TORC Partners With The Chip To Bring Racing To Famed Sturgis Locale

Images: TORC on Facebook

For 34 years, Sturgis, South Dakota, has been the go-to location for the biggest bike rally in the country. A small western town, this well-known location comes alive in early August each year, welcoming thousands of bikers for a nine-day event filled with camping, cruising, concerts, and of course, frequenting the local watering holes. But the event that truly put the small South Dakota town on the map for many is going to have company for the next few years thanks to a partnership hashed out between The Off-Road Championship (TORC) and the Sturgis Buffalo Chip.

Since 1981, the Sturgis Buffalo Chip, known to locals and riders as just ‘The Chip,’ has been the center of the more than week-long Sturgis Rally, offering camp sites, bars, restaurants and concert locations right on the property. But starting in 2014, The Chip will also host a number of high-flying, 900 HP race trucks in a TORC Racing event.

To host the famed TORC Racing series, Sturgis will construct a new off-road race track within The Buffalo Chip Powersports Complex.

With the complex sitting along a hillside, the area will provide the opportunity for a unique track design filled with various elevation changes and complex features to be built. This will not only allow for excellent viewing of the event for spectators, but also a challenging and exciting course for competitors.

“Thanks to Rod, Daymon and the team at The Chip, this announcement elevates the TORC Series to an entirely new level and is a game changer for our sport, sponsors, teams and drivers,” BJ Birtwell, President of the TORC Series stated in the recent TORC press release. “Considering the hundreds of thousands of Sturgis attendees who love the open road and horsepower, adding The Chip to our schedule exponentially increases TORC’s attendance footprint providing a much broader reach for our Series and a greater return on investment for all those involved in TORC.”

While official race dates have not been announced for The Chip, races are anticipated to start at the location in early August of next year. The events will then extend on into the following years as TORC and The Chip have come to a multi-year agreement.