Brooks Takes Potawatomi Cup, LeDuc and Heger Strike as Championship Off-Road Returns to Crandon

Just three weeks after opening the season in Antigo, the top short course racers in America headed back to The Big House as Championship Off-Road continued its 2021 season at Crandon International Raceway with the 28^th Forest County Potawatomi Brush Run over the weekend. When all was said and done, most of the Pro classes would see a shakeup at the front of the field, and Jerett Brooks would finally score his first win of the year in the Potawatomi Cup race that pit Pro 2s against Pro 4s for the first time this year.

The big winners of the weekend, though, had to be Brock Heger and Kyle LeDuc. Heger and CJ Greaves had established themselves as the drivers to beat across multiple classes in Antigo, sweeping their respective truck divisions and splitting the Pro Stock SXS finals. In Crandon, though, it was all Heger, who went back-to-back over Greaves in the UTV action and scored his third Pro Lite win of the year on Sunday, after falling short to Kyle Greaves the day before.

LeDuc, meanwhile, showed that he won’t give up the Pro 4 crown that easily after failing to podium in the opener. He would post the only other sweep of the weekend in that division, with CJ and Johnny Greaves finishing second and third, respectively, on both days. LeDuc would first have to get past Johnny to complete the sweep, and then hold off CJ as the latter posted the fastest lap of the race on Sunday.

In the exceptionally deep Pro 2 division, Crandon’s own Keegan Kincaid would complete the hat trick with a win on Saturday, but it was Ryan Beat who would break Kincaid’s dominance in a muddy Sunday main event after taking the holeshot and never looking back. Only Brooks would post dual podiums in the points-paying Pro 2 races, and that was even before holding off the Pro 4 of Andrew Carlson in an attrition-filled Potawatomi Cup to take home a $10,000 prize.

Elsewhere down the grid, the VanEperens would lock up both Pro Mod SXS victories, as father Rodney held off son Owen in the Saturday race and Owen would return the favor to score his first win in the division on Sunday. On the opposite end of that spectrum, Michael Hester celebrated his 100^th career Super Buggy victory on Sunday. Weekend sweeps in the sportsman divisions included Tyson Marquardt in Pro Am SXS, Connor Schulz in 1600 Light Buggy, and Chase Braun in 570 SXS.

The 2021 Championship Off-Road season continues on July 9-10 at ERX Motor Park, which hosted two rounds of the 2020 season including last year’s opener.