Lena, Wis. ~ A record-setting crowd witnessed a weekend of wild and unreplicable racing at the Dirt City Motorplex in Lena, Wis.
With 36 races and the first two rounds of the 2024 AMSOIL Championship Off-Road season in the books, this year’s circuit promises to deliver an electric amount of untethered action across the summer.
Sunday’s racing in Lena may be the benchmark, the spark that lit the fuse on a wild season. It included a legend hitting another milestone, a bevy of first-time winners, and the unpredictable, door-to-door, wheel-to-wheel action that defines off-road, short-course racing.
Johnny Greaves Adds to Legend in Lena
At one point during Sunday’s Pro 4 final, the question was posed: Does anyone want to win this race? Or will there only be survivors?
It was a true off-road survivor who would win a wild Pro 4 finale.
Johnny Greaves has seven championships and more than 100 class wins. He has witnessed more in off-road than just about anyone. Yet even he may not have seen this one coming.
There’s a lot to unpack, including early race leader CJ Greaves pulling into the hot pit for the second straight day.
This came after Kyle Chaney jumped from his truck, which was on fire.
After heavy contact, Jimmy Henderson was knocked out on the second lap with a broken wheel.
Adrian Cenni was in position for a weekend sweep, but his right rear tire shredded, and he had to go to the hot pit.
After bouncing off several K-rails due to front-end damage, Johnny Greaves caught a rut and rolled but quickly refired and got back into the race.
It looked like Andrew Carlson was going to secure the win, but he hit an infield tractor tire and flipped after leading eight laps.
Rookie Kainan Baker was running third on his way to his first career Pro 4 podium but lost a wheel.
Johnny Holtger had one lap to go but was slowed during Carlson’s caution. That allowed Johnny Greaves to close the gap on the final lap, and the veteran, who thought he had seen it all, took the lead and picked up his 104th career Pro 4 win.
“I don’t think I missed a trick out there as far as screwing up,” said Greaves. “I rolled over and got hooked in there. Then, my steering was bent from rolling over, so I couldn’t keep it straight on the straightaways. But we brought it home, and I can’t believe it.”
Holtger was the cleanest truck to finish, crossing the line in second for his first career Pro 4 podium. Cenni was able to reenter with a fresh tire and clawed his way through the mayhem to finish third.
Beat Puts Stamp on Sunday’s Pro 2
History has proven that if you give Ryan Beat an inch, he will take a yard. That mentality has made Beat one of the best Pro 2 drivers in the sport, and he showcased his high-level driving ability on Sunday, picking up a wire-to-wire win.
Beat was quick on Saturday but had to pull off. His team got the truck back together and fast for round two. Starting on the pole gave him a clean shot at the lead, and Beat powered around the tight Lena track on his way to his first win of the season.
“I can’t give it up enough to my team,” said Beat. “They worked their butt off here. We had a rough first two days of the season, and it was good to rebound.”
Kyle Greaves’ rookie season is off to a great start. Greaves secured a runner-up finish for the second straight round, enough to give him a five-point lead in the standings. Johnny Holtger finished third after a good battle with Zac Zakowski during the race’s second half.
Gibbs Rewarded with Clean Run in Pro Lite
Gibbs had the speed to win Saturday’s Pro Lite season opener. Still, he admitted to a couple of mistakes that slowed his momentum as he was closing in on eventual race leader Johnny Holtger.
That wasn’t a problem on Sunday as Gibbs was equally fast and efficiently smooth. He was hooked up early, leading the field to the mandatory caution, and then followed up the second half with the same speed and determination as he kept his podium streak alive at Dirt City.
Holtger backed up his opening-round win with another good race. He had the speed to run with Gibbs on Sunday, but Holtger had to work against pressure from Carson Parrish after the restart and was unable to catch back up to Gibbs. With Holtger in second, the race for third would end with Carson Brown earning his first Pro Lite podium.
Visser Victorious in Pro Spec
In a class that promotes parity and equal opportunity, Nick Visser has the opportunity to stand out this season.
