Henderson, Guitierrez Win Big at Dirt City
Lena, Wis. ~ The AMSOIL Championship Off-Road season's second half officially kicked off with a return trip to the Dirt City Motorplex in Lena, Wis. this weekend.The weather brought a mid-summer scorcher for the second weekend of racing at Dirt City, with temperatures pushing a sticky 90-plus degrees with nary a breeze to keep things a bit cooler. But the action on Saturday was as heated as any through the first seven rounds of the 2024 campaign.
Wins are worth the work, but with seven rounds of racing remaining, points are at a premium. Before the top short-course drivers in the world embark on the season-ending rounds at the big track in Crandon, Wis., they would have to fight for position in the crowded confines of Dirty City.
Henderson Hauls Home Another Lena Win
Last season, Jimmy Henderson broke through with his first career Pro 4 in Lena. On Saturday, he was nearly unstoppable as he drove to his first win of the season.
Henderson took the lead for the third race in a row on the first lap. The difference on Saturday was that nothing got in Henderson's way as he drove to the top of the box. Kyle Chaney was pressuring Henderson early before CJ Greaves moved into the runner-up spot on lap five. Greaves used the restart to apply heavy pressure on Henderson but fell off the pace, allowing Henderson to pull away from the field for a convincing win.
"Lena and the fans here have been so good to us," said Henderson. I got my first off-road win here, and to be able to do it again is awesome. With all the changes we made to the team and the truck, it's all starting to come together."'
Greaves' stutter allowed Kainan Baker, Chaney, and Adrian Cenni to move up positions and drop Greaves to fifth. Baker wouldn't give up the spot, but trouble found both Chaney and Cenni. That moved Greaves back into a podium spot, where he would finish behind Baker in third.
Gutierrez Holds Off Winner in Pro 2
Tight tracks such as Dirt City bring tight racing. The trucks have high-speed opportunities, but as quickly as they get up to race speed, the drivers are tapping the brakes and setting up for one of the circuit’s four 180-degree turns.
In Saturday’s Pro 2 race, all of that back and forth culminated in a fantastic and chaotic finish. Ryan Beat was looking for his second straight win and had control of the race from the drop of the green flag, but with three laps to go, a softening tire let go, and he was forced to go into the hot pit. Three trucks were in position to get the top spot, but Ricky Gutierrez took control and held off a pair of breathtaking moves from defending class champion Cory Winner over the last three turns to earn his first win of the season.
“The hours spent getting this truck dialed in,” said Gutierrez. “We had some bad luck at Antigo, Lena, and even ERX. We knew we were fast, but just the adversity. My crew just pushed through and to get up here and win just feels good.”
Winner was less than a half-second behind Gutierrez at the line to earn his second straight podium. Mickey Thomas was equally as close to Winner, finishing third and retaking the points lead from Beat (four-point differential) along the way.
Gibbs Stretches Pro Lite Point Lead with Sixth Victory
Trey Gibbs wrapped up the first half of the season with the largest points differential of any class in Championship Off-Road. He increased that points lead on Saturday while starting a new winning streak in the process.
The first half of the race saw a renewal of the opening weekend showdown between Gibbs and round one winner Johnny Holtger. The pair were door-to-door as Holtger kept looking for a Gibbs to give him an opening. But Holtger pulled into the hot pits two laps after the restart for a tire change. That gave Gibbs a wide gap over the runner-up position, and he didn’t miss a beat, driving to his second straight win and sixth win of the season.
“Qualifying was a little bit off, and then today, even though we got the win, it wasn’t the best we could do,” said Gibbs. It’s still awesome to get up here and get a first after not a strong start.”
Round six winner Carson Parrish benefited from Holtger’s pit stop when he moved into third. One lap later, he was second after Tyler Remmereid pulled off the track. Parrish drove to his fourth straight podium while holding off a late charge from Michael Funk, who finished third.
