Obviously, tractor tires are big and heavy. That’s why tracks like to use them as barriers and retaining walls.

If you ever wondered if a Pro 4 could overpower one, Cole Mamer wants you to know that the odds aren’t great for the truck. He learned it the hard way during the second day of racing at Antigo Lions Roaring Raceway.

The Antigo Off-Road National started on a solid note for his new Pro 4 truck, qualifying third in class despite going at a fairly conservative pace. He led the early stages on Saturday before a mechanical issue caused him to fall as far back as fourth, then fought his way past Johnny and Kyle Greaves to get up to second behind Jimmy Henderson.

Kyle’s Race 1 ended with a rollover on the final lap, while Mickey Thomas retired the same day with an axle issue. Ironically, both bounced back strong the next day while the crash deities thought it’d be fun to pick Mamer as their next victim.

Mamer and Thomas battled through the opening laps on Sunday before the former tried to take a righthand turn on the inside. Unfortunately, Mamer went too low and clipped the tractor tire, sending him into a flip. Thomas narrowly slipped underneath the airborne Mamer.

“Tractor tire 1, Pro 4 0,” Mamer quipped.

Despite the crash, Mamer was able to continue the race albeit far off the pace. At the front, Thomas battled with Greaves—still filling in for his injured cousin CJ—until the competition caution, after which strategy came into play. Pro 2 and Pro 4 had to take a joker lap, which was required following the competition yellow.

Adrian Cenni immediately took the joker and became the new leader, as did Mamer in his effort to get back on the lead lap. Henderson then assumed the top spot on his joker, while Thomas waited until there were just seconds to go before he took the lane himself. As the scoring rotated, Thomas found himself leading by a very comfortable margin en route to his maiden Pro 4 win.

Mamer ended up a lap down again in sixth.

Ryan Beat also hit the wall during the second half, relegating him to fifth and ending an otherwise strong Sunday. Beat, who won at the season opener in Wheatland, also claimed Sunday for Pro 2 on the same strategy as Thomas by waiting until the very end.

Thomas wasn’t the only first-time winner in Antigo. Michael Funk secured his maiden Pro Lite victory while Collin Truett did so in Pro SxS. Stefano Kalogerou and Donald Writesel notched their first Championship Off-Road victories of any kind.

Michael Meister swept Pro Buggy in a statement rebound after a disappointing weekend in Wheatland plagued by a faulty oil pressure sensor. The same can’t be said for classmate Jordan Bernloehr, who went from a podium at the opener to flipping in Race 1 while running second. Bernloehr still salvaged a third on Sunday.

Antigo was the first weekend to use a revised schedule of events. Rather than having Pros 2 and 4 as the final races, they were respectively the first and fourth Pro classes on track for Saturday then the first and third on Sunday.

Winners

Pro

Class	Saturday	Saturday
Pro 4	Jimmy Henderson	Mickey Thomas
Pro 2	Kyle Greaves	Ryan Beat
Pro Lite	Joey Maciosek	Michael Funk
Pro SPEC	Wyatt Miller	Nick Visser
Pro Buggy	Michael Meister	Michael Meister
Pro SxS	Jeb Bootle	Collin Truett
Pro Stock SxS	David Gay	Jeb Bootle

Sportsman

Class	Saturday	Saturday
Pro Am SxS	Code St. Peter	Code St. Peter
Pro Am Turbo SxS	Rick Schroeder	Ty Lueckemeyer
Super Stock Truck	Scott Boulanger	Braden Beauchamp
Stock Truck	Brian Peot	Brian Peot
Sportsman SxS	Stefano Kalogerou	Raymond Deininger
1600 Single Buggy	Michael Seefeldt	Donald Writesel
1600 Light Buggy	Evan Hockers	Evan Hockers
Mod Kart	Lincoln Mandsager	Wesley Vande Voort
Short Course Kart	Ryker Smith	Ryker Smith
Youth SxS	Alexander Walraven	Alexander Walraven
570 SxS	William Holtger	William Holtger
200 SxS	Finnly Pence	Finnly Pence
170 SxS	Grace Burroughs	William Wolff

Featured image credit: FloRacing