Visser just missed out on the Pro Spec championship in 2023, trailing Chad Rayford by six points at the end of the season. But Visser is loaded for the long haul this season. After picking up a third-place finish on Saturday, Visser didn’t waste any time or unwanted motion as he charged to his first win of the new year.
Round one winner Dylan Parsons pressed Visser for the lead before falling into the runner-up spot. Chris Van Den Elzen finished third, thanks to a second-half surge.
Carlson Shines in Pro SxS
Sixteen-year-old Kainan Baker was 100 yards away from winning his first Championship Off-Road Pro SxS race, but he must wait one more round to hit that milestone.
Baker, who is also a rookie in Pro 4, was blistering fast and held off defending champion Kyle Chaney and Saturday winner Andrew Carlson for the first half of the race. In the second half, less than a second separated all three, and Carlson applied heavy pressure, even taking over the top spot on lap 11.
But Carlson had to pull off, and Baker regained the lead. Baker was fast, but Chaney kept stalking. As Baker made the final right-hand turn towards the finish line, something gave way in his car. Chaney was in position and took advantage for the win.
Baker had enough momentum to crawl across the finish line in second before rolling to a stop. Jeb Bootle beat Tyler Remmereid to the line for third.
Bootle Goes Wire-to-Wire in Pro Stock SxS
The opening round might have felt like rush hour traffic in Los Angeles for Jeb Bootle. He couldn’t shake through the heavy traffic and finished sixth.
It must have felt like a country road on Sunday, with a clear line of sight and no other cars to pass. Bootle was on a rail in round two. He grabbed the lead from the start and never opened the door wide enough to lose it.
Round one winner Owen VanEperen was close but had a race-long battle with Colin Kernz, which hampered his ability to close on Bootle. VanEperen would finish second, finishing a half-second ahead of Kernz.
Pro-AM SxS: David Gay just missed out on a podium finish in the Pro AM SxS season opener, but he was without peer during round two action on Sunday. Despite several restarts, Gay consistently powered his way from the field for the win.
It was good for the race leader to be so far out front because it was a great race down the stretch for the final two podium spots. The fight was up to four cars at one point but became a two-car stare-down between Cody Jones and Rory Navin for the runner-up spot. The last lap saw the pair go nose-to-tail, with Jones holding off Navin at the line by 3/10ths of a second.
Bonacci’s Late Push Gives Him Pro Buggy Win
The Pro Buggy class is the most talented it has been in years, with an influx of young talent and drivers from across the country competing against Champ Off Road’s seasoned veterans.
One of those veterans, Billy Buth, credited with the opening-round win, came out looking for a weekend sweep. He was in control for the first half of the race, dicing with Jordan Bernloehr as the two crossed the finish line tenths of a second apart, with defending champion Mark Steinhardt lurking in third.
Buth would find mechanical trouble with four laps to go, putting Bernloehr into the lead. But he had his hands full with California driver Lorenzo Bonacci, who made his series debut on Saturday and finished fifth.
Bonacci put extensive pressure on Bernloehr and found his way around the race leader with three laps to go. Navigating the dust, he found clean air and drove to his first career Champ win.
Bernloehr would finish second and take the points lead. Steinhardt locked down the third spot in the first race of the season.
Super Stock Truck: Defending Super Stock Truck champion Joe Maciosek had to work through the crowd to find the podium in Saturday’s season opener. On Sunday, he jumped out early and didn’t look back as he picked up his first win of the year.
Maciosek showed great poise out front, clicking off consistent laps on his way to the class win and the overall points lead.
Scott Boulanger was able to separate himself from the pack in the second half of the race, finishing second. Nick Byng held off Ronald Kosciesza for third, his second podium finish of the season.
Stock Truck: It was a wild Sunday in Stock Truck with several lead changes and an increase in the bumping and banging compared to Saturday’s opener.
