BARK RIVER, Mi. (July 16, 2017) — The Greaves Duo headed to a track located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan that has everything an offroad racer and fan could want: long jumps, off camber curves, long sweeping turns, elevation changes and changing track conditions. TORC — The Off Road Championship held rounds 7 and 8 at Bark River International Raceway this past weekend with huge crowds enjoying action packed racing looking on from the panoramic hillside and grandstands. Johnny and CJ Greaves brought their Pro4 family feud to the dirt that has provided a lot of success and unbelievable races for both Greaves over the years. The two Greaves traded trips to the top spot with Johnny winning on Saturday and CJ winning the Sunday race. CJ continued his Monster Energy/Yamaha Pro Stock UTV streak, making it 8 wins in a row. Jake Lunderby turned in a podium performance on Sunday with a 2nd place finish for Yamalube/Maxxis Tire Yamaha. Rodney Van Eperen put his PowerSports1/Maxxis Tire Yamaha atop the podium again on Saturday in the Pro Mod UTV class and pulled-off an incredible 3rd place finish on Sunday after starting in the rear of the 25 car field due to an engine change.
ROUND 8 AT BARK RIVER
25 UTV’s lined up for the 2-by-2 rolling start in Pro Stock UTV. CJ had his Monster Energy Yamaha Racing/Maxxis Tire/Yamalube YXZ 1000R #933 on the pole and jumped out to a quick lead when the green flag flew. He held the lead through the competition caution and never looked back. Jake Lunderby was not able to work his Yamalube/Maxxis Tire Pro Stock UTV up to the front but looked to rebound on Sunday.
Rodney Van Eperen rolled-off his PowerSports1/Maxxis Tire #845 Yamaha from the front row in the Pro Mod UTV class. Like CJ, he was on rails and went wire-to-wire for the win. It was a hard fought battle though, with Kyle Chaney applying pressure the entire 2nd half of the race and nearly getting around him on the final lap. But Van Eperen was able to hold him off for his 5th win of the season.
Pro4’s were up next. CJ started on row 2 with Johnny on row 3 due to the inversion. CJ and Chad Hord got together sending CJ to the back of the field on the 1st lap with a lot of ground to make up. Johnny was having better luck up front and by lap 4, had a commanding lead at the half-way point of the race. Keegan Kincaid and Ross Hoek had a collision taking Hoek out of the race. Kincaid was able to continue but it allow CJ to make up a lot of ground. After the competition caution, there were only 4 trucks left on the track. While Johnny checked out, CJ was pressuring Kincaid who bobbled, allowing CJ to move his number 33 Monster Energy/Mutant Toyota up a spot and on the hunt for 2nd place. He was able to pass Chad Hord just ahead of the white flag with just enough time to catch his dad and battle for the lead. With the final turn just ahead of him, he went for broke and threw his Pro4 hard into the final turn–banging off the K-rail–and making a great save allowing him to finish the race in 2nd behind Johnny, who took his 3rd win of the season.
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ROUND 9 BARK RIVER
CJ started on the 2nd row due to the inversion in Pro Stock UTV’s. When the green flag flew, he landed in 3rd with Pointon in the lead followed by Masch in 2nd. Jake Lunderby had a great start and had his Yamalube/Maxxis Tire Yamaha in the top 5 in the early laps of the race. On lap 4, CJ passed Masch coming out of the long sweeping “Cemetery” turn to move into 2nd. He was right on the bumper of Pointon at the competition caution but couldn’t get around him before the yellow flag flew.
On the restart, CJ quickly made the pass for the lead and checked out. Jake was also on the move and moved up a spot to 4th but that move was short lived. He caught a wheel of one of the other racers and dropped 4 spots. He did not give up though and quickly went back to work. With only a few laps to go, Jake had already worked his way back up to 3rd. On the final lap, he passed Ken Masch to take the runner-up spot behind CJ Greaves on the podium with Masch coming in 3rd for a 1-2-3 Yamaha sweep.
After getting the fastest qualifying lap in Pro Mod UTV, Rodney Van Eperen and his crew made the decision to change motors, which happened to be a stock motor. As a result, he had to start in the back of the pack where tear off’s are a driver’s best friend. It would be tough enough coming from the back, but with the stock motor, it put Rodney at a disadvantage. He did not let that deter him however and began to pick-off one position after another. Points leader Kyle Chaney was up front and was looking for his first win of the season.
At the competition caution, Rodney had worked his PowerSports1/Maxxis Tire Yamaha UTV up to 7th. He got a great restart, jumping up a couple of positions. But Luburgh got into him sending Rodney back to 7th once again. Up front, Chaney found himself in a battle with Farr. This battle gave Rodney a chance to make up some ground. He continued to work hard and on the final lap, found himself in contention for a podium. He passed Schultz with only a few turns to go to make it to the podium in 3rd place. The points saving effort allowed Van Eperen to remain 2nd in the standings.
Pro4’s brought some of the most exciting racing of the Bark River weekend. The Greaves Duo were neck-in-neck in the points standings and appropriately started side-by-side on row 3 of the 7-truck field. Chad Hord got the holeshot and early lead while Kincaid and Douglas did battle in front of the Greaves boys. When CJ began to apply pressure, Douglas tagged the wall going into the final turn allowing CJ to take 3rd as the field took the yellow/red flag for the competition caution.
The 2nd place running Keegan Kincaid had to duck into the hot pits to reattach his window net which handed CJ the 2nd place position for the restart. Johnny also moved up to 3rd.
Heading down the hill towards turn one, front runner Chad Hord bicycled, lost control and slammed into the turn’s outside K-rail, taking him out of contention with only 3 laps remaining in the 10 lap race. CJ went to the lead but disaster struck the elder Greaves in the form of a right rear blowout. Johnny was in 2nd at the time but he continued on in the race, hoping the inner liner would hold up for the next 2 laps enough to make it to the podium. However, he saw his huge lead vanish and Kincaid and Douglas were able to pass him on the final lap. CJ Greaves took the win resulting in a Greaves Duo tie in the points standings. This was another win for Monster Energy-Mutant/Toyota/Maxxis Tire and CJ’s 4th win at the halfway point of the season.
The TORC Series will return to the famed motocross track at Red Bud in Buchanan, MI on August 12-13th. Be sure to watch all the replays and race coverage on TORC series YouTube Channel.