ERX Delivers A Second Day of Wild Racing as Greaves, Beat Take Wins
Elk River, Minn. ~ Saturday's racing action at ERX was temporarily put on hold due to rain, adding an unexpected twist to Round 7 of the AMSOIL Championship Off-Road series. When the clouds eventually cleared, the atmosphere became charged with excitement as the afternoon sun brought intense racing to the track.
The Pro 4 and Pro 2 races saw intense competition, creating a chaotic, fast-paced spectacle with debris scattered across the track like a fiberglass freeway.
Amidst all the intense action and raw emotions, it was a day of old-school competition that will be etched into our memories while offering a thrilling glimpse of what the second half of the season has in store.
Greaves Outlasts the Field in Unpredictable Pro 4 Tilt
It has been years since off-road enthusiasts saw a weekend of Pro 4 racing as hectic, entertaining, and nail-biting as what was delivered at ERX Motor Park the past two days.
After a wild, chaotic showcase on Friday, Saturday turned up the wick with a mix of survival, go-for-broke driving, and fender-bashing excitement that saw an eight-time champ break out late and two of the top-five finish without tires.
For the second straight day, RJ Anderson led a stacked Pro 4 field from the start to mandator, mid-race caution. Up to that point, it looked like a two-man race with Jimmy Henderson would dominate the headlines. But in a repeat of Friday’s storyline, there was a pile-up on the tight 180-degree turn after the restart, and that’s when the chaos known as Pro 4 began.
Henderson got a nose on the back of Anderson’s truck, which then spun out and collected several trucks, including CJ Greaves and Andrew Carlson, for the second race in a row. Henderson would take over the lead, followed by Johnny Holtger and Paul Wolff. A low tire, topped off by a black flag for the incident off the restart, would put Henderson in the hot pit and Holtger in the lead. That lead only lasted a lap as Holtger caught a rut, and Wolff slid into the top spot.
Wolff, who entered the day without even a podium in the class, would have to deal with the defending champ Greaves as both he and Carlson had clawed back into contention. Carlson and Wolff would get temporarily tangled coming through the sand section, and that vaulted Greaves into the top spot with four laps to go.
With fiberglass flapping over his rear tire, Greaves was driving the cleanest truck on the track but also had air in all four tires and clean air out front. He would stay atop the leaderboard, driving to his fourth win of the season.
“It came down to never giving up,” said Greaves. “There I was again, day two, parked in the 180 the lap after the caution. Andrew and I were the last two sitting there, and we took off. I was looking around. I didn’t even know who was leading this thing or who was even left, and then I saw Wolf out there and then nobody. We had a shot, and Andrew and I caught him at the same time. It was just gloves off all day.
With three laps to go, air began leaking out of Carlson’s right rear tire. It would eventually let go with two laps left, but Carlson was able to drive in on its rim, securing his first Pro 4 podium since round one.
Wolff straightened his lines out after the contact with Carlson and nearly caught the runner-up on the final lap. He fell short but secured his first career Pro 4 podium in third. Holtger got back on track and finished fourth, while Johnny Greaves was the last truck on the lead lap, crossing the line in fifth despite missing a right front tire.
Beat Guts Out Painful Pro 2 Win
One week ago, there was serious doubt that Ryan Beat was even making the trip to Minnesota, let alone strapping into his Pro 2 and heading home with a pair of podiums. Last weekend, Beat crashed while riding his dirt bike. He suffered broken bones in his shoulder, back and pelvis. Most racers would call that chip in and stay bed-ridden, but the points leader buckled down and, through gritted teeth, took home a flawless win on Saturday.
Beat started on the front row and wasted no time getting ahead of the field. Without having to bang doors for position, he drove with a clear vision, leading from start to finish for his third win of the season.
“This is the gnarliest one of my career, for sure,” said Beat. “Seven days ago, I broke my collarbone, my tailbone, and my pelvis. I just told myself I'm going to be dumb enough to get hurt during race season, and I need to be tough enough to race hurt. I just had to click off clean laps and only push when I absolutely had to.”
