Pace Quickens at Bark River as Henderson, Thomas Have Dominant Saturday Runs
Bark River, Mich. ~ Saturday was another action-packed day of off-road, short-course racing in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The Bark River International Off-Road Raceway is playing host to an unprecedented triple-header of racing after adding an extra day to make up for a lost round of AMSOIL Championship Off-Road this past June.
Friday featured a high-speed track and jockeying for position on the track and points off it. Coming into Saturday, only three rounds of pro racing (four for Sportsman) are left on the 2024 schedule, so the two days of racing over the weekend will be monumental in the championship chase.
Big wins, shuffled-up points, and a full house in Michigan’s off-road home were on tap for round 11, with fans finding a bit of the familiar and a lot of the unexpected.
Henderson Hits on Second Pro 4 Win
Johnny Holtger and Kainan Baker had the first cracks at bringing home Saturday’s Pro 4 win, but the young guns both found themselves pulling off the track early on.
While Holtger’s happened on the second lap, Baker’s lead would last seven trips around the big Bark River circuit. That’s when Jimmy Henderson muscled his way past after Baker opened up the door. Henderson was looking for clean air all year, and he found it after getting into the top spot. He was dialed in and pushed his lead to nearly six seconds over points leader CJ Greaves. It was the type of race Henderson has been looking for all season long.
“The set-up was great,” said Henderson. “We made some decisions last night that really paid off today. It was wild, as it was five car lengths and then 20 car lengths. But we were patient at getting around Kainan, and then we brought it home.”
Greaves continues to hold the top spot in points, and the defending champ’s runner-up finish on Saturday kept the gap to Henderson at 30, with only two rounds remaining in 2024.
Andrew Carlson stayed clear of the action in front of him, which allowed him to navigate his way into the third and final podium spot.
Thomas Takes Two in Bark River
It’s never an easy drive in a Pro 2 off-road truck, but Mickey Thomas made his Friday win look easy. He had to work much harder to stand atop the podium on Saturday.
Round eight winner Ricky Gutierrez was motoring in round 11, as he got the early lead over Thomas and Kyle Greaves. The gap between Gutierrez and Thomas was less than a second for the entire first half, but Thomas flipped a switch after the restart as he bolted into the top spot and started gaining multiple seconds on the field, driving to his fifth win of the year.
“Bark River gave us a great track to race on today, and that allows us to have close battles like that,” said Thomas. “Ricky had a great pace there in the first half, but he made a mistake there, and I was able to get around him. The truck is on rails this weekend.”
Gutierrez had the speed to track down Thomas, but he also had to keep Greaves from gaining the runner-up spot. Greaves couldn’t mount a final charge on Gutierrez, who would cross the finish line in second, just a few truck lengths ahead of Greaves in third.
Ryan Beat would finish fourth to keep the gap to points leader Thomas at 14 points with two rounds left on the schedule.
Gibbs Gets Back on Top in Pro Lite
With only two rounds now remaining on the Pro Lite schedule, it could be a celebratory Sunday for current points leader Trey Gibbs.
After scratching his way to a runner-up finish on Friday, Gibbs clawed his way back into the winner's circle on Saturday. While Johnny Holtger gathered up the early lead, Gibbs wasted little time getting into the second slot. By the fifth lap, Gibbs went door-to-door with Holtger and eventually into the lead. Gibbs would check out on the field over the race's second half, driving to his eighth win and stretching his points margin over Holter to 91 points. With 57 points available each round, Gibbs has a shot to clinch the 2024 title on Sunday.
Holtger followed up his Friday win with another strong effort on Saturday. He crossed the line uncontested in second for his third straight podium. Tyler Remmereid started a distant ninth but made his way into contention over the second half of the race, finishing third.
First Time Winner in Pro Spec
Bark River has a way of bringing new faces to the front of the field. That was the case in Pro Spec as Hunter VanZile put himself in contention to win and finalized the deal when the final corners turned a bit chaotic.
