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Short-course Off-road Drivers Association

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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For other uses, see Soda (disambiguation).

The Short-course Off-road Drivers Association (usually abbreviated as SODA) was a short course off-road racing sanctioning body in the United States.

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History

SODA began as a Midwestern United States off-road racing series in the early 1970s.[2] Most races were held in Wisconsin but a few were held in Michigan. The crown jewel of the series was the off-road championship event held at the Crandon International Off-Road Raceway - the "home of the world championship off-road race".[1]

The vehicles used were primarily trophy trucks, buggies (which were based on the original Volkswagen Beetle called Baja Bugs), pickup trucks, and a few stock cars. All vehicles had heavily modified suspensions.

Most drivers from SODA moved to CORR (Championship Off-Road Racing) after the 1997 season, which basically ended SODA's existence. A greatly diminished series continued on for at least a few years afterwards.

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Classes

  • Class 1-1600, 1600 cc engine buggies with driver only
  • Class 2-1600, 1600 cc engine buggies with driver plus co-pilot (Sometimes run with class 1-1600)
  • Class 3, 4-wheel-drive short wheelbase vehicles (Jeep CJ, Ford Bronco, etc.)
  • Class 4, 4-wheel-drive full-size trucks
  • Class 5-1600, buggies with driver only
  • Class 6 modified passenger cars, and later 2wd SUVs
  • Class 7s, 2-wheel-drive four-cylinder trucks
  • Class 8, 2-wheel-drive full-size trucks
  • Class 8s 2-wheel-drive full-size trucks (nearly stock vehicles, with restrictor plate V8 engines)
  • Class 9, modified buggies with up to 1914 cc air-cooled engines, or 1600 cc engines water-cooled
  • Class 10, Class 9 with co-pilot[3]
  • Class 11, stock 1600 cc engine buggies with driver only
  • Class 12, stock 1600 cc engine buggies with driver plus co-pilot (sometimes run with Class 11)
  • Class 13, 2-wheel-drive full-sized trucks with more restrictions than Class 8
  • Heavy Metal, combined race with Class 3, Class 4 and Class 8 trucks
  • SODA Light, small single-seat short-wheelbase buggies with small CC snowmobile engines
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Television

The series was televised in starting with Crandon's race in 1989 on ESPN.[1] Series races appeared tape delayed on ESPN/ESPN2[4] (often during the winter months). ESPN covered the two trophy truck classes (4 and 8) along with 7S. ESPN2 started covering races in 1995.[5] It covered Classes 13, 9/10, and 1600.[6] The ESPN2 races featured Marty Reid as the lead announcer, Ivan Stewart as color commentator, and Jimmie Johnson as pit reporter.[5] In late 1996, SODA sanctioned the Chevrolet Off-Road Winter Series; drivers traveled across the country in the Glen Helen Raceway in California.[1]

Video game

In 1997, Sierra Entertainment released a SODA-themed racing video game called SODA Off-Road Racing!.

Tracks that held races

Many Wisconsin and Michigan tracks held races, including:

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Drivers

References

External links

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