The Greaves Duo, still relying on the very capable fill-in drivers while CJ continues to recover from off-season surgery, climbed the podium 4-times this past weekend at the Antigo Off-Road National in Antigo, Wisconsin.The weather was beautiful but the dust was thick and drivers were faced with not only managing their race cars but also visibility. Robert Loire continues to fill-in for CJ in the Side-by-Side classes and Kyle Greaves in the Pro-4 class. CJ spotted for both drivers with Loire picking up a 3rd place in Saturday’s Pro-Stock SXS and held on to finish 4th in Sunday’s race after starting on thr front row. Kyle Greaves took the seat of the 33 Monster Energy Toyota of CJ Greaves for the weekend. CJ anticipates taking over at the upcoming Crandon races. Kyle got the 3rd place podium on Saturday and Johnny took 3rd on Sunday.
Pro Stock SXS
Saturday: Robert Loire started 5th in the field of 14 side-by-sides in Saturday’s racing action. The top cars pulled away from the field with Loire riding in the top 3 up to the mandatory caution. Loire got a good restart but was not able to improve his position and finished the race in 3rd.
Sunday: Loire rolled off from the front row in Sunday’s race. He road around in the top 5 but made a pass to take 3rd just ahead of the halfway point of the race. Kirchmeier put pressure on the Monster Energy Polaris RZR and eventually made the pass. Loire was in 3rd at the halfway point of the race. With 2 minutes to go Loire moved into 2nd but Kosmecki made contact with the number 33 with an aggressive move which broke Loire’s rear axle causing him to drop several positions and finished the race in 6th place.
Pro SXS
Saturday: Robert Loire started on the front row on Satureday in the Pro side-by-side class. The battles were fierce in the early stages of the race. Loire had CJ Greaves’ number 33 Monster Energy Toyo Tire Polaris in the top 5 most of the race. He muscled his way around Kempf to run in 2nd for a while. At the competition caution he was in 4th. When racing resumed, Truett flipped allowing Loire to make up some ground.
With only a lap to go, Loire was still in 4th but a full course caution bunched the field togteher again for one last charge. Robert was unable to improve on the restart and finished the race in 4th,
Sunday: Loire started on the 2nd row for Sunday’s Pro SXS race. By turn 2 he had landed in the 2nd place spot as the top 5 or 6 cars began to pull away from the rest of the field. Before the Competition Caution, both Bootle and Kempt passed the number 33 putting it in 3rd. He was able to battle back before the end of the race and took the runner up spot on the podium. Robert Loire has been an admirable fill-in for CJ, keeping him in a tight points race ahead of his return to the driver’s seat at Crandon.
Pro-4
Saturday: Coming off a big win in the Pro-2 class, CJ’s cousin, Kyle Greaves, took the wheel of the Monster Energy Toyota in the 4-wheel drive class. Both Kyle and Johnny Greaves started the race in the very back of the 7 car field. When the green flag flew, fender banging action began almost immediately. Kyle got tangled up with another driver while Johnny shot ahead into 3rd place. Jimmy Henderson spun-out while in 2nd place allowing Johnny to move up a spot. Johnny slid into Henderson in the turn breaking both machine’s momentum. Cole Mamer took advantage and passed them both just ahead of the competition caution. Mamer made a mistake and Johnny tried to capitalize and Jimmy passed both of them. The 2nd half of the race had several strange lead changes partly due to the use of the Joker lane. Henderson took the Joker Lane and Johnny went back to the lead momentarily. Kyle was stuck in 5th. Henderson emerged from the joker lane in the lead. Micky Thomas began to apply pressure to Johnny and eventually made the pass stick for 2nd place.
Johnny was not done yet, but a loose hood was blocking his vision and hampering his progress.Kyle was on the move and passed Johnny as Micky Thomas spun-out on the final lap. Kyle also caught a rut and flipped over on his roof for a race ending accident. Johnny went on to finish 3rd.
Sunday: After sweeping the Pro-2 class races, Kyle started on the front row beside Cole Mamer for Sunday’s Pro4 race. Johnny rolled off from the 3rd row. Kyle didn’t get a great start but found himself in 3rd after he passed Micky Thomas and Mamer hooked one of the tractor tire barriers and flipped. Earlier, Johnny shredded a tire and had to limp into the hot pit for a tire change from which he never recovered. Henderson and Kyle were in a side-by-side battle which Henderson would eventually win. On the restart following Mamer’s crash, the running order for the top 3 was Thomas, Kyle, Henderson. Adrian Cenni took the lead momentarily by way of the Joker lane. Henderson did the same thing and took the lead.. On the final lap, Micky Thomas grabbed the lead from Henderson. The three took the checkered flag in a tight finish with Thomas taking the win, followed by Henderson and Kyle Greaves in 3rd.