Brian Peot led the majority of the race but dropped back, which opened the door for Dustin Rogaczewski to grab the top spot. Rogaczewski was making his Stock Truck debut this weekend, and he held off Tyler Mullins, who finished second. Katelin Wierzba would finish third and grab ahold of the points lead.
1600 Single Buggy: Colton Berns came out swinging on Sunday and took home his first 1600 Single Buggy win of the season.
Berns was in control from start to finish, even with heavy pressure from Sean Springstroh as the two raced nose-to-tail to the finish line. Berns edged out Springstroh at the line by half a second.
Defending champion Michael Seefeldt picked up a second podium for the weekend, finishing third. He also has an eight-point lead in the standings over Connor Schulz.
Sportsman SxS: On Saturday, Tyler Wusterbarth started 12th and drove through traffic to pick up the round one win. On Sunday, Trent Peetz replicated the results.
Peetz, who finished second on Saturday, started the race in 12th and jumped from eight to second on the first lap. The defending class champion took the lead on the second lap and ran away from the pack for the win.
Wusterbarth was part of that pack. After starting tenth, he followed Peetz to the front and locked down the runner-up spot on lap three. Branden Kernz rebounded from a slow start on Saturday to finish third.
1600 Light Buggy: The open-wheel 1600 Light Buggy class doesn’t typically feature a lot of contact, but Sunday featured several situations that shuffled the leaderboard.
That included a bit of chaos in the middle of the race, allowing Connor Schulz to find the front of the field. Schulz overcame a deeply buried start of 14th to find the top spot on lap nine. He kept the pedal on the floor and drove to the weekend sweep.
Jake Dischler stayed near the front of the pack and kept his car clean to finish second, just 3/10ths ahead of Dylan Rohloff. It was both Dischler and Rohloff’s first career podium.
570 SxS: Hometown driver Ellah Holtger rebounded with a perfect round two of 570 SxS racing on Sunday. Holtger started out front and stayed there, even with late-race pressure from Madisyn Winistorfer.
It was Holtgers first win of the season and Winistofer’s second straight podium. Jake Betts picked up his first podium of the year by finishing third.
Mod Kart: Avery Hemmer is in it to win this season. Due to the invert, Hemmer had to start eighth after a dominant Mod Kart win on Saturday. Hemmer quickly asserted herself and moved through the crowd and into podium position, eventually securing the lead with four laps to go. She would pull away for her second win of the season.
Collin Paitl and Gavin Plummer had a great battle the entire race, with Paitl finishing second, crossing the line 2/10ths of a second ahead of Plummer.
170/200 SxS: On Sunday, it was a repeat performance for the combined 170/200 SxS top three finishers.
Drake Draher (170 SxS) was the first driver to cross the finish line, with Ashton Dreher (170 SxS) in second. Raymond Deininger (200 SxS) was third overall and swept the 200 class.
Kody Krantz filled in for Gaborik Geyen and finished fourth overall and third in 170 SxS. Henry Holtger finished second in 200 SxS, and Ryder Ives was third.
Short Course Karts: Finley Holtger capped off a successful weekend of racing by taking home the Short Course Kart win on Sunday.
Holtger, who finished second on Saturday, grabbed the lead on the third lap and never looked back. Rylee Zahara led early and kept pace with Holtger before finishing second. Camden Paitl rounded out the podium in third.
Youth SxS: Hudson Houle was a podium finisher on Saturday, and now he’s a winner after a wire-to-wire win on Sunday.
Houle jumped into the lead on the first lap and then pulled away from the field for the win, and the points lead. Carter Jutila took home the runner-up spot for the second race in a row, and Bryce Powers improved one spot from Saturday by finishing third.
Up next for AMSOIL Championship Off-Road: The third and fourth rounds of racing will be held on June 8-9 at the Antigo Lions Roaring Raceway in Antigo, Wis.
With a subscription, you can watch every round of the AMSOIL Championship Off-Road season live on www.FloRacing.com and on the series television partner Fox Sports. For more information on how you can follow along this season, click here.
