Cross-country racing in the Upper Midwest is charging forward at a rapid rate, with a nine-event schedule planned by the Cor Powersports group that bought out the United States X Country circuit late last winter.
Cor, which previously hosted its cross-country events primarily in Wisconsin and Michigan, has jumped into both shoes of the USXC, developing a schedule that includes many familiar stops for the high-profile racers who ran the circuit under Brian Nelson’s recent ownership.
The season is scheduled to start — weather permitting — at the place where laketop cross-country seasons have most often started in recent year: On Pine Lake near Gonvick, Minnesota, for Gerald Dyrdahl Memorial on December 12-13.
After a break for holiday season, things really get cooking in January, with the traditional stop in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, on January 2-3, followed by the Heartland 200 in Park Rapids, Minnesota, on January 23-24. The month wraps up in Manvel, North Dakota, with the Turtle River Rough Riders 100 on January 30.
Next comes the big dog: The cross-country 500 now known as the Goodridge/Grygla I-500 on February 13-14. It’s name may have changed a lot over the years, but the great history of the cross-country I-5 continues.
After a weekend off to recover, cross-country racing is making a rare appearance in the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul suburban area with a 10-mile course at the ERX Motor Park in Elk River, Minnesota, on February 27-28. Could it rekindle some of the spirit of the popular old event that used to be held in nearby Albertville, Minnesota? Time will tell.
Round 7 is in Naytahwaush, Minnesota, March 6-7, with the Naytahwaush Night Riders 100 before the series shift to the sport of dual-purpose events famous on the old Cor circuit. Round 8 at Big Powderhorn Resort in Bessemer, Michigan, will feature a hillclimb and hillcross on Saturday and then a cross-country racing on Sunday the weekend of March 27-28. The season then wraps up with a similar schedule on April 10-11 at Giants Ridge Resort in Biwabik, Minnesota — running the hill Saturday and doing cross-country Sunday.
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