NORRA (National Off Road Racing Association) opened its 2008 season at Mototown, USA—A 330,000 sq. ft., purpose built, indoor motocross facility, which would now be transformed into a short-course style racetrack for full size trucks and buggies (think CORR or WSORR but indoors).  Though utilizing only half of the facility’s floor space (because of the limited amount of time between the last race of the motocross season and this race, which prevented the bulldozing of some of the larger motocross jumps) the track still featured a number of hairpin turns, high speed straights, a tabletop and a series of whoops.

When I arrived late in the morning, Pat Beccaria, the NORRA director, showed me around the cavernous facility and shared with me his vision of what NORRA could become.  Pat, a former motocross racer, got into stadium-style truck racing the way many riders do—he blew out a knee and took to the old “with age comes a cage” adage.  Having successfully run his own truck (a ’71 Ford Bronco) in a number of short course series across the country, Pat had his sights on a slightly larger target.  Always a fan of “West Coast Style” stadium truck races like the ground-breaking MTEG (Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group) series of the 1980s and early ‘90s, Pat wanted to bring that style of up close and personal off-road racing to the East Coast.  With a number of “Tough Truck” races taking place close to or on the East Coast and a local club of enthusiasts (Central Connecticut 4-Wheelers) who have kept off-road racing alive amongst the urban sprawl of the Northeast, Pat believed that there was proof that the demand for these events was there.

So in 2007, Pat Beccaria’s NORRA began scheduling events that could incorporate the oval and infield section of the facilities they chose to race at.  Running a short but successful series of races in this year showed Pat that, surprisingly, there were more racers interested in this style of motorsports centered in the Northeast.  So when Mototown USA, located in central Connecticut, agreed to host a series of about a dozen indoor off-road races, Pat jumped at the chance to give his racers and their fans a high quality, consistent, reliable place to run their vehicles.

That brought us to this day’s event.  The season opener for NORRA was many things to many people.  For the fans it meant an introduction to short-course-style off-road racing.  For Mototown USA, it would see if their facility could accommodate vehicles of this size and at these speeds.  For the racers, it would determine if racing here could provide the excitement and solid racing action they crave and normally discover on outdoor tracks.  For Pat Beccaria, it would show if his young racing series had found a long-term home, where it could be nurtured and grow.

The racing itself was top notch with competitors divided into four basic classes—Stock Buggy, Super Buggy, Pro-Mod and Unlimited.  Amongst the buggy classes you had your typical air-cooled VW powered buggies with a couple Toyota versions thrown in for good measure.  In the Pro-Mod and Unlimited classes were found a number of Chevy powered, extended frame Jeeps and couple of near “Pro-Lite” quality trucks.  Side by side, full contact, aggressive driving was the norm throughout all the individual class heats with the climax of the action coming at the end of the day when NORRA took the CORR/WSORR formula of combining the PRO 2 and PRO 4 classes for a “best of the best, last man standing” race, one step further: the Ironman. 

NORRA encourages drivers in all classes to register for the end of day “Ironman” race.  Anyone entered as such and with a vehicle still running will be thrown in against one another, no matter what your class.  So what you end up with is a 25-year-old VW powered buggie racing against a 3-year-old, 350 CI Chevy powered, tube frame truck!  To give the little guys a chance, they are allowed a head start and the race is kept short enough so that it really becomes a battle of skill and setup over horsepower.

You can see video of the season opening NORRA races (as well and numerous other “dirty” videos) here in Off-Road.com’s video page.

The day ended as most races do…with some trucks broken—roll-overs, engine fires, broken hubs, etc. and a lucky few on the podium.  Two racers and their vehicles stood out from the rest.  Amongst the buggies, Kenny Decker, Jr. and his beautiful VW-powered #25 buggy was dominant, winning the Super Buggy heat and was strong in the Ironman Buggy competition until a wheel failure prevented him from winning that portion of the day as well.  Decker seemed right at home on this indoor track as his #25 VW hooked up quicker than anyone else’s vehicle in coming out of the corners all day long.  For the trucks in the Pro-Mod and Unlimited classes it was Mike Charette in his #14 Chevy Silverado taking BOTH the Unlimited truck heat and the Ironman Truck competition as its horsepower and speed on the straights seemed to be in a class above anyone else.

When the racing ended, everyone I talked to had only positive things to say about the facility, the racing and how much they looked forward to coming back. That alone makes the final part of this tale the hardest to take.

While Pat and everyone else came away from the race very enthusiastic about the day and looking forward to their next time (of eleven promised future races) at Mototown USA when the track was to be doubled in size, factors out of NORRA’s control would bring the best laid plans crashing down.

Two weeks after this April 5th race, Mototown USA closed its doors and posted a message on its website saying that it had closed for the “season”.  Rumors began flying.  The known facts are that a number of retail storefronts within the Mototown USA facility had remained empty for some time, electricity and heating prices have soared, the economy has pressured the “disposable income” of many people, and two riders had died of injuries sustained at Mototown USA during 2007.  All these factors (and others) were more than its ownership could sustain.  So for now, an enormous, well-located, off-road racing facility sits empty, with about 30 MILLION potential consumers within approximately a two hour drive or less.

Pat Beccaria has, since the news of Mototown USA’s closing, promised his racers that the NORRA will soldier on, looking for new venues and new fans by relying on dependable locations like the outdoor tracks in Southwick, Mass., Bradford, Vermont, Middletown, New York and East Lempster, New Hamp.  So if you’re in the area, check out the NORRA website (www.norra.us) and see if you can make a race or two.

Wherever you are, check out a local race (of any kind) in your area. Racers can race and promoters can promote, but without the fans there can be no Motorsports.