VanZile, who had a major crash on Friday, was the early race leader before giving way to Chris Van Den Elzen on the second lap. Van Den Elzen held point for most of the race and was four turns away from grabbing his second win of the season. But he and rookie Wyatt Miller got tied up in one of the final turns and were unable to separate. That allowed VanZile to move from third to the lead and he drove it home for his first career Pro Spec win.
Dylan Parsons would finish second, but not until he had to pull into the hot pit to change a flat tire. Getting back on the lead lap would be close after the tire swap, but a gnarly crash from Nick Visser simultaneously brought out a red flag and a full-field stop. When the trucks refired, Parson joined the race and worked his way into fourth and finally second after Van Den Elzen and Miller entangled.
Ronald Kosziesza steered clear of the chaos before him and picked up his first career podium by finishing third.
Bernloehr Keeps Winning Streak Alive in Pro Buggy
Six rounds ago, something clicked in Jordan Bernloehr's favor, and he hasn't stopped being in control of the Pro Buggy class since.
Dave Mason, Jr., was the early race leader, but he retired early, which put Bernloehr into a lead that he had no intention of giving back. Bernloehr stretched his legs a bit, leaving the pack and driving to a four-plus-second win. It was his fourth straight win and fifth since round six at ERX Motor Park.
Lorenzo Bonacci finished second for the second straight day, and Mark Steinhardt picked up his first podium since round two in Lena with a third-place finish on Saturday.
Baker the Big Winner in Pro SXS
The 2024 Pro SXS title is set to come down to the wire, and possibly the final laps in Crandon on Labor Day weekend.
On Saturday, three of the top four drivers, including points leader CJ Greaves and Andrew Carlson, dropped out of the race early.
That is how the class has stacked up this season, with multiple drivers taking extended runs of success throughout the summer. Kainan Baker and Jeb Bootle might be on one of those streaks, as both drivers have put together a successful weekend so far.
Baker was nearly untouchable in round eleven. He had to hold off Carlson for the first half of the race and then some initial pressure from Bootle in the last part of the contest. The 16-year-old didn’t miss a beat and drove to his second win of the season.
Bootle, who won his first Pro SXS race on Friday, finished second. Kyle Chaney kept all four tires spinning and drove to a third-place finish.
Bootle Boosts Big Win in Pro Stock SXS
Jeb Bootle has been chasing CJ Greaves around the track all summer, and Greaves has answered with seven wins through the first ten rounds.
Bootle finally got the upper hand, using a second-half surge to take over the lead from Collin Kernz. It wasn’t a runaway win for Bootle, as he and Kernz were locked in an excellent race for the lead over the final six laps.
Kernz has been consistent all season long, and his runner-up finish on Saturday marked his fifth podium in 2024. Jack LeTourneau missed the Dirt City rounds two weeks ago, and the time off helped with recalibration, as LeTourneau finished third on Saturday for his first podium trip of the year.
Bootle’s win allowed him to pick up seven points on Greaves, and the two will enter Sunday separated by 30 points, with Owen VanEperen ten points back of Bootle.
Sportsman SXS:
Zack Wirhanowicz picked up his second career Sportsman SXS win on Friday. On Saturday, Brayden Kernz followed Wirhanowicz's lead by getting around Wirhanowicz late in the contest for win number two.
One lap after getting the lead, the race would go to a green-white-checkers situation after a late race crash. Kernz timed the restart perfectly, pulled away from the field, and powered to his second win of the season. Riley Marquardt got around Wirhanowicz after the restart and finished second. Wirhanowicz finished off the podium in third.
Pro-AM SXS:
Jesse Greaves waited patiently for the cars in front of him to finish their battle before driving around and gaining his first win of the season.
Greaves ran behind Derek Liebergen and Jacob Blemke for several laps before Liebergen dropped out of the lead and slowed up Blemke, giving Greaves the opening he needed as he took over the top spot with two laps to go.
Blemke would finish second, and Cody Jones would sneak past Liebergen on the last lap to take the third podium position.
Stock Truck:
After 11 rounds of Stock Truck racing, there is a tie at the top of the standings.
