Elk River, MN (July 9-10, 2021) — The Greaves Duo headed to Elk River Extreme Motor Park in Minnesota for rounds 5 and 6 of the Championship Off-Road Series which marked the midway point of the season. The sparling technical track provided some of the most fierce racing in all classes thus far as racers pressed hard to advance their standings. The large crowds witnessed some very exciting racing for the Friday and Saturday rounds. Yamaha’s dominated and swept the podiums in Pro Stock SXS. CJ Greaves took his Monster Energy/Yamaha/Maxxis Tire UTV to a first and second place to remain atop the points standings. CJ also landed a first and second place in the Pro-4 class. The Pro-4 races were very intense and produced a lot of scrap fiberglass. CJ Greaves and Kyle LeDuc traded the top spots Friday and Saturday which allowed CJ to move back into first place in the standings. Johnny Greaves ran up front in both races but fell short of the podium.
PRO STOCK SXS
Friday: More than 20 UTV’s took to the ERX dirt on Friday with CJ Greaves lining-up his Monster Energy, Maxxis Tire clad, Vision Wheel Yamaha YXZ 1000 on row 2 in the 4th spot. When the green flag flew for the 2-by-2 rolling start the field immediately went to aggressive jockeying for position. Nord and Heger were up front battling side-by-side while CJ lurked in 3rd. The top UTV’s were three-wide and Heger emerged as the leader at the 7 minute mark.
CJ Greaves and Owen VanEperen also went door-to-door but CJ would claim third when a flipped car brought out a full course caution which also served as the competition caution. CJ got a great jump on the restart and powered ahead, passing Nord to the 2nd spot. With less than a minute remaining, two UTV’s collided bringing out a red flag.
When racing resumed, the green/white flags flew signifying 2 laps to go. CJ was right on the bumper of Brock Heger as they entered the split track. Brock suddenly got loose and CJ was there to take the lead. Heger had a flat which allowed Owen VanEperen to take 2nd. CJ took the win which was his 2nd of the year.
Saturday: Another large field of Pro Stock SxS UTV’s were ready for Saturday’s race. CJ once again lined up 4th. Intense racing before the first turn. Brock Heger forced his way through the front group at the hairpin turn with all the top 4 bumping and grinding. CJ, being patient, was hanging out in 5th. Heger would eventually take the lead from Rosales who also biked and flipped over on his side. This brought out a full-course caution with 7 minutes remaining in the race.
Dallas Nord and CJ Greaves went side-by-side on the restart but CJ prevailed to take over second and went on the hunt for Heger. The top 5 pulled away from the field. Heger took the win with CJ coming in 2nd followed by Owen VanEperen, putting 3 Yamaha’s on the podium for the second time of the weekend.
PRO 4X4
Friday: A 10 truck field of Pro-4’s were edging forward like lions about to jump on their prey as round 5 kicked off at ERX. Johnny and CJ Greaves were on row 4. When the green flag flew, the racing got very dicey early. RJ Anderson took the early lead with Cenni, Johnny, and Henderson all pushing hard to take it from him. The three Monster Energy machines of, CJ, LeDuc, and Johnny were all together pushing hard for the front. RJ Anderson was still in the lead, followed by Jimmy Henderson, then the group of Monsters lead by CJ Greaves at the competition caution.
On the restart, CJ powered his way around Henderson. LeDuc followed CJ and began pressuring CJ for second. Anderson went wide and CJ was right there to take advantage of the mistake for the lead. But it was still anybody’s race as all of the top-5 were together and they were all banging on each other to move up a position as the race time ticked down to the final minutes.
With just a few laps remaining, CJ gambled with the outside lane of the split track which did not work. This allowed LeDuc to take the lead. Meanwhile, Johnny vying for the 3rd spot on the podium when RJ Anderson spun out and collected Johnny Greaves on the final lap of the race. CJ crossed the line in 2nd and Johnny was able to regroup to take 5th.
Saturday: CJ Greaves started his Monster Energy Toyota on the front row for Saturday’s final race. Johnny Greaves was on row 2 and LeDuc row 3 of the 11 truck field. The racers began trading paint early. CJ held the early lead but at the 8 minute mark, RJ Anderson took the lead via the split track. Further back, Johnny Greaves and Kyle LeDuc were putting on a show with Johnny holding him off for the 3rd spot until the competition caution.
LeDuc passed Johnny early in the 2nd half of the race in the hairpin turn. Adrian Cenni was battling with LeDuc which results in LeDuc spinning out. CJ and Anderson went side-by-side as they entered the split track, CJ on the left and RJ on the right. Anderson got loose and hit the berm allowing CJ to take the lead with only 2 laps to go.
LeDuc made his way back to the front quickly but ran out of time to catch the front running Greaves. CJ took the win followed by LeDuc and Anderson in 3rd. Johnny suffered mechanical problems due to earlier contact and had to leave the competition.
The racing was very exciting and produced a lot of fiberglass souvenirs. CJ jumped back into the points lead in Pro-4 and held the top spot in Pro Stock SxS.
Next up for the Championship Off Road Series is Dirt City Motorplex Off-road Nationals in Lena, Wisconsin on July 31 – August 1st.