Parson Closes Gap with Win in Pro Spec
Four drivers have picked up wins in the Pro Spec class, led by points leader Nick Visser, who had three coming into Lena.
Any win in what is considered the most balanced class in the championship is well earned, as the trucks are built evenly, and it's up to the drivers to determine the outcomes. Visser was in control of the outcome for the first half of Saturday's race, leading to the mandatory caution. But Dylan Parson is locked in on a championship and took advantage of the restart and jumped into the race lead. Parson locked down the top spot and powered to his second win of the season while closing the gap to five behind Visser in the standings.
Wyatt Miller made his season and career short course debut on Saturday. The grandson of Dale Earnhardt has been on a steep, upward trajectory in sprint car racing, and that talent and ability crossed over to Pro Spec. Miller got past Chris Van Den Elzen on lap 11 for second, but time ran out before he could reel in Parson's.
Van Den Elzen picked up his third straight podium, finishing third behind Parsons and Miller.
Drapkin Goes the Distance in Pro Buggy
Zachary Drapkin from Lake Forest, California, achieved a wire-to-wire victory in Pro Buggy, marking his first win of the year.
Billy Buth secured the second position, marking his fifth podium finish this year, while Jordan Bernloehr, the points leader, finished third, achieving his seventh podium finish this year.
Greaves Makes Massive Points Jump with First Pro SXS Win
The first turn at Dirt City is a big, sweeping 180-degree rotation, and it seemed like the entire Pro SXS field was trying to fit into the same line off the start on Saturday.
Jeb Bootle cleared the minefield first, with CJ Greaves right on his tail. Less than a lap later, Greaves had overtaken the race leader and was on the hunt for his first win of the season. Bootle never let Greaves get away, consistently showing the leader a wheel.
But as they raced toward the final laps, round three winner Kainan Baker had gotten away from the pack and pressured Bootle for second. The battle for the runner-up spot allowed Greaves to pull away for his first win of the year and cut into Andrew Carlson’s points lead. What was a 49-point lead heading into the day had been cut to 15 after Carlson had to exit the race with four laps to go.
Bootle held off Baker over the final turns for his second straight podium. Baker’s third was his second podium in the past three races.
Greaves Streak Hits Three in Pro Stock SXS
Nothing has seemed to rattle CJ Greaves' quest to win the Pro Stock SXS title this season. Greaves was slow to start the season when the series opened up at Dirt City in May, but he dug himself out of that early hole. Thanks to five wins over the past six races, he will enter round nine with the points lead.
Jeb Bootle started on the front row and held off Collin Truett in a drag race around the first few laps. Bootle was able to get away from the pack momentarily, but Greaves had moved into the runner-up position by lap four. It would stay that way until after the mandatory mid-race caution when Greaves snipped the top spot off the restart.
From there, Greaves sped around the Dirt City track with clean air and his choice of lines. He drove to his third straight win and a four-point lead over Owen VanEperen (who finished fourth).
Bootle was quick, but his final few laps were reminiscent of his first few laps, where he had to keep Truett on his six. When the checkered flag dropped, Bootle skipped over the finish line jump in second, with Truett earning his third straight podium in third.
Pro-AM SXS: With more than twenty cars on the track for Pro-AM SXS, it is tough to find a clean line in Dirty City's tight confines. But things are a bit easier when you start out front and stay there.
That was Matt Boerschinger's game plan at the start of the race, and he executed it to perfection. He was challenged for most of the contest by Derek Liebergen, but Liebergen dropped down the leaderboard late, opening the door for points leader David Gay to challenge Boerschinger for the final three laps. The pair would go bumper-to-bumper through the final turns, but Boerschinger held off Gay by half a second for his first win of the year.
Gay had to hold off Ben Heiting while trying to chase down Boerschinger. Heiting crossed the line less than 2/10th of a second behind Gay for his third straight podium.
