PRIMM, Nev. (April, 6, 2014) — Johnny and CJ Greaves, excited and ready for the 2014 TORC Series season, returned to Primm, Nevada, for rounds 1 and 2 for the Dual in the Desert. With the success the Greaves had in 2013 at Primm, they were feeling confident and anxious to kick off the season strong. The track, located on the California, Nevada line in the shadows of the Buffalo Bill Casino and Resort, featured long front and back stretches, catapult jump, massive moguls, and some hairpin turns. The Monster Energy, Potawatomi, Maxxis Tire, Method Race Wheels, Toyotas were up to the task.
CJ took his first win of the season in the Pro Light class from a field of 24 trucks. He suffered a broken spindle due to contact with Mike Jenkins in the Pro 2 class, making it up to 4th before the collision sidelined him. He got redemption on Sunday with and exciting victory in Pro 2. Johnny pulled off a miracle 2nd place finish in Pro 4 following a great recovery from an early-race rollover. Sunday, it was a decisive Greaves performance with podiums in all classes. CJ landed a 3rd place podium in Pro Light while Johnny also took a commanding win in Pro 4.
Pro Light
Saturday: With the traditional opening ceremony and the singing of the National Anthem, it was finally time to go racing. The stands were packed, the TV cameras were rolling and a host of people watching via the live stream on the Internet as the Pro Light class took to the track first. CJ Greaves, the fastest qualifier, started on the front row of the 24-truck field. He took the holeshot and a turn-one spin by Morris bottled up the rest of the field allowing CJ Greaves and Keagan Kincaid to pull away. The spread was short lived as the full-course caution flag flew for Brad Lovell’s truck which was stuck on the k-rail. When racing resumed, CJ went right back to the lead and began to pull away from Mittag who was now in 2nd. Following the competition caution, CJ, Mittag, and Brooks were the top 3 as they took the white flag. Mittag tried to find a way around CJ but CJ’s Monster Energy Maxxis Tire Toyota was too strong and he took the win.
Sunday: (pro light) CJ hit the track first once again in his Pro Light number 33. This time he would start from row 3. By lap 3, he had worked his way up to 4th with Keagan Kincaid in front of him. CJ beat Kincaid to the inside of the infield hairpin turn. They made some contact but CJ muscled his Toyota ahead to take 3rd as the field takes the competition caution. On the restart, CJ is able to hold 3rd. While CJ and Kincaid battle each other for the spot, the leader began to stretch his lead. CJ tried to get around the 2nd place running Hart with Kincaid trying to pass him. CJ held on to finish the race in 3rd.
Pro2
Saturday: The Pro-2 class was up next consisting of a field of 9 trucks. CJ had to start of the back row due to mechanical issues during qualifying. Several trucks got together on turn 2 allowing CJ to move quickly up to 4th. But, contact with Mike Jenkins broke the right front spindle on CJ’s truck, taking him out of the competition.
Sunday: (pro2) CJ Greaves quickly left the podium to get ready for the Pro 2 race. He started from the back row once again. Midway through the first half of the race, CJ was able to work his way up to 2nd behind Chad Hord. Hord and CJ did not have much pressure as they took the yellow flag for the competition caution, setting up a second half battle.
On the restart, CJ went inside of Hord. They made slight contact but CJ couldn’t make the pass yet and would have to hope for a mistake by Hord. Chad over-rotated heading into the back straight-away giving CJ the opportunity to get a run on him to make a pass, which he did on the front stretch. CJ held on to take the win.
Pro4
Saturday: Johnny Greaves mounted his iconic black Monster Energy Toyota Pro 4 to defend his 2013 championship. He started up front and was looking strong when he got a little too much traction on one of the hairpin turns and rolled the truck, coming to rest on its side. He sat on his roof for a while, but the truck fired back up once the track crew got him righted. The familiar plum of white smoke bellowed out as he made a quick visit to the hot pits for the crew to remove the dislodged hood and he then charged around the track to join the back of the field just as the green flag flew.
Within a few laps, Johnny had pulled back into the top 3: Douglas, Cenni and Johnny. Douglas suffered mechanical problems and Johnny made quick work of Cenni to take the lead. Half the field left the race with mechanical problems leaving the victory wide open for the truck that could stay together to the end of the race. With a truck that nearly had no fenders left on it, Johnny was leading on the final lap and had only 2 turns left, but with 2 cylinders gone, he didn’t have enough power to hold off Adrian Cenni and limped across the finish line with a hard fought 2nd place finish.
The crew went right to work on all the trucks, including replacing the motor in Johnny’s Pro 4. By morning, they were all ready for another day of racing and confident their hard work would pay off.
Sunday: Johnny rolled off in his Pro 4 for the final race of the day from row 2 beside Saturday’s winner, Adrian Cenni. Johnny wasted no time going to the front. He set himself up beautifully in the rhythm section and made the inside move for the lead, which he held comfortably to the competition caution. When the green flag flew for the second half of the race, Johnny went right to the lead. He held a commanding lead and took the win followed by Cenni and Douglas.
“I’d say we like Primm,” said an elated Johnny Greaves from the podium. “I would be lying if I said this win was all about me because that win was all about my crew. They stayed up until 5 in the morning–I mean you saw what I did to this [truck] yesterday–and they fixed it. This race is dedicated to them.”
The team will literally drive from one side of the country to the other for the next race in Charlotte, North Carolina on April 25-26. The race will air on NBC Sports Network on April 25th at 11pm ET. It can also be seen on TORC’s YouTube channel.