Dirt Wheels - August 2014

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.