Sweeps in Pro Truck Classes Headline Championship Off-Road Opener in Antigo

For the first time in more than a decade, professional off-road racing returned to Antigo, Wisconsin over the weekend, as Championship Off-Road opened its season at Antigo Lions Roaring Raceway, a dirt oval converted for short course use. When the dust finally settled, though, the cream of the crop—as always—had risen to the top of the podium in the pro classes, conquering both the new track and even deeper grids in the wake of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series’ dissolution.

As is so often the case on midwestern race weekends, CJ Greaves was the biggest winner of all when everything wrapped up. Scaling back to just Pro 4 and Pro Stock SXS this year and abandoning the Pro Mod SXS class, Greaves swept both Pro 4 races to post a perfect score in his quest to reclaim that championship from Kyle LeDuc. Doug Mittag and Andrew Carlson completed the Saturday podium, while Adrian Cenni and Mittag joined Greaves on the box on Sunday.

Only Brock Heger could break Greaves’ quest for a perfect weekend, scoring the Pro Stock SXS win on Sunday. That was just one of three wins for Heger as well, though, as he also managed to sweep both Pro Lite races. One of the many LOORRS drivers to make the commitment to race in the Midwest full-time this year, Heger was the most successful out of that group on the weekend.

Part of the reason for that was strong homegrown talent like Greaves and Keegan Kincaid. Focused on the Pro 2 class and with a program revitalized in the offseason, Kincaid first ended a winless drought that dated back to last year’s opening race at ERX Motor Park with a victory on Saturday, and then backed that up with a sweep of his own on Sunday after clawing through the field to catch last year’s LOORRS champion Jerett Brooks.

With Michael Meister adding a fourth sweep in Pro Buggy, extending his streak to four wins in a row in the division, only the Pro Mod SXS class produced two winners who weren’t also able to win in other classes. Andrew Carlson’s big Saturday saw him add a class victory to his third place in Pro 4, but Kyle Chaney rebounded to beat Carlson for the second win. Five other drivers—Mittag, Brooks, Kyle Greaves in Pro Lite, Mark Steinhardt in Pro Buggy, and Scott Wasz in Pro Stock SXS—managed to score podiums on both days without taking the checkered flag themselves.

Pro class podiums from Saturday’s Championship Off-Road event in Antigo were as follows:

• Pro 4: CJ Greaves, Doug Mittag, Andrew Carlson
• Pro 2: Keegan Kincaid, Jerett Brooks, Mickey Thomas
• Pro Lite: Brock Heger, Madix Bailey, Kyle Greaves
• Pro Mod SXS: Andrew Carlson, Rodney VanEperen, Owen VanEperen
• Pro Stock SXS: CJ Greaves, Scott Wasz, Brock Heger
• Pro Buggy: Michael Meister, Chris Van Den Elzen, Mark Steinhardt

Pro class podiums from Sunday’s Championship Off-Road event in Antigo were as follows:

• Pro 4: CJ Greaves, Adrian Cenni, Doug Mittag
• Pro 2: Keegan Kincaid, Kyle Kleiman, Jerett Brooks
• Pro Lite: Brock Heger, Cole Mamer, Kyle Greaves
• Pro Mod SXS: Kyle Chaney, Andrew Carlson, Robert Loire
• Pro Stock SXS: Brock Heger, CJ Greaves, Scott Wasz
• Pro Buggy: Michael Meister, Mark Steinhardt, Mike Kirkham

Alongside the four drivers to sweep the Pro Truck and Buggy classes, drivers Dylan Marquardt (Pro Am SXS), Colin Schulz (1600 Light Buggy), Nick Byng (Super Stock Truck), Scott Boulanger (Stock Truck), Derek Tilkens (Sportsman SXS), and Raymond Deininger (170 SXS) were also able to complete weekend sweeps of their own.

Championship Off-Road returns to action on June 26-27 with the Forest County Potawatomi Brush Run, returning to its traditional date at Crandon International Raceway after being moved to last year’s season finale at the end of September. More information on the event, including ticketing information, is available here.

Images via Championship Off-Road