Antigo, WI (June 6, 2021) — The 2021 Championship Offroad series season got underway this past weekend in Antigo, Wisconsin. With COVID restrictions lifted, a large crowd anxious to see some off-road racing, gathered in the small town to witness the smell of racing fumes and dirt in person. The Greaves Duo of Johnny and CJ, along with the largest field of racers in more than a decade, were just as anxious and put on a show for the race hungry fans. CJ landed his first podiums of the year in the Pro Stock SXS class with a win and a 2nd place in his Monster Energy/Yamaha Racing/Maxxis Tire/Yamalube UTV. He followed that up with back-to-back wins in Pro4. Johnny suffered a mechanical issue on the last lap while in 2nd place on Saturday and a flat in the 2nd half of Sunday’s race.
PRO STOCK SXS UTV
Saturday: CJ opened up the 2021 season in his Pro Stock Side-by-Side Yamaha at the track where he basically started his racing career. A field of 21 UTV’s took the 2×2 rolling start with CJ starting on the 4th row. Greaves worked his way methodically through the field and by the 3rd lap, was in the lead. The closest contenders, Scott Wasz and Adrian Cenni, battled which allowed CJ to pull away to a comfortable lead. He continued to dominate through the 2nd half of the race to take his first win of the season.
Sunday: CJ started 6th in Sunday’s racing action. He remained in the top 3 through the first few laps as carnage plagued the field behind him. CJ’s Yamaha was one of several in the top 5 running UTV’s that stretched their distance from the rest of the 21 car field. Brock Heger was in the lead with CJ right on his bumper as they took the red/yellow flag for the competition caution midway through the race. The 2nd half of the race, CJ and Heger checked out and stayed nose to tail to the end of the race. Greaves tried different lines as the track gnarled up to get around Heger but was unable to make the pass. He took 2nd only 0.310 seconds behind the leader.
PRO 4
Saturday: Seven Pro-4 trucks lined up at the converted oval track at Roaring Lions Raceway in a race that looked more like “who can survive the 12 minutes” more than go the fastest. The in-person and online fans were ready to see CJ Greaves and last year’s points winner, Kyle LeDuc, renew their fierce rivalry. Johnny was also pumped and ready to join the fracas with the other 2 Monster Energy drivers.
Johnny Greaves started on row 2 with CJ and LeDuc starting side-by-side on row 3. On the first lap, Adrian Cenni over rotated and Johnny, trying to avoid running into him, hit the tractor tire barrier and flipped on his side. This brought out a caution. Cenni also developed mechanical issues and pulled off the track.
When the green flag flew, Henderson was in the lead, followed by LeDuc, Mittag, and CJ Greaves. However, both LeDuc and Henderson also developed race ending mechanical problems that landed CJ in the lead at around the 8 minute mark. Johnny also recovered and was now in 3rd at the competition caution.
Johnny was in 2nd place and baring down on CJ as the white flag flew for the final lap when disaster struck. He also succumbed to mechanical problems and was unable to finish the race. CJ took the win and by virtue of survival, Mittag took 2nd and Carlson 3rd.
Sunday: LeDuc and Henderson started on the front row in Sunday’s final race with Johnny on row 2 and CJ row 3. Johnny was running strong when he experience a flat early in the race but made the change and got back in the race. He was working his way back into contention when LeDuc spun-out, collecting several vehicles including Johnny. The crash caused race ending mechanical issues for the elder Greaves.
CJ was in third when he and Andrew Carlson began to do battle. CJ took 2nd but gave way to Carlson just ahead of the competition caution in a sportsman move. LeDuc was in the lead followed by Carlson and CJ.
As the racing resumed, CJ quickly powered his way around Carlson once again and began to do battle with LeDuc. The two Monster Energy drivers went door to door. With about 3 minutes to go in the race, LeDuc pulled off the track with mechanical issues. Carlson was running in 2nd but spun-out allowing Adrian Cenni to move into the 2nd place. CJ took the win to complete the Pro4 sweep.
Next up, the Greaves Duo will head to “the Big House” at Crandon International Raceway for the FC Potawatomi Brush Run and rounds 3 and 4 on June 26th and 27th.