American gravel racing has lost one of its founding pillars for 2026. US Endurance has confirmed that the annual Gravel Grinder National Championship, widely known as Grinder Nationals, will not take place this year.
Event director Troy Farrar stated via email, “No Grinder Nationals for 2026 but hopefully very exciting news coming for 2027 later this year.”
Any rider holding US citizenship or permanent residency could line up and compete for a genuine national championship title and stars ‘n’ stripes jersey, covering distances from 20 miles to over 100. US Endurance described its mission as supporting the positive growth of endurance events at the grassroots level, and Grinder Nationals embodied that ethos from the very start.
The announcement will sting for hundreds of dedicated grassroots competitors who have made the event a fixture on their racing calendar. The championship first launched in June 2017 at Clinton Lake State Park in Lawrence, Kansas, at a time when gravel racing in North America was still finding its identity. Founded by Farrar, a veteran of over 250 off-road events and former president of the United States Adventure Racing Association, the event was built on a simple but powerful philosophy: celebrate the grassroots racer, no licence required, no qualification barrier.
The event helped normalise the concept of national championship gravel racing for amateurs years before USA Cycling or the UCI arrived on the scene with their gravel programmes. It showed that every gravel rider deserved a marquee championship moment, a template that helped inspire the gravel racing ecosystem we recognise today — especially the UCI Gravel World Series.
With Farrar hinting at exciting developments for 2027, the gravel community will be waiting and watching closely. Sometimes the best events take a season off to come back bigger, better and stronger than before.
Photo Credit: Facebook/gravelgrindernationals
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