Beat had to push more than he let on because Cory Winner and Mickey Thomas were battling for the runner-up spot behind him. Winner maneuvered into the second spot on lap three, but Thomas applied constant pressure throughout the 17-lap feature. When the proverbial dust settled, the defending class champion, Winner, had control of second place, with Thomas rounding out the podium in third. Thomas and Beat will head to Lena, separated by only nine points.
Gibbs Back on Top of Pro Lite
Friday's Pro Lite race was bumpy for points leader Trey Gibbs. While Gibbs did finish second, he spent the majority of it dealing with thick traffic, contact, and even an unwanted pit stop.
Gibbs didn't mess around with any of that on Saturday as he put a stranglehold on the top spot two laps into the contest and ran one of the cleanest races of the day. It marked Gibb's class-leading fifth win of the season and extended his points lead to 49 over Johnny Holtger.
It wasn't as calm for Travis Milhausen, Jr.'s second-place effort on Saturday. Milhausen moved into the runner-up spot with four laps to go but then started dealing with a tire over the final two laps that gave way after the final finish-line jump. Milhausen made his season debut in Crandon and picked up a pair of podiums at ERX.
Friday Pro Lite winner Carson Parrish earned his third straight podium by finishing third.
Parrish Earns Third Win in Pro Spec
In the Pro Spec class race on Saturday, Christopher Parrish made a pass on Friday's winner, Chris Van Den Elzen, and points leader, Nick Visser, on lap three when the two got tangled and spun in front of him. Parrish quickly took the lead and drove to his third win in the last four races.
Dylan Parsons, the round six winner, moved up from fourth to second due to the incident and then held off Van Den Elzen over the final laps to finish second. Van Den Elzen finished third, just 3/10ths of a second behind Parsons, earning his sixth podium.
Bernloehr Goes Wire to Wire in Pro Buggy
On a track that proved to possess multiple lead changes over the weekend, Cole Bernloehr was the rare exception, leading from start to finish for his first win of the season.
Dave Mason Jr. was equally solid in his role on Saturday. The round five winner started second and finished there for his third straight podium finish.
Billy Buth came off the start in fifth but slotted into third on lap two and kept pace with Mason before finishing third.
Carlson Excites Hometown Crowd With Pro SXS Win
Friday's Pro SxS showdown featured a tightly contested contest between race-winner Andrew Carlson and runner-up CJ Greaves. At the finish line, the two were separated by just two-tenths.
Saturday's tilt brought the same two to the front of the pack. Still, Carlson ran a nearly flawless race, going wire-to-wire for his fourth race in the past five rounds and sweeping the weekend on his hometown track.
Greaves, meanwhile, had a lockdown on the runner-up spot throughout and finished second for his fourth podium finish this year. Jeb Bootle bounced back after a tough outing in round six to finish third.
Greaves Sweeps Pro Stock SxS
CJ Greaves used the mid-race restarts to his advantage all weekend, including Saturday's Pro Stock SxS race.
Jake Kosmecki led early before giving way to Owen VanEperen. Greaves was able to move past Kosmecki for the runner-up spot just before the mandatory caution. Off the restart, Greaves timed it perfectly and vaulted into the lead with VanEperen in tow.
Greaves would pull away from the field and drive to the weekend sweep. VanEperen, meanwhile, had his hands full with Colin Kernz throughout the remainder of the race. Still, the points leader locked down the runner-up spot for his sixth podium. Kernz kept pace and finished third.
Pro-AM SXS: During the Pro-AM SXS race, Matthew Boerschinger led for the first six laps but dropped to fifth place after the restart. Cody Jones then took over the lead and claimed his first victory, securing his second podium finish for the weekend.
The race was intense, with Jones narrowly edging out Kolton Krajicek by a mere 0.133 seconds and Benjamin Heiting, who crossed the finish line in third place, trailing behind by 0.895 seconds.
