40,000 visitors are expected this weekend in Crandon as the World Championship Off-Road Races are held.
Off-Road racing's top drivers come for a winner take all $40,000 championship on Sunday. But for Forest county, this is a big economic boost.
Forest County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Melinda Otto says they had a large turnout Friday for the annual parade downtown. But she says all the visitors spend a lot of money...
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"....the 40,000-plus fans mean a lot to the whole region. We did an estimate with the Department of Tourism and the Department of Commerce helping us with some formulas. As near as we can figure, this race injects about $8 million into the local economy...."
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Otto says besides visitor spending, the raceway purchases much of what they need for the weekend from local stores...
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"...the whole community turns out to volunteer for this race and I think we've got people coming back to visit after they come here for the races. They come back and get a vacation packet and plan to come back for a vacation...."
The championship is held Sunday at 5:15 p.m. at the raceway on Crandon's west side.
