Annual off-road races have helped shape a small Wisconsin Northwoods community since their launch in 1970. A series of vignettes help tell the story of Crandon International Raceway and the Crandon World Championships through the voices of competitors who know the event firsthand.
Jimmie Johnson has kept expanding his checklist, venturing off to IndyCar for two seasons, racing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, co-owning a team and whatnot.
But there’s still one box he’d like to tick, an item from before his seven NASCAR Cup Series championships, before the two Daytona 500 victories or the four Coca-Cola 600s or the four Brickyard 400s or the 73 other wins. From before he even started racing stock cars.
“ Brendan Gaughan loves to give me trouble,” Johnson said. “We raced in the same category, in Pro 2, and he got a Crandon ring and I didn’t. And I tell him, well, I got seven Cup rings.”
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While Gaughan will never have another opportunity to win a NASCAR title, Johnson just may be able to squeeze in one more chance to match his former off-road rival on the clay-covered twists and jumps at Crandon International Raceway.
Of all the people who’ve raced at Crandon, Johnson is the driver with the most universal name recognition.
That was far from the case when he arrived about 30 years ago to race in an exhibition buggy class – if his memory serves him – and then to work as a television pit reporter and ultimately compete in the short-course equivalent of the two-wheel-drive desert trophy truck.
“I knew who Jack Flannery was and the stories of this crazy four-wheel drive vehicle that he had with all this horsepower, and also in racing against Walker Evans … Walker would always talk so highly of Jack Flannery,” Johnson recalled, rattling off the name of the Crandon legend who helped connect the Midwest to the West Coast off-road scene, where Evans was one of the best. “Eventually, I would see these clips about these really high-horsepower trucks on these incredible tracks.
“I just couldn’t believe how picturesque the track was. I couldn’t believe how well attended it was. I couldn’t believe how rowdy the fans were.”
Johnson, 48, never won at Crandon despite some strong runs. But competing there helped him cement his relationship with Chevrolet and connect with Herzog Motorsports , the manufacturer and team that would guide his career toward stock car immortality.
While time has faded some details, Johnson has fond memories of racing against heroes such as Evans plus drivers he otherwise wouldn’t have encountered.
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“The track brings out everyone with the various categories that are there; you have young kids trying to get a start to 80-year-old folks running,” Johnson said in a recorded response to emailed questions. “The Herzogs entered a vehicle in the good ol’ boys race, which was, like, a $300 car … and their dad (Bill) was deep in his 80s and would go out there and race around this good ol’ boys vehicle, which was just incredible and fun. You know, so there’s just something for everyone.”
Johnson’s top priorities these days include Legacy Motor Club – the NASCAR team he co-owns, which recently branched off into electric off-road racing in Extreme E – and traveling with his family while his two daughters aren’t in school.
“I keep finding ways to stay busy and haven’t been able to get back, but following last year’s Crandon race I had some old friends reach out and offer me a ride again,” Johnson said. “So we’ll see how my ’25 schedule builds out.…”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Crandon off-road races made a believer out of a future NASCAR superstar
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