GARDENA, Calif. – Nissan Motorsports has been named the official truck for the Championship Off-Road Racing (CORR) series for the 2003 season, the 6th year of CORR, which is arguably the largest and most watched off-road racing series in North America.
The CORR series spans a 14-race season on tracks in Wisconsin, Michigan and New York. In 2002, more than 200 drivers representing 21 states and Canada competed in the series. To bring the series to a wider audience, CORR began a 3-year television package in 2002 with Speed Channel, which will broadcast the series again this season.
“Our sponsorship in Championship Off-Road Racing allows us to directly reach an enthused audience that is pre-disposed to trucks,” said Fred Suckow, model line manager, Nissan trucks, Nissan North America. “The excitement and growing popularity of off-road racing makes CORR a natural ‘platform’ to market our trucks in an interactive, relevant environment.”
In addition to serving as the official truck of CORR, Nissan will have two trucks competing in the series. Art Schmitt and Joe Wutke will drive Nissan Frontiers in the CORR Pro-Lite division under the Art Schmitt Racing Team banner. These matching Frontiers will race in Nissan silver, red and black colors and carry NISMO (Nissan Motorsports) graphics.
A veteran off-road racer, Schmitt has more than 100 career wins, 12 class championships, three Driver of the Year Awards and two Hard Charger Awards to his credit. He started his racing career from a backyard garage nearly three decades ago, racing his homemade dune buggies in Pennsylvania. Schmitt will be driving the Nissan-powered Pro-Lite Frontier truck, powered by a 16-valve, 4-cylinder racing engine producing 289 horsepower and 260 lb-ft torque.
Wutke has been involved in off-road racing since 1990 when he started campaigning racing buggies. Wutke has competed in CORR since 1998, running in the Super Buggy division until 2001, when he jumped into the Pro-Lite division. In his first full season in the Pro-Lite competition, Wutke placed 7th in year end points.
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Source: Nissan Press Release