The ATVA Racing Series began in 1985 and due to this racing sport, sales of ATVs with both 3 and 4 wheels went through the roof. After many reported accidents and an extreme amount of injuries to the riders, three wheeled ATVs were considered to be too dangerous because when riding them they could tip or roll over rather easily. The safety concern drove manufacturers to stop production of their race-ready models while factory rides just declined over time. This in turn caused the OEM to withdraw their support from ATV racing in the latter part of the 80s, yet die-hard racers continued to race these machines with after market parts throughout the 90s.

The AMA started a sister organization for this new all-terrain racing vehicle called the AATVA which included two different racing groups. The first group raced on flat tracks while the second raced on rough and tumble motocross type arenas. These were races for both amateurs and professionals, and points from each series was added at the end of the season creating the GNC.

This 13 round race series begins at the River Ranch Track in Florida, in March and ends in October at the Ironman Track in Indiana. There are currently 5 all-terrain racing series starting with the ATV Motocross with 5 series of its own; the WPSA Powersports ATV Champ-ionship, AMA ATV MX, ITP Quad Cross, NEATV-MX ATV and the Suzuki Re-gional; the ATVTT with only the ATVA Extreme Dirt Track; the ATV Desert with 2 series; the Score International Off-Road, and the 2009 Best in the Desert; and the ATV Hare-scramble/Cross Country with 6 series; the Atlantic Grand Orix, ATVCCS, GNCC ATV, LATHVHSS, OMA National, and the WORCS.