Bark River, MI (August 14-16) — Bark River International Raceway hosted the Off-Road Rumble in the U.P. this past weekend. Bark River is arguably one of the funnest tracks on the circuit which celebrated its 50 anniversary. The Greaves Duo has had a lot of success at the 1.4 mile track. The flyaway jump is known for it’s long jumps. CJ won the long jump competition with a record 210 foot jump. Johnny Greaves added another P4 win that was later taken away while CJ had some rare struggles in P4 but took a couple 2nd place podiums in the Pro SXS class.
Pro Stock SXS
Saturday: CJ started on the 2nd row of the 15 car field in Saturday’s Stock SXS race beside top qualifier, Jebb Bootle. CJ was running in the top 5 in the early going but with 6 minutes to go in the race, he experienced mechanical problems and retired from the race.
Sunday: CJ started deep in the field for Sunday’s Stock SXS race. His hopes for a better showing than Saturday were short lived as he experience mechanical problems again that took him out of the race.
Pro SXS
Saturday: CJ started on the front row beside Bootle. The 2 Polaris RZR’s lead the field down the hill to turn one. Bootle gets the holeshot with CJ right with him in 2nd through the first laps. Bootle checks out to a huge lead all the way to the competition caution at the halfway point. With the field bunched together again on the restart, CJ and Bootle pulled away from the field once again. CJ battled hard to find a way around Bootle but ran out of time, and took a hard fought 2nd place on the podium.
Sunday: CJ and Bootle started on the front row again for Sunday’s Pro SXS action. Cj took the holeshot and the early lead. CJ went a little wide in one of the turns and Bootle capitalized to take the lead. The top 2 pulled away from the rest of the field leading up to the competition caution. CJ held on to the 2nd place position which he held to the checkered flag for a Polaris RZR sweep on the podium.
Pro 4
Saturday: CJ. and Jimmy Henderson started on the front row of the Pro 4’s but Johnny got the holeshot. Mickey Thomas was applying pressure to Johnny. The field was pretty tight as they approached the competition caution. Maner pushed Henderson into the berm and he lost control momentarily. CJ was in 5th and Johnny in the lead at the halfway point. On the restart, Henderson got into CJ causing a right rear flat on the Greaves number 33 Monster Energy Toyota. CJ took to the hot pits for a tire change while Mickey Thomas passed the elder Greaves. But with less than 2 minutes remaining.in the race, Thomas had a mechanical issue that sends Johnny Greaves back to the lead. On the final lap Johnny’s right rear tire shreds but he is still able to secure the win.
Sunday: The Greaves Duo rolled off side-by-side from row two for the final race of the weekend. On the second lap, Henderson again tried to force his way into CJ’s lane, which CJ did not want to give up. Henderson lost control and went high on the berm taking out track flags in the process. Johnny was unable to avoid Henderson when he got back on the track and the two collided. Johnny was penalized for the contact with Henderson. Henderson was able to pass CJ. The aggressive driving continued as Cenni got into CJ, pushing him up the berm, breaking his front axle in the process. CJ and Johnny were now in 5th and 6th at the halfway point.
The Greaves Duo restarted at the back of the field. With only a few laps remaining, Henderson lost control again in front of Johnny. Johnny could not avoid him and made some contact but both continued in the race. CJ finished 5th and Johnny finished 6th.
The next race is the Polaris World Championships on Labor Day weekend (Sept 4-5) at Crandon International Race Track.