Lena, WI (July 26, 2020) — Championship Off Road series converged on the small town of Lena, Wisconsin located about 30 miles North of Green Bay to the Dirt City Motorplex. The 1-mile track, carved out of a corn field in Northwestern Wisconsin, played host to rounds 3 and 4 of the 2020 racing season. Saturday’s racing was hot and furious while Sunday storms brought heavy downpours that made racing doubtful. However, the rained stopped and track crews feverishly worked the track into racing condition.
By the end of the weekend, the Duo of Johnny and CJ Greaves made 7 trips to the podium spanning 3 classes. CJ swept the Pro Stock UTV and had a 2nd place finish in Pro Mod UTV. He also got his first Pro-4 win of the season on Saturday and a 2nd place on Sunday. Johnny also collected podiums with a 2nd and 3rd place finish in Pro-4.
Pro Stock SXS UTV
SATURDAY: The 24 car field of Pro Stock Side-by-Side UTV’s lined up for the 2×2 rolling start as pro racing began on a warm Saturday afternoon in front of a huge crowd. CJ Greaves rolled off 3rd from row 2 in his Monster Energy/Yamaha Racing/Maxxis Tire/Yamalube UTV for the 10 lap race.
CJ was in 4th on lap 1, but using the inside split track, was able to move up a spot and began to do battle with Owen Van Eperen. CJ was able to pass Van Eperen, also in a Yamaha. The race leader, Jack Letourneau, bicycled his machine which CJ was able to take advantage and the lead on lap 4. Greaves stretched is lead and took the yellow flag for the mandatory caution at the midway point of the race.
The second half of the race was all CJ. He pulled away to a more than 2 second lead and collected his 2nd Pro Stock win of the season.
SUNDAY: The Pro Stock SxS class was up first on Sunday and treated to a rain soaked track. Track crews worked hard to control the moisture and with storms still looming, the race schedule was adjusted to a early afternoon start for the Pro classes. Adding mud and weight to the mix was a challenge for the UTV’s. CJ’s number 33 Yamaha on the pole in a field of 20 for the 10 lap race with no plans for a competition caution.
By lap 2, CJ Greaves had his Monster Energy, Maxxis Tire clad, Vision Wheel Yamaha YXZ 1000 in the lead spot. He checked out to a 5 second lead which he held all the way to the checkered flag. He completed the weekend sweet and took the top spot in the points standings in the process.
Pro Mod SxS UTV
SATURDAY: CJ started his turbo charged side-by-side on row 2 of the 17 car field. CJ’s luck from the first race would not carry over to this class. When the green flag flew, a mechanical issue sidelined Greaves’ number 33 UTV.
SUNDAY: Greaves was back on the track to recover from Saturday’s disaster. He started from row 3 on the track that was gradually improving. When the green flag flew for the 2×2 rolling start, CJ muscled his way to 3rd at the exit of the first turn.
Kyle Chaney got a run on the finish line straightaway for the lead. CJ Greaves was also getting aggressive and grabbed 2nd and began to apply pressure to the race leader. The top 2 machines pulled away from the rest of the field and put on a show for the Sunday afternoon faithful.
As Chaney biked his UTV several times, CJ made several attempts to pass. However, CJ’s car began to develop some problems so he babied it for the remainder of the race. He was able to finish 2nd, well ahead of the 3rd place running Scottie Lawrence.
In spite of the bad luck on Saturday, CJ was able to maintain his points lead by a very narrow margin.
Pro 4×4
SATURDAY: Eight 4-wheel drive trucks hit the track for the Pro-4 class on Saturday and featured 3 Monster Energy sponsored racers. Adrian Cenni and Kyle LeDuc were on the front row with CJ starting third and Johnny 5th.
No time was wasted going into fierce battle the second the green flag waved on the steamy Saturday afternoon. Cenni over-rotated bringing the 3 Monster Energy trucks to the front going nose to tail.
On lap 4, race leader LeDuc went up on 2 wheels and almost flipped over. CJ checked up to avoid the collision and stalled. Everybody continued and took the competition caution on lap 5 with LeDuc, CJ Greaves and Johnny Greaves making up the top 3.
The always aggressive class picked-up where they left off began to clash once again. CJ made several attempts to pass LeDuc who got on the bike several times as ruts became a problem for him. On lap 9, he did it again, this time he was unable to save it and flipped his truck on its side going through the turn, sending body parts flying and CJ to the lead.
The safety crew was able to put LeDuc back on 4 wheels and he rejoined the field with 2 laps to go.
On the last lap, Adrian Cenni crashed, bringing out a green/white flag for the restart. With CJ in the lead and Johnny in tow, the two Greaves battled each other and took the checkered flag giving CJ his first Pro-4 win of the season. LeDuc was working hard to get back to the podium but time ran out as Jimmy Henderson was able to hold him off for the 3rd spot on the podium.
SUNDAY: CJ Greaves rolled-off his Monster Energy, Maxxis Tire, Vision Wheel, Toyota from the pole position. LeDuc found some fenders and was beside him on the front row with Johnny Greaves right behind them. The stage was set for a fierce rematch of Saturday’s race.
The first half of the race looked like the Pro-4’s were social distancing with a 6 car length between them–LeDuc in the lead, followed by CJ and Johnny Greaves.
Just ahead of the competition caution, CJ over rotated and lost a lot of positions. Johnny took over 2nd but was being pressured by Andrew Carlson. Johnny held on to the runner up spot as they took the yellow competition caution flag. CJ was now in 5th.
As LeDuc stretched his lead and Johnny holding fast to the number 2 spot, Henderson and Carlson were trading paint behind them. Henderson over-rotated and CJ moved up to 4th. Carlson had mechanical issues and CJ moved up to 3rd which rounded out the full Monster Energy podium.
“I watched the rain and I said ‘no way we will have a race today,'” said Johnny following the race. My hat’s off to the track crew–they really pulled it off”
“CJ and I gambled on our tires and that may have been the difference in the race,” Greaves continued. “We had our mudders on but the track dried out more than we anticipated.”
The Championship Off Road Series will head back to ERX Motorpark for the next rounds of racing on August 14-16th.