This Labor Day weekend we took the trip to Crandon, Wisconsin for the 55th annual Crandon world championships. This was a monster of a weekend for Paul Wolff as he would compete in five different classes of racing. The Ultra4 4900 UTV open and Pro modified the 4400 Unlimited classes, the Amsoil pro side-by-side and Pro 4 truck classes. With a massive itinerary of racing for Paul, the Wolff racing and Digging Deeper pits would be busier than they’ve been all year long

 Kicking things off early Thursday. Paul would qualify for all classes qualifying first in the UTV open class and second in the Pro modified UTV class. 11th in the Amsoil pro side-by-side And seventh in the Pro 4 truck. Due to an issue in the 4400 class Paul would not be able to complete qualifying and would also miss the annual Crandon parade as we were busy tearing apart the cars in the pit all morning to be back on the track for the evening races. 

Friday evening would kick off Paul’s first races of the weekend with the Ultra4 4900 UTV open and Pro modified classes for the ” forest county Potawatomi Friday night thunder”. Paul would drive the same Can-Am off-road car in both classes and race back to back races of 20 minutes each + one lap. After taking the whole shot in the UTV open class, Paul never looked back and would lead the race for the entirety of the 20 minutes plus a lap to take home the 1st place overall and his first win of the weekend. Immediately following that race, Paul would line back up for the Pro modified class. Just missing the hole shot filing in line 2nd among the entire field of 20 drivers and put on an epic battle between himself and another competitor Cash Lecroy for the majority of the race until eventually Paul made the pass and got around Cash to take the lead for the race where he would remain until the end taking the win in the Pro modified class.

Moving on into Saturday. Pauls first race would be in the Amsoil pro side-by-side where he had one of the best finishes of his season finishing fifth in a field over 28 cars battling with the best the sport has to offer and finishing  just shy of the podium. Moving Into the Pro4  class, the infamous “Turn one”  would get the best of our race and Paul would be involved in a multi truck pile up taking him out of the race early and seemingly rendering the truck out for the rest of the weekend due to the damage sustained in the wreck. Following that race a little later in the evening once again take the line in the Ultra4 “rage on the rocks” race starting with the UTV open class where Paul would once again grab the hole shot off the line and lead the race from start to finish after 20 minutes plus the lap taking home the win, making his third win of the weekend. Immediately following that race climbing back into the same Can-Am. Paul suffered a mechanical issue which caused him to have to pull over on the side of the track and shut his car completely off. After restarting his car  Paul would be dead last. As he made his way around the track making several passes in his first lap. About halfway through the race Paul would make a blistering pass in the rocks on Travis Zollinger, retaking the lead after battling from dead last all the way back up to first. Leading the race until the very end taking home his fourth win of the weekend in the same exact UTV.

 Following the UTV races Paul would climb back into his 4400 Unlimited truck and take his place on the starting grid dead last due to a DNF in qualifying. At the start of the race Paul had nearly passed half the field before he entered into the back rock section where the real show took  place. After nearly 3/4 of a lap, Paul had passed all but first and second place to put himself in a podium position early on. Pushing a car to those limits can come with consequences at times and this time it did losing a wheel midway through his third lap Paul would have to pit, and while doing so would lose his position and fall several laps behind. Once back on the track, Paul was setting the field on fire and pushing himself further back up the leaderboard coming from dead last and being down three lap. He passed most of the field and unlapped himself putting him in eighth place overall for the night.

Come Sunday morning we were unsure if we were going to be able to compete in the annual Crandon World Cup Pro four races due to the incident that occurred the night before, but after the Digging Deeper team, and several of Paul’s crew members spent the entire night with no sleep fixing the truck. They would put Paul back on the grid just before the race began. After taking the green flag. Paul would lay down several smooth and fast laps battling a few issues that remained in the truck after the prior nights incident. and was able to get a finish.

The next race on the schedule was the 4400 World Cup race Where Paul would  now take his spot on the front row of the starting grid for a land rush start. After receiving the green flag Paul out raced his competitors and would come out in third overall in the first turn.  It was clear from the start. Paul was hungry and wanted to win. He drove around the first few laps nearly on the bumper of second place making contact a few times to try and give him a nudge out of the way, until eventually  making a blistering pass in one of the tougher sections of the course to get himself into second place overall. As the laps clicked off, Paul was beginning to reel in first place, although he was battling issues of his own like soaring transmission and engine temperatures as the race winded down Paul would finish in second place overall for his second podium finish in the annual Crandon Ultra4 for World Cup races in three years.

At the end of the weekend Paul would have five podium finishes. Four UTV first place finishes and a second place finish in the 4400 Unlimited class. Paul made it clear to all those on the track competing, and all those in the stands spectating that he is one of the fastest names in off-road racing and was here to put on a show for all those involved.

We are looking forward to carrying our momentum from Crandon into the final race of the year for Wolff racing, which is going to be the Ultra4 Nationals in Davis, Oklahoma in October 18-20th. We hope to see you there and we want to once again thank you for supporting Wolff racing.