It was literally a hot weekend in Elk River as temperatures were forecast as high as 90°F on both days of racing, while the heat index went into triple digits. It was even hotter on the track at ERX Motor Park as the stars of Championship Off-Road convened for the ERX Off-Road National, and only escalated from there.
Johnny Greaves, ordinarily known for being a pretty cool guy, was left feeling hotheaded after Sunday’s Pro 4 race. After battling for second with his son CJ, he and the laps-down truck of Andrew Carlson smashed into each other. Carlson had been leading early on before suffering a flat tire.
With four minutes to go, Greaves slammed into Carlson as they went through the hairpin. Entering the ensuing split lane, Carlson retaliated and sent Greaves bicycling into the outside wall. Greaves came to a stop shortly after and forced Adrian Cenni to hit the brakes, while the damaged truck of Carlson drove off.
Greaves apologized for his conduct on Tuesday.
“I definitely did some things I’m not proud of, and I think there were many others that probably are in the same situation,” said Greaves. “The end of the day, it was hot, humid, adrenaline, all that crap. It’s no excuse, but got into it with another racer and lost my cool then he lost his cool. None of us did the right thing. I’m apologizing to Champ officials, other racers, fans, everything. It was kind of embarrassing for the sport and I’m not proud of it. Gotta get my shit together and we’ll figure it out next round.”
Ricky Gutierrez and John Holtger tapped in the Pro 2 race on Sunday too, causing the former to overshoot a jump and roll. Gutierrez, who walked away from the crash unscathed, kept an ice-cold head in the conditions and stressed that it was “just an unfortunate racing deal” between them.
With how hot things got, Michael Meister probably felt like he was in Hell too. A transmission problem plagued his Pro Buggy during Friday’s sessions, then struck again on Saturday before a flat tire knocked him out of contention. Despite switching out the shifter overnight, it continued to malfunction on Sunday before getting spun.
Keegan Kincaid’s Pro 2 title defense took a hit as he was forced to miss the weekend. His truck had major engine problems during the Forest County Potawatomi Brush Run that he needs time to diagnose and resolve, rendering him unable to race at what he called “one of my favorite tracks”.
Sportsman SxS driver Logan Fritzinger was involved in a frightening accident on Saturday that caused his car to burst into flames. He suffered third-degree burns to his leg, second-degree burns underneath his arms, and first-degree burns to his face, all of which necessitated being rushed to Hennepin County Medical Center for specialized care.
A GoFundMe has been launched to support Fritzinger.
Class winners
Pro
| Class | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|
| Pro 4 | CJ Greaves | Mickey Thomas |
| Pro 2 | Kyle Greaves | John Holtger |
| Pro Lite | Michael Funk | Joey Maciosek |
| Pro SPEC | Chris Van Den Elzen | Chris Van Den Elzen |
| Pro Buggy | Jordan Bernloehr | Jordan Bernloehr |
| Pro SxS | Jeb Bootle | Jeb Bootle |
| Pro Stock SxS | Cross Kirchmeier | Jeb Bootle |
Sportsman
| Class | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|
| Pro Am SxS | John Kummer | Code St. Peter |
| Pro Am Turbo SxS | Blake Enloe | Rory Navin |
| Super Stock Truck | Braden Beauchamp | Scott Boulanger |
| Stock Truck | Dustin Rogaczewski | Colt Wierzba |
| Sportsman SxS | Chad Emling | Chad Emling |
| 1600 Single Buggy | Connor Schulz | Connor Schulz |
| 1600 Light Buggy | Evan Hockers | Eric LaFreniere |
| Mod Kart | Corbyn Wassenberg | Lincoln Mandsager |
| Short Course Kart | Jarrett Meulemans | Roman Tullberg |
| Youth SxS | Jack Smith | Jack Smith |
| 570 SxS | William Holtger | William Holtger |
| 200 SxS | Gaborik Geyen | Gaborik Geyen |
| 170 SxS | William Wolff | William Wolff |
Featured image credit: FloRacing
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