BILLINGS — The Yellowstone Off-Road Racing Series kicked off 13 years ago and just wrapped up the second leg of its four races of 2024, with this last one taking place outside of Broadview, which is the longest race of the series with a near 50-mile course.
“I think we had our largest number ever in Broadview this year with 122. That was single entry, everybody across the board,” race director Michael Adams told MTN Sports.
The Series offers a 12-hour race, where a driver or team of drivers tries to complete as many laps in that 12 hours. That can really put the mental and physical fortitude of its racers to the test.
“Your arms get tired. Your hands get tired. Your legs get tired. Your back starts hurting from bouncing off of everything,” said racer Levi Rhoads. “It’s just telling yourself if you went too hard over something that’s really rough and it hurts, you’ve got to tell yourself to be a little easier on that or miss it.”
“My longest race was nine and a half hours,” Adams said. “I’ll never do it again. When we came up with the 12-hour idea, it was like, ‘Well, it’s worse than my nine and a half so let’s see how it goes.’ They can have three drivers and three passengers, so you can swap out how you want it. We had four guys ironman it. By ironman it, they drove the whole thing,” Adams said.
These rigs don’t just show up on race day ready to go, though. Racers spend countless hours of their free time making sure everything is just right. But even then, there are no guarantees it can finish the race, whether that's because of rough terrain or engine issues.
“Basically, you have to tear the vehicle completely down and check every well, check every bolt, check everything so it’s ready to go for the next race. You basically spend a full-time job making sure it’s ready to go,” Rhoads said. “I usually stay after work. I’ll stay until sometimes 10, 11 o’clock at night, every night, especially before race week.”
The third leg of the Yellowstone Off-Road Racing Series, The Buffalo Chip 100, is July 19-20 in Sturgis, South Dakota, with the final leg in Columbus in September.
