Bark River, MI (Aug 9-10, 2019) — Johnny and CJ Greaves headed to the upper peninsula of Michigan to Bark River Raceway this weekend for rounds 5 and 6 of the Lucas Oil Midwest Short-Course League. CJ was perfect on Saturday with wins in Pro Stock SxS and Pro4. He also won on Sunday in UTV action and a 2nd place in Pro4. Johnny skinned the bark off of Bark River and recovered from not one, but two roll-overs to take a 2nd place finish in Pro4. He got revenge on Sunday with a dominant Pro4 win. Gray Leadbetter entered the Pro Stock SxS arena and passed half the field on Saturday to finish 13th and took a top 10 on Sunday.
PRO STOCK SXS
SATURDAY: CJ Greaves Monster Energy/Yamaha Racing/Maxxis Tire/Yamalube UTV lined up on row two and landed in the 3rd position through most of the 1st half of the race. CJ patiently followed Molder, looking for a good opportunity to take the 2nd place position. On lap 4, CJ made the pass ahead of the competition caution.
On the restart, CJ powered his Yamaha to the inside of the leader, Zak Zakowski and took the lead. Cousin Kyle was also on the move and made it to 3rd. Gray Leadbetter moved up from the back. Each lap she picked off one racer after another. At the end, she had made it up to 13th.
CJ took the checkered to make it 5 wins in a row.
SUNDAY: CJ started on the front row in front of a 26 car field in Sunday’s Pro Stock Side-by-Side racing action. Greaves moved his Monster Energy / Yamaha to the lead in the “cemetery turn” on the first lap and never looked back. While he stretched his lead to more than 2 seconds, Gray Leadbetter was working her way through the field. She was up to 14th at the competition caution.
On the restart, CJ held his lead to begin the second half of the unusually clean race. He pulled away to nearly a 3 second lead. With a couple of laps remaining, Gray cracked into the top 10 to finish out the race. CJ cruised on to his 6th win of the year. CJ’s cousin, Kyle, made a last lap pass to claim 3rd spot on the podium
PRO 4
SATURDAY: Only a few points separate Johnny and CJ in Pro4. Johnny has had tremendous success at Bark River over the years. Last year the Duo swapped wins on Saturday and Sunday.
Johnny started in the middle of the 6 car field and CJ brought up the rear. The field made their way through turn one without incident. As Johnny was taking advantage of a strong outside run through the “cemetery turn” Jimmy Henderson got into him sending Johnny tumbling through the fencing. Fortunately he landed on all fours and climbed back over the banking and back into the race.
The damage to the fencing caused race officials to suspend the race while repairs could be made for safety reasons. They re-stacked the field for a restart with only one lap complete. After a 20 minute delay, racing resumed.
CJ was in 2nd behind Henderson. Johnny was battling hard to get back to the front, when Andrew Carlson abruptly stalled causing Johnny to get into his rear. Carlson left the race but Johnny was able to continue. Meanwhile, the top 2, CJ and Henderson, were way out front as the competition caution flew.
On the restart, CJ Greaves made his move and powered his Monster Energy Toyota Maxxis Tire Pro-4 around Henderson for the lead. On the next lap, Johnny once again tried to pass Henderson and again the two got together causing Johnny to roll-over the berm–again he landed on all fours and–again continued in the race!
He was able to pass Chaney who was now in 2nd and moved into the runner-up position. CJ crossed the finish line and, with almost no panels left on his truck, Johnny crossed the line in 2nd, completing yet another trademark comeback.
SUNDAY: Jimmy Henderson was the lone truck on the front row in Sunday’s Pro-4 race with Johnny rolling off from row 2 and CJ starting from the rear of the pack once again.
Johnny Greaves, looking for redemption from Saturday’s mayhem, took the lean before the first turn and checked out. CJ made fairly quick work of the other trucks and began to Chase down his dad.
The competition caution stacked the two Greaves up together but Johnny was not to be denied. He powered ahead to a 12 car lead and won the race with all his fenders still intact. CJ crossed the line in 2nd.
The Greaves Duo and Gray will finish out the season at Crandon for the World Championship Off-Road Races on Labor Day weekend. This will feature the annual cup race as well as many West coast drivers joining participating.