Sportsman SXS: Brayden Kernz clinched his first career Sportsman SXS victory in Champ Off-Road, showcasing an impressive performance by taking the lead on the first lap and maintaining it until the checkered flag. Meanwhile, Trent Peetz, who began the race in 10th, demonstrated remarkable skill by advancing to second place on the final lap. Ben Berger also showcased his racing prowess by securing a third-place finish during the last lap of the competition.
Stock Truck: Coming into Lena on Saturday, there have been seven different winners in the Stock Truck this year, with six of them being first-time winners.Colt Wierzba, who was driving in place of his sister Katelin, won the race with his truck emitting smoke as he crossed the finish line, making him the eighth different winner.
The winner of round three, Nick Axelsen, finished in second place.
Kirk Graff managed to navigate through early traffic and finished in third place, and he is now the points leader.
Super Stock Truck: On Saturday, Colt Wierzba was closing in on his first Super Stock Truck race of the season, but Joe Maciosek kept up the pressure and took away the lead late before driving to his fourth win in 2024.Wierzba picked up his best finish of the season, crossing the line in second place. Cory Holtger is starting to string together a run heading into the year's second half. Holtger finished third, his fourth straight trip to the box.
1600 Single Buggy: Beau Ambos did everything he could to keep Colton Berns in his roost, but Berns found an opening just after the mid-race mandatory restart to overtake the race leader.
Berns would pull away from Ambos and the field, driving to his second win of the season. Defending champion Michael Seefeldt moved into the runner-up spot with four laps to go, finishing second ahead of Taylor Roloff.
Seefeldt would take over the points lead from Connor Schultz, who got tangled up with John Fitzgerald late in the race and finished outside of the top ten.
1600 Light Buggy: The points inversion to start the races has put points leader Connor Schulz with a lot of work to do week in and week out. But Schulz proved once again it wasn’t an issue as he worked his way from tenth to the front, locking down the top spot just after the mandatory mid-race restart.
Schulz notched his seventh win of the season. Meanwhile, Jake Dischler found the runner-up spot after getting around early race leader Aiden Wandahsega. Carter Vanden Heuvel jumped from fifth to third on the last lap for his second podium of the season.
Youth SXS: Hudson Houle is on a hot streak. The Youth SXS points leader stretched his winning streak to four on Saturday. Houle started ninth due to the inversion but wasted zero time getting to the front and finding the lead on lap three.
Ryker Remington missed the podium in round seven but bounced back with a second-place run in Lena. Bryce Powers went podium-less at ERX but returned to the post-race celebration with a third-place run.
Mod Kart: Avery Hemmer was buried at the start of Saturday’s Mod Kart race but quickly maneuvered her way into the race lead after three laps. She stayed out front for the remainder of the contest, picking up her fifth win of the season.Gavin Plummer kept pace with the points leader before finishing second for his third straight podium. Reed LeDuc made a late pass stick to lock down the third and final podium position.
Short Course Kart: Wesley Vande Voort started fifth, took the lead with three laps to go, and secured his second win of the season. Jax Romenesko finished in second place, while Caleb Bell held off points leader Finley Holtger at the line to claim third place.
570 SXS: With five laps remaining in Saturday’s 570SXS race, Kody Krantz was buried in fifth, but the round four winner found an extra gear and vaulted into the lead with less than three laps to go.
The win was Krantz's third podium of the season. Logan Fritzinger moved from eighth to second and notched his fourth straight podium. Early race leader Draxton Szymik finished third, holding off Raymond Deininger for the final podium spot.
170/200 SXS: Brixton Wirt has raced five times this season in the 200 SXS class, and he now has four wins after picking up the top spot in Lena on Saturday. Raymond Deininger finished second, crossing the line ahead of Beckett Enloe.
In the 170 portion of the dual race, Miles Pakenham was the top 170 SXS (and second overall). Drew Gerber was second, and Grace Burroughs finished third.
Up next for AMSOIL Championship Off-Road: The ninth round of racing will be held on Sunday, July 28, at the Dirt City Motorplex in Lena, Wis.
