The second weekend of racing for the 2024 AMSOIL Championship Off-Road season was delayed early due to overnight rains. Continued spurts of rain would make the tight track in Antigo, Wis., even more challenging as the day wore on, including an old-school mud race in Pro SxS.
But off-road is made for extreme conditions, and the sports best drivers went to work and proved that the show must go on. Race fans lined the grandstands to see close finishes and podium charges from deep in the field.
By the time the final checkered flag flew on day one in Antigo, past champions found redemption, and some newcomers found themselves in the middle of a winning streak.
Greaves Dialed In at Antigo
CJ Greaves built a new Pro 4 in the off-season and debuted it in Lena. Jimmy Henderson built a new truck in the off-season and debuted it this weekend in Antigo.
For Greaves, he fought through the first race gremlins three weeks ago. Henderson had to do the same on Saturday, but it was a flat tire that would take him out of the lead and benefit Greaves.
Henderson nailed the start and stretched past Adrian Cenni for the race lead. But a few laps later, Henderson pulled into the hot pit with a flat rear. That momentarily put Cenni into the race lead, but Greaves found an opening and slid past for the lead. He had the truck dialed in for Antigo and drove to his first win and podium.
“We had our hands full at Lena trying to get the bugs sorted out,” said Greaves. “We got them sorted out and the truck was lights out good.”
After the restart, Cenni spun, allowing Johnny Greaves to move into second. He and Kyle Chaney would battle it out for the runner-up spot. A pause by Greaves would collect Chaney, who could not refire in time, and recatch Greaves. It also opened the door for Kainan Baker to slot into third as he picked up his first career Pro 4 podium.
Thomas Tames Track, Pro 2 Field for Second Win
There wasn’t much track prep prior to Saturday’s Pro 2 race, but the old-school roughness kept the contest exciting.
Ricky Gutierrez showed the way around the Antigo track for the first seven laps and had a four-second lead on Mickey Thomas. But traction seemed to elude Gutierrez, and Thomas found the right lines and powered into the race lead. Gutierrez shortly pulled off the track, leaving Thomas unchallenged for his second win of the season.
“We took so much roost on at the beginning, and that roost was just gnarly,” said Thomas. “All of our coolers got plugged up with mud, and I was just trying to keep it cool, hit my marks, and not make too many mistakes. It was a brutal track out there with lots of holes.”
Round two winner Ryan Beat had his hands full in the runner-up spot, first holding off a challenge from Keegan Kincaid and then a Johnny Holtger as he drove to his second podium of the season. Holtger would run the fastest lap of the race and finish third.
Gibbs Garners Second Straight Pro Lite Win
There were a pair of rollovers on the first lap of Saturday’s Pro Lite race, but Trey Gibbs was out front and dealing with clean air as the young gun drove to his second straight win in round three.
With rain and clouds adding moisture to the track, Gibbs stayed out front from start to finish and used the clean air to find the optimal traction to easily get around the tight Antigo offering. It was Gibbs’s third podium of the season, locking him into the overall points lead.
Round one winner Johnny Holtger moved into the runner-up spot on lap eight, getting past Travis Milhausen, Jr., and driving to his third straight podium to start the season. Tyler Remmereid also snuck past Milhausen late to finish third.
Pro Spec Victory for Visser
Nick Visser has shown great talent in a class designed to showcase driver’s ability over equipment and technology. Visser has opened up the season with three straight podiums and now has been credited with two consecutive wins.
Chris Van Den Elzen went door-to-door with Visser throughout the contest before Visser put a late separation on the challenger. Dylan Parsons would finish third.
(Note: Chris Parrish led round three from start to finish but was given zero points following the day of racing).
Carlson Takes A Muddy Pro SxS Win
There was a slight pause in the Pro show on Saturday as the clouds turned open the spigot and dumped a healthy dose of water on the Antigo track. What was turning into a tacky, racy track quickly turned into a mud race.
Kainan Baker took advantage of the slimy conditions, jumping from sixth to the lead on the first lap. He would hold point for much of the race, but with all of the cars camouflaged by the thick mud, he might not have seen Andrew Carlson coming.
Carlson dropped back to ninth early in the race, but he was fearless in his pursuit to get back into contention over the second half of the race. He caught and passed Baker on lap ten and then pulled away from the field for his second win of the season.
Baker would cross the line second for the second straight race. Rodney VanEperen held off his son Owen VanEperen for third.
Greaves Returns to Form in Pro Stock SxS
In the offseason, CJ Greaves built three new race vehicles, including his Polaris entry into Pro Stock SxS. In Lena, he was off the mark in the season opener before finding solace in a fourth-place finish.
But Greaves is the defending class champion, and he made the proper adjustments in the three weeks between rounds two and three. On Saturday, Greaves jumped at the chance to nail down his first win of the season, going wire-to-wire for the win.
Round two winner Jeb Bootle found his groove late in the race and moved into second with two laps to go. Opening round winner, Owen VanEperen was a mainstay with the race’s frontrunners throughout, ultimately finishing in third.
Pro-AM SxS: The competition in Pro-AM SxS will heat up as the summer ramps up, but right now, no driver in the class may be as hot as David Gay.
After missing out on a podium finish in the season opener, Gay was wicked quick in round two and resilient in round three in Antigo. Gay started eighth but worked through early traffic to take the lead on lap three.
With Gay on a two-race winning streak, Jesse Greaves went to bed on Saturday night with his first podium of the season by finishing second. Ben Heiting was the day’s biggest mover, starting 17th before finishing third.
Bonacci’s Rolls to Second Straight Win
The talent in Pro Buggy runs deep, but Lorenzo Bonacci is currently rising above all challengers.
It hasn’t been easy for the Californian, who took home his round two win with a late race surge. On Saturday, Bonacci started fifth and once again had to work through some of the top drivers in the sport. Billy Buth led from the start, but on lap ten, Bonacci worked his way into position and passed Buth for the race lead and the win.
Buth, who won the opening round in Lena, would finish second. Jordan Bernloehr started outside the top five but moved into the final podium position on lap ten for his third straight podium of the year.
