Crandon, WI (Sept 3-4)–-The 2022 Championship Off-Road season came to a dramatic end this past weekend in front of a massive crowd and more than 400 racers at the annual Labor Day World Championship Races at Crandon International Raceway. There was hardly one inch of the 400 acre complex that was not filled with either race fans or race track. When the dust settled, the results were nothing short of epic, with CJ Greaves claiming his 7th Pro4 Championship which ties his dad, Johnny Greaves’, amazing record. CJ clinched his Champ Off Road Series Pro4 championship on Saturday by just starting the race but added some gravy to the feast by also taking the win. He won the Pro Stock SXS race on Saturday and ended the season in second place, missing the top spot by a mere 16 points. On Sunday, CJ Greaves took three Crandon World Championships! The first was in his Monster Energy/Maxxis Tire/Toyota Pro4. He followed that up with a Pro Stock SXS win in his new Polaris RZR! His statistic rich weekend ended by winning the prestigious Red Bull Crandon World Cup by passing a huge field of Pro2’s in a 10 lap shootout. This was his 4th Cup win which is a new record surpassing Rob MacCachren and Scott Douglas. Johnny Greaves had some bad luck on Saturday but rebounded to fill the 3rd place spot on the podium in the World Championship Race on Sunday–doing it without the aid of a right rear tire which shredded on the last lap.
Pro Stock SXS
Saturday: The beautiful weather made conditions great for the racers and the huge crowd on Saturday at Crandon International Raceway. The season ending round 11 was fairly wrapped up by Brock Heger, who needed to finish 11th or better to claim another championship. CJ Greaves was hot on his points tail and would need a lot of luck to pass Heger. When the field cleared the Forest County Potawatomi turn one, Heger was in the lead and CJ was in 3rd. But a full course caution restacked the field. CJ got a great jump on Dallas Nord and made the pass into 2nd. This set up another battle between CJ and Heger that has been the default scenario the entire year. CJ continued to look for a line around Heger’s machine and was able to muscle his way around him before the competition caution.
The top 2 left the rest of the field in the Crandon dust in the second half of the race, pulling away to more than 5 seconds. CJ was able to hold off Heger and take the win. But Brock was right behind him in 2nd, which was more than enough to claim the championship. CJ came in a very close 2nd, only 16 points behind the leader in his first year as a factory Polaris RZR driver.
Sunday Crandon World Championship Race: The field of 25 stock side-by-sides loaded up two rows for the landrush start as Pro Stock class on Sunday. Brock Heger got the holeshot with CJ right on his bumper. Heger checked up suddenly in one of the turns at the same time CJ was setting him up for a pass. The two made slight contact. On lap 2, Heger developed a right rear flat allowing CJ to take the lead.
CJ led the field for a “Delaware” restart following the competition caution and got a great jump. Owen VanEperen stayed with CJ as the top 2 pulled away to nearly 6 second lead over the rest of the cars. After a few laps, Greaves pulled away to a sizeable lead and took his 5th win of the season and claimed his second Crandon World Championship of the day.
Pro Turbo SXS
Saturday: In the Pro Turbo Side-by-Side class, CJ and his team worked tirelessly all season to dial-in his new Polaris ride. He made great strides in the effort leading up to the final weekend of racing. CJ started deep in the huge field of SXS’s in Saturday’s race. He remained mired in the crowd of cars and could only make it to 13th before the competition caution halfway through the 10 lap race. He got a good restart and moved up to 8th. Greaves ended the race in a hard fought top 5 position.
Sunday Crandon World Championship Race: 20 cars were on the line for the landrush start on Sunday. CJ came out of turn one in good shape and was in 3rd by the gravel pit turn. On lap 4, bad luck put CJ out of the race before the competition caution, ending his season and starting his resolve to be ready for next year.
Pro4
Saturday: CJ Greaves basically had to start the Pro4 race to claim his 7th Pro4 Championship. Playing it cool, he laid back as the field of Pro4’s head towards the famous turn one in landrush fashion. Johnny Greaves was in third as the racers hungry to end the season with a win emerged from the first turn without any problems. Cole Mamer got the holeshot with Henderson behind him in second. At “calamity corner”, Henderson spun-out, collecting Johnny in the process, and sending both of them to the back of the field. Kyle LeDuc was now in second and CJ was lurking safely back in 8th. Then, one by one, drivers began to experience problems that took them out of the race. This included Johnny who had a mechanical problem. Mamer shreds his right front and pulls off; Cenni flips his truck; and Chaney goes off pace momentarily. All this allows CJ to move up with not much effort and landed in 4th just as the competition caution flag flew.
On the restart, as Carlson and LeDuc were duking it out for the lead, CJ quickly move up to 3rd by passing Scottie Lawrence. As has been the case in a number of races this year, Kyle LeDuc began to experience some problem that put him off the pace. Andrew Carlson and CJ Greaves made quick work of the slowing LeDuc as the laps clicked off. On the final lap, Carlson also had a flat that handed the lead over to CJ which he carried to the checkered flag. This added a sweet end to his championship season.
Sunday Crandon World Championship Race: The Pro4’s followed the Pro2’s for the Sunday morning start of racing in Crandon. A packed house and a beautiful sky got the drivers pumped and ready to put on a show for the Crandon fans.
Crandon World Cup Race
The annual Crandon World Cup race was the final race of the weekend and the racing season. This race puts the Pro2 and Pro4’s on the track at the same time, with the Pro2’s getting a 36 second head start on their 4-wheel drive counterparts. 25 trucks were on the grid for this year’s race: 9 Pro4 and 15 Pro2. When the green flag flew to release the Pro2 trucks, a big crash in the exit of turn one stopped the race before the Pro4’s entered the race. The caution resulted in a full race restart. After lengthy reset, the green flag flew once again that sent the Pro2’s on their way with Cory Winner leading the charge.
When the Pro4’s were unleashed, CJ pulled the holeshot to lead the 4-wheel drives to give chase to the Pro2’s. Johnny Greaves landed in 3rd just behind Carlson. Kyle LeDuc’s string of bad luck continued and exited the race early. By lap 3, CJ was already catching and passing the tail end of the Pro2’s with about 15 seconds to behind the front runners. By lap 5 of the 10 lap race, the margin was only 10 seconds. With 4 laps to go, CJ passed the Rryan Beat who was the Pro2 front runner. Beat continued to fight hard and gave CJ a short battle before Greaves was able to pull away and claim his record breaking 4th Crandon Cup win.
“You couldn’t script this day any better,” said an elated CJ Greaves following the race. “Everything just came together today. I couldn’t be prouder of our team and all the hard work they put in to make this happen”
The cup win gave CJ his 50th Pro4 win and 150 total wins as a professional driver. His 7th Pro4 championship ties his dad who has more than 100 Pro4 wins in his legendary career and also has multiple cup wins.
Thanks to our Great Partners!
As the 2022 season comes to an end, we always want to recognize and express our appreciation to our partners. Some of them have been with us for many years and for a few, this was their first year. The Greaves Duo could not have the success on the track without the support of these great partners: Monster Energy, Toyota, TRD, Maxxis Tire, Polaris Factory Racing, Vision Wheels, FoxShox, Progressive Insurance, Beyond Redline, VP Racing Fuels, Impact, Crescent Tools, Discount Tire, Rugged Radios, and Victory Sign.