RJ Anderson wins Crandon World Cup for Walker Evans

This one’s for you, Walker.

Like his colleagues, RJ Anderson arrived at Crandon with a heavy heart as the Red Bull Crandon World Cup took place less than a month after the passing of off-road legend Walker Evans. Anderson and his family were close to Evans, who had his father Randy Anderson as crew chief for over 35 years. Once RJ got into racing, Evans was entrusted as his mentor and would follow his career in short course racing.

With his Pro 4 truck painted to resemble Evans’ iconic blue-and-rainbow machines, Anderson gave him the ultimate tribute by winning the World Cup for a third time. He previously won in 2019 and 2020.

“I feel like I was cheating out there today and that’s because I had Walker Evans in there riding with me,” Anderson remarked. “He always had a joke. He was here for my very first Cup win and he never, of all the things he won, he won everything once, twice, five times, and he never won a Pro 2 vs. Pro 4 Cup race. Today, that paint job just won a Pro 2 and Pro 4 Cup race. I’m so proud. His family’s here, my entire family’s here, this means absolutely so much.”

After a 38-second wait for the Pro 2s to start first, Anderson got the Pro 4 holeshot and began to chase down their two-wheel-drive counterparts. Ryan Beat led the way for Pro 2, somewhat slowed down by a local caution to recover Cole Mamer’s overturned truck.

Anderson caught the Pro 2s after three laps and slowly weaved through with classmate and 2024 World Cup victor CJ Greaves in tow. He cracked the top five by Lap 4 with Beat, Jacob Rosales, Keegan Kincaid, and Bradley Morris in front. Soon enough, Anderson passed Morris and drifted past a wide Kincaid before getting by Rosales.

With the faster truck of Anderson in hot pursuit, Beat tried to build as much distance between himself and his chaser. With three to go, Anderson made his move on the inside. The two ran side by side before contact cut Beat’s right front tire and knocked him out of contention.

Greaves was too far back to catch Anderson, though the latter couldn’t cruise to the victory either. As the two approached the final hairpin, they came across the wounded lapped truck of Patrick Denis; Anderson slowed down and passed him on the outside, while Greaves tried to do so on the inside. However, the latter clipped Denis’ front in the process and briefly went airborne, costing him some time.

Jimmy Henderson, who won the Pro 4 World Cup race earlier in the day, finished third ahead of Johnny Greaves to complete a Pro 4 1–2–3–4.

“We run a part-time schedule and run against these guys, CJ Greaves, Jimmy,” Anderson continued. “If you think you can just come out here and it’s going to be easy, you’re definitely wrong because these are bad dudes behind the wheel and I got a lot of respect for them. To come out here and battle with these boys is an honor.

“My guys, I was so frustrated and they just never gave up. They believed in me and it means so much. Stayed up till 5 in the morning and gave me one hell of a truck.”

Beat settled for eighth. Fellow Pro 2 racer and guest driver Brian Deegan missed the top ten but was the last truck on the lead lap.

Anderson wasn’t the only driver rocking an Evans memorial livery in the World Cup as his younger brother Ronnie’s Pro 2 had the same look. Kyle Cooper’s Pro 2 sported the Chevrolet lightning bolt template that Evans and his son Evan used. Alas, neither Ronnie nor Cooper had much opportunity to show off their tributes.

Cooper missed the points race on Saturday because the starter failed in tech, then had a fuel pump malfunction in the Pro 2 Sunday race before additional fuel problems eliminated him from the World Cup. Ronnie only lasted two laps before his truck bowed out.

“This year was super hard, but they say God gives his toughest battles to his toughest soldiers, so at this point I am pretty sure I am John Cena,” Cooper quipped.

“Mad” Mike Whiddett finished 16th behind Cooper in a challenging short course debut weekend. After running much of the Saturday Pro 2 race with his hood up, his Sunday was marred by a rollover before landing back on his wheels.

Kincaid, who won Crandon’s other Pro 2 vs. Pro 4 race at the Brush Run in June, retired with a mechanical issue soon after Anderson passed him. He also won his class on Saturday and in the Sunday event, the latter in a chaotic final lap when he and Ryan Beat collided in the final turn and Kincaid crossed the finish facing the wrong way.

Various drivers did not start the Red Bull World Cup due to crashes in either the points-paying Saturday race or in the non-points World Cup event earlier on Sunday, including Aaron Holiday and Adrian Cenni. Zac Zakowski missed the race after losing the rear wheel hub assembly.

Winners of the World Cup events included Wyatt Miller in a weekend sweep of Pro SPEC, Matthew Brister in Pro Buggy, and Connor Barry in Pro Lite. Like on Saturday, Owen VanEperen double dipped for the World Cup as he won Pro SxS and Pro Stock SxS; the latter saw him and his father Rodney finish 1–2.

Despite featuring the same roster of drivers, the World Cup is organized by Crandon rather than Championship Off-Road so it does not count for points. The same applied to the Pro Lite vs. Pro Buggy race on Friday, which was won by the buggy of Michael Meister.

Red Bull World Cup results

FinishNumberDriverClassLaps
137RJ AndersonPro 410
233CJ GreavesPro 410
344Jimmy HendersonPro 410
422Johnny GreavesPro 410
531Jacob RosalesPro 210
691Kyle ChaneyPro 410
724XBradley MorrisPro 210
888Mickey ThomasPro 410
978Ricky GutierrezPro 210
1010Travis Milhausen Jr.Pro 210
1138Brian DeeganPro 210
1298Patrick DenisPro 29
1351Ryan BeatPro 27
144Keegan KincaidPro 25
1573Kyle CooperPro 25
1623Mike WhiddettPro 24
1715Andrew CarlsonPro 43
1867Cory WinnerPro 22
1952Ronnie AndersonPro 22
DNF3Paul WolffPro 40
DNF24Aaron HolidayPro 20
DNF35Cole MamerPro 40

World Cup winners

ClassWinner
Pro 4Jimmy Henderson
Pro 2Keegan Kincaid
Pro LiteConnor Barry
Pro SPECWyatt Miller
Pro BuggyMatthew Brister
Pro SxSOwen VanEperen
Pro Stock SxSOwen VanEperen
Class 11Cole Whitt
Ultra4 4400Vaughn Gittin Jr.

Featured image credit: Anderson Bros. Off Road Racing

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