TQRA ATV RACING
Everything is still big in Texas
By the staff of Dirt Wheels
WHERE TO RACE
❏ We hear a lot of race promoters
for ATV and UTV racing saying that
it is hard to make a profit putting on
races. But then we see other series
that are thriving. In the case of the
Texhoma Quad Racing Association,
they are still getting excellent race
turnouts, and the profit thing? TQRA
is a non-profit organization founded
in 1993 and currently run by pro racer
Austin Wilson. How popular is the
series? As the name might lead you
to believe, all 10 rounds of the yearly
series are run in north Texas and
Oklahoma, but riders come from all
over the Midwest and even as far as
Mexico. Yes, we know that Texas borders Mexico, but Texas is a huge state,
and anywhere in Mexico is more than
For a regional series, the Texhoma Quad
Racing Association gets a great pro
turnout. National guys hang out with the
local boys, and the locals hang tough.
a 10-hour drive to north Texas.
We suspect that a large part of
the draw is the program. Saturdays
have practice between 10 and 3: 30,
and there are two laps of practice
on Sunday morning. Entry, gate and
camping fees all look reasonable. The
TQRA attracts an impressive roster of
national ATV/MX riders to ride with
regional pros. The final event of the
year is the ATV challenge in memory
of Caleb Moore. You may remember
that Caleb Moore was a champion
quad and snowmobile freestyle rider,
and he did a lot of racing with the
TQRA. The TQRA put on a whale of
an event in Caleb’s memory. First
of all there was a $30,000 pro purse,
with the $10,000 winner’s check going
to national ATV/MX champ Chad
Wienen in 2013. In addition to the
pro purse, invited national pros were
paid an additional $1500 in appear-
ance money. Unlike the normal series
race, the challenge is a three-day
format, with practice on a Friday
and racing on Saturday and Sunday.
For pros, the format resembles the
Monster Energy Cup motorcycle sta-
dium race in Las Vegas, with three
motos for the pros.
Having a thriving pro class is
great for spectators. It helps amateur riders learn, and it gives all of