Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Kyle Greaves wrecks and wins at Dirt City

Kyle GreavesChampionship Off-Road weekend at the Dirt City Motorplex looked to have abruptly ended in disaster, but it instead finished with him atop the podium. In what he called a “roller coaster of emotions,” Greaves bounced back from a massive roll on Saturday to win the Pro Lite race on Sunday.

His Race #1 was cut short after being squeezed into the tractor tyre barrier while approaching a jump three-abreast with Madix Bailey and Jacob Rosales; Greaves’ truck fell to the ground roof first before rolling multiple times and resting on its wheels. The damage was so substantial that his team brought it back to the shop for repairs while cousin C.J. Greaves was on injury standby. Despite the odds, they were able to fix it in less than a day and rejoin in time for Sunday.

Greaves cruised to the easy Race #2 win as Saturday winner Brody Eggleston was left trying to fend off Trey Gibbs and the rest of the field.

“Yesterday, we just struggled all day with just our setup. It just wasn’t on. I just kept making mistakes and falling back and I went through that wicked crash,” said the defending Pro Lite champion.

“Afterwards, I definitely didn’t think I was hopping back in but I woke up this morning, my team took the truck to the shop and cut it apart, and I got there and welded it together. This is all for them. That was a rough one to come back from, but without them, I wouldn’t have been able to do it. I know I scared the hell out of my fiancée and my mom; they didn’t want me to get back in here but I was too determined to not be back in it.”

C.J. added to the family festivities after sweeping Pro Stock SxS for the second round in a row. He also won Pro 4 on Saturday, though his Sunday was spoiled after a tyre puncture that allowed Jimmy Henderson to take his third win of the year after claiming both Crandon races.

In Pro 2, Cory Winner celebrated his birthday with a Saturday win that boosted him to the points lead ahead of Mickey Thomas, only for Thomas to repay the favour on Sunday. Winner’s third in Race #2 was still enough for him to hang onto the top spot by just one point. Desert racing veteran Dustin Grabowski finished second to Winner in Race #1 for his maiden short course podium.

Nick Visser and Chad Rayford, the top two in Pro SPEC, split the weekend; the latter leaves Lena with a ten-point advantage. Dylan Parsons, who spoke with The Checkered Flag before the season, scored his first class podium by finishing third in Race #2. He battled with Chris Van Den Elzen before the latter slipped up in turn one, upon which Parsons capitalised to take the last spot on the podium.

Pro 2 drivers Ricky Gutierrez and Keegan Kincaid sat out the weekend, the former’s truck still undergoing repairs after crashing at ERX.

Class winners

Pro

Class Saturday Winner Sunday Winner
Pro 4 C.J. Greaves Jimmy Henderson
Pro 2 Cory Winner Mickey Thomas
Pro Turbo SxS Kyle Chaney Andrew Carlson
Pro Lite Brody Eggleston Kyle Greaves
Pro SPEC Nick Visser Chad Rayford
Pro Stock SxS C.J. Greaves C.J. Greaves
Pro Buggy Mark Steinhardt Larry Job

Sportsman

Class Saturday Winner Sunday Winner
Pro Am SxS Rory Navin Kolton Krajicek
570 SxS Ellah Holtger Ryker Remington
Super Stock Truck Joe Maciosek Ben Holtger
Sportsman SxS Tyler Wusterbarth Trent Peetz
1600 Single Buggy John Fitzgerald John Fitzgerald
170/200 SxS Tanner Thibeault Tanner Thibeault
Mod Kart Carter Vanden Heuvel Carter Vanden Heuvel
Short Course Kart Jacobi Tullberg Race Visser
Youth SxS Ryker Remington Ryker Remington
1600 Light Buggy Connor Schulz Connor Schulz
Stock Truck Cory Holtger Cory Holtger
\