Malakal Yakel became the tenth different winner in Stock Truck this year, leading the field from start to finish for the win. Tyler Mullins finished second, and Nick Axelsen crossed the line in third, just ahead of Brian Peot.
Peot's fourth-place finish on Saturday was enough to tie him at the top of the standings with Kirk Graff, who finished seventh.
Super Stock Truck:
Braden Beauchamp and Joe Maciosek will head into Sunday separated by only three points, but the day belonged to Scott Boulanger.
Boulanger led Saturday's Super Stock Truck race from start to finish and held off Cory Holtger at the line for his first win of the season. Holtger extended his podium streak to seven, and Beauchamp overcame a starting position of seven and finished third.
That was one spot ahead of Maciosek and gave Beauchamp two more points. Nick Byng sits third overall, six behind Beauchamp, and Holtger is now just 11 points off the overall lead.
1600 Light Buggy:
Connor Schulz's second extended winning streak of the season in 1600 Light Buggy was snapped on Saturday, thanks to the late race heroics of Jake Schilleman.
Schilleman earned his first win of the season after taking the lead from Schulz just before the race's mid-point. Despite constant pressure from Schulz, he held the top spot for his third straight podium.
Schulz would finish second, roughly a half-second behind the race winner. Dylan Rohloff started mid-pack in eighth but worked his way into his final finishing position of third on lap six.
1600 Single Buggy:
There was a major shake-up at the top of the 1600 Single Buggy standings after an eventful Saturday showdown.
Michael Seefeldt held a one-point lead coming into the weekend and extended it to four after picking up Friday's win. But Seefeldt was knocked out of Saturday's contest early.
That opened the door for Connor Schulz and John Fitzgerald to take over the top spot. Schulz would take home the win, his fourth of the season, and was followed across the line by Thomas Trelstad.
The bigger story was Fitzgerald, who started ninth and worked his way back into podium contention over the final few laps. Fitzgerald slipped past Colton Berns on the last lap to finish third and return to the top of the points standings. Schulz also moved up a spot, leapfrogging past Seefeldt into second.
Youth SXS
Libby Nielsen led the first few laps of Saturday's Youth SXS race, but Hudson Houle found an opening on lap three and never looked back.
Houle, the points leader, stretched his lead out over the final laps and drove to his seventh straight win. Nielsen never relinquished the runner-up spot, finishing on the box for the fourth time this year. Ryker Remington was credited with third.
Mod Kart:
Avery Hemmer has bounced back after a rough round nine at Dirt City. Hemmer finished second on Friday and then backed it up with her sixth Mod Kart win.
The win also extended her overall points lead to 19 over Friday winner Gavin Plummer. Lincoln Mandsager took home the runner-up spot on Saturday, followed by Plummer, who started ninth.
Short Course Kart:
Wesley Vande Voort's quest to catch points leader Finley Holtger took another big step forward on Saturday.
Vande Voort started sixth but got around Camden Paitl with three laps remaining to take home his third win in the past four races. He also picked up an additional seven points on Holtger and now sits 18 points back.
Paitl had a repeat run from Friday, finishing second. Jacobi Tullberg rounded out the podium in third.
570 SXS:
Week in and week out, new drivers keep finding ways to the top of the 570 SXS podium.
On Saturday, it was Finley Holtger's turn, who got an early lead and was well out front throughout the race's first half. But Madisyn Winistorfer dialed up the pressure during the second half before finishing less than two cars behind Holtger at the line. The win was Holtgers first podium of the season.
Ellah Holtger edged out Logan Fritzinger for third and jumped back into the overall points lead. Holtger now leads Fritzinger by one point heading into Sunday.
170/200 SXS
Brixton Wirt missed the solo round in Crandon in June but has been on a tear ever since.
Wirt won his sixth straight 200 SXS race after getting around points leader Raymond Deininger on the last lap. Ryan Ives finished third.
In the 170 SXS portion of the race, Ashton Dreher won his fifth race. Miles Pakenham crossed the line in second, and Jersey Kleikamp was third.