Sportsman SxS: Joel Steinbrecher brought his broom to ERX, and thanks to a strong race on Saturday, he took the weekend sweep of Sportsman SxS.
It marks Steinbrecher's third win of the season and moves him to third overall. Points leader Tyler Wusterbarth finished second, with Erik Hill crossing the line in third.
Stock Truck: It was a good weekend of racing for Kirk Graff, who backed up Friday's second-place finish in Stock Truck with his first win of the season on Saturday. The success moved Graff into second overall, just three points behind Brian Peot.
Friday's winner earned his fourth straight podium finish by driving to the runner-up spot on Saturday. Opening-round winner Kyle Jenshak finished third.
Super Stock Truck: On Saturday, the Super Stock Truck race featured a thrilling battle for the lead, with Braden Beauchamp making a decisive move to pass Colt Wierzba on lap seven before earning his third victory of the season in the category.
Friday's winner, Joe Maciosek, was hot on the leader's heels, finishing a mere 0.489 seconds behind.
Cory Holtger also showcased impressive driving skills, fending off Wierzba to secure third place and achieve his third consecutive podium finish.
1600 Single Buggy: On Saturday, John Fitzgerald won the 1600 Single Buggy race after finishing second the day before. Fitzgerald, who started sixth, showcased his exceptional racing skills by swiftly moving into the lead on lap five. The victory marked his third win.
Michael Seefeldt, who began from the seventh position, made remarkable progress and secured the second position with four laps to go. This podium finish was his fifth of the season.
Connor Schulz, who won in round six, started tenth and finished third, less than a second behind Seefeldt.
1600 Light Buggy: Evan Hockers made a move on lap seven to overtake Jake Dischler and secure the lead. Hockers held off points leader Connor Schultz for his first victory of the season.
Despite starting from the tenth position, Schulz exhibited remarkable determination by advancing to second place and ultimately finishing the race in the same impressive position.
Notably, Greg Stingle's exceptional performance culminated in a thrilling last-lap overtake of Dischler, earning Stingle his first podium finish.
570 SXS: Emerson Dreher dominated the second half of Saturday's 570 SXS race, securing his first win of the season and moving up to second place overall. Raymond Deininger advanced to second place with two laps remaining, marking his first podium finish of the year.
Logan Fritzinger, the round five winner, executed a last-lap pass to secure a third-place finish.
170/200 SxS: On Saturday, Brixton Wirt emerged as the top finisher in the combined 170/200 SxS race. Wirt also dominated the 200 class at ERX.
Ashton Dreher secured the top spot in the 170 SxS category, finishing just one-tenth of a second behind Wirt. Axel Dreher finished third and second in the 170 class.
Short Course Karts: Camden Paitl went wire-to-wire to win Saturday's Short Course Kart race.
It was Paitl's first win of the season and second podium. Finley Holtger missed the podium for the first time on Friday but rebounded with a second-place showing on Saturday.
Ava Plummer found her way to the podium for the second day in a row, finishing third.
Mod Kart: Avery Hemmer, the points leader, and Gavin Plummer were locked in a back-and-forth battle during Saturday's Mod Kart race.
Hemmer took the lead early on, but Plummer overtook her in the middle of the race. However, Hemmer regained the lead and held on for the final three laps to secure her fourth win.
Meanwhile, Carter Zahara raced solo in third place, marking his second podium finish of the year.
Youth SXS: Hudson Houle dominated the South SXS race, maintaining the lead from the beginning to the end. In an intense finish, Houle held off fierce competition from Libby Nielsen on the last lap, securing his third consecutive victory.
Meanwhile, Nielsen showcased an impressive performance, clawing her way up from seventh place to claim her third straight podium. Layne Peterson also delivered a noteworthy performance, securing his first podium of the year with a third-place finish.
Up next for AMSOIL Championship Off-Road: The eighth and ninth rounds of racing will be held on Friday and Saturday, July 27-28, at the Dirt City Motorplex in Lena, Wis.
