labor Day weekend Crandon World Championship Off-Road Races® and Red Bull Crandon World Cup, the track celebrated the 56th edition of its signature event this year with record Friday and weekend attendance, expanded television coverage, and a manufacturer presence that would rival any major motorsports festival.
“Labor Day at Crandon is exactly what we always hoped it would become – one of the top motorsports events in America,” said Fiolka, now in his 10th year as promoter after first joining Crandon as PR director in 2014. “You watch that weekend unfold and you understand why people are starting to talk about Crandon in the same breath as places like Indianapolis and Le Mans in terms of tradition and atmosphere.”
A Five-Day Off-Road Festival – and a Destination
This year’s Labor Day weekend showcased:
- Championship Off-Road short course racing
- Ultra4 USA rock racing on Crandon’s dedicated rock section
- Vintage/Class 11 Volkswagens and grassroots categories
- A truly national entry list with racers from across the United States
Crandon also delivered one of the strongest manufacturer and sponsor activations in its history, with Ford Performance, Toyota, Chevrolet, Ram and Polaris all present in force, alongside tire and industry partners such as Yokohama and Maxxis.
The event’s television and streaming footprint continues to grow. Working side-by-side with RACER, Crandon produced 17 hours of live television on top of Championship Off-Road’s Flow Racing commitments, resulting in more than 30 hours of live coverage from the weekend.
Yet Fiolka is quick to emphasize that what truly sets Crandon apart is its sense of place.
“The magic is that Crandon isn’t just a racetrack – it’s a hometown,” Fiolka explained. “You’ve got this Northwoods Wisconsin community, families that have been involved for generations, and a facility that has grown step by step over nearly six decades. You can’t fabricate that. The town, the parade, the camping, the lakes, the barns, the grass – that’s the Crandon experience.”
The Friday parade into downtown Crandon, where race vehicles line Main Street, drivers sign autographs, and the first preview TV show airs, remains one of the most beloved traditions of the weekend.
Off-Road’s OEM Boom and How Crandon Fits In
Fiolka noted that Crandon’s rise coincides with a broader transformation in the off-road market, driven by OEMs and powersports manufacturers.
“The modern off-road boom really accelerated with vehicles like the Ford Raptor and the Polaris RZR,” he said. “Now every major brand is leaning into trucks, SUVs, and off-road performance. You see Toyota’s new side-by-side concept, Ram’s presence, GM, and even brands like Porsche going off-pavement. Crandon is perfectly positioned as the spiritual home of Midwest off-road racing right as this wave is cresting.”
On track, however, Crandon stays focused on what races best. High-horsepower Pro 2 and Pro 4 trucks, Pro Lite and buggy classes, UTVs and Ultra4 cars provide intense, 15-minute sprint races that showcase specialized short course vehicles rather than desert trucks designed for endurance.
“It’s always about the show,” Fiolka said. “A million-dollar Baja truck looks incredible in Baja, but it doesn’t work on a tight short-course like Crandon. Our Pro 2s, Pro 4s and Pro buggies are purpose-built and unbelievably fast. You’re watching a 15-minute war out there.”
Rallycross Comes to Crandon – New June Festival in 2026
Looking ahead, Crandon is preparing a major evolution of its June Forest County Potawatomi “Brush Run” weekend.
In June 2026, Crandon will:
- Host Rally X as part of an international rallycross series, including EV and combustion cars
- Lean heavily into night racing, taking full advantage of the track’s lighting
- Introduce a vintage off-road festival, bringing classic off-road race cars and trucks to the track in a retro-themed celebration
“Rallycross needs a permanent home in America – a place with dirt, infrastructure, TV, and built-in fans,” Fiolka explained. “Crandon can be that home. Instead of building a temporary track in a parking lot, Rally X comes into a facility that already has everything they need: broadcast, camping, hospitality, and a racing surface that suits their cars.”
The Rally X program will also bring a new technical challenge as Crandon integrates EV race cars, collaborating with USAC and series officials on safety and emergency response for electric vehicles. Series partners like Kicker and Borla are working on high-output sound systems to give EV rallycross cars a distinctive audible presence – whether that’s V8 tones or futuristic “sci-fi” sound profiles.
Alongside Rally X, the June weekend will feature a deeper vintage presence and expanded lifestyle elements, creating a second anchor festival to complement the Labor Day World Championship and Red Bull Crandon World Cup.
A Living, Growing Grass-Roots Cathedral
Crandon International Raceway remains proudly independent and locally owned by the Flannery family, continuing the tradition started in the late 1960s when short course off-road was born there. The facility includes:
- Roughly 400 acres of property
- A 1.75-mile off-road circuit
- Massive grass campgrounds, ponds, and tree-lined viewing areas
- Buildings and structures styled as barns to reflect the area’s rural character
Maintenance and upgrades are continuous. Between events, the Crandon crew is busy turning over soil, blending clay, repairing fences heaved by winter frost, reseeding grass and maintaining signage – all in a region where winter temperatures drop well below zero.
“We’re open eight days a year,” Fiolka said. “That means those eight days have to matter. Every summer project – a new entrance building, an activation course, a pond, a hospitality area – is done with that in mind. And we don’t do it alone.”
Labor Day weekend mobilizes 400–500 volunteers from local charities and organizations who staff food stands, parking, security and more – a direct connection between the racetrack and the community.
Looking to the 57th Edition and Beyond
In 2026, Crandon will celebrate the 57th edition of its World Championship event and the 11th year of the Red Bull Crandon World Cup. With Rally X joining the June Brush Run, off-road OEM engagement at an all-time high, and international drivers increasingly circling the date, Fiolka believes Crandon’s best chapters are still being written.
“If it’s Memorial Day, you want to be at Indy. If it’s Labor Day, you want to be at Crandon,” he said. “We’re honored that more and more people in the industry are starting to see it that way – from global OEM leaders and series bosses to families camping on the grass. Crandon is a special place, and we’re just getting started.”
