The 2022 short course season is underway in the Midwest. Championship Off-Road hosted the season opener at the Roaring Lions Raceway in Antigo, Wisconsin. After a long off-season, drivers were ready to hit the track and do what they do best– side-by-side door banging!
In Round One Pro-2, Mickey Thomas and Jerett Brooks went door to door for several laps. In the end, Thomas took the victory with a hard-earned podium. Sunday’s Round two race was just as exciting. This time however, it was Ricky Gutierrez who inserted himself in the mix. For Gutierrez, the gloves were off and fought a hard battle to gain the lead and bring home a much-awaited win.
The Pro Lite class saw much of the same door to door battling each lap. Nineteen drivers took to the track. Brock Heger is the defending champion from last year he spent the first several laps chasing down Carson Parrish. After a yellow flag, Heger bucked down and it didn’t take him long to find his groove out front holding off attacks in every corner. In Round two, rookie Connor Barry found his way to the front and lead some laps. Unfortunately, a couple of mistakes would erase his lead and when the dust settled, he finished shy of the podium. Brock Heger held on for the weekend sweep.
Over in Pro-4, the usual battle was between CJ Greaves and Kyle Leduc. As the laps ticked down, CJ had a comfortable lead earning the top spot on the podium with Adrian Cenni second and Leduc third. Sunday, Leduc did all he could to stay up front, but an issue would almost put him a lap down and send him to the back of the pack. A wild turn one crash by Adrian Cenni would send the field to a red flag. Leduc was able to get back into the mix. With a Green, White, Checker, Leduc went head to head making contact with Johnny Greaves. That contact caused Johnny to have tire damage resulting in a flat. By then CJ was way out front and cruised to another win. Leduc finished second.
The series heads to Crandon for the Spring Brush run in a couple of weeks.
