Sunday’s Round 2 racing action in Antigo at the Roaring Lions Raceway saw some podium firsts. Chad Rayford made his debut in the Pro Spec class at the Championship Off Road Racing Series. Rayford and his crew worked in the off-season to convert his older pro-lite race truck into a competitive Spec Truck. After some bad luck in Saturday’s round 1 that forced Rayford to serve an on-track black flag penalty, he was back out front in Round 2. Nobody could catch Rayford as he snagged an early lead. In the final laps, defending champion Gray Leadbetter made a hard charge at Rayford, but he was able to hold her off finishing .886-of a second ahead at the checkered. With equally matched trucks, the Spec class was designed to be a driver’s class.
In Pro-2, Mickey Thomas and Cory Winner battled for early leads. As the laps wound down, Thomas continued to stretch his lead all the way to the checkered flag. Ryan Beat dug deep and finished second ahead of Winner. Beat holds a four-point lead in the standings leaving the Antigo season opener.
In Pro-4, it was a repeat performance for CJ Greaves. Cole Mamer initially gave Greaves a good run, but bad luck struck and Mamer’s day would come to an end after breaking the left front suspension on the truck. Kyle Chaney attempted shut down Greaves on the restart. In the end Greaves came away with the win and weekend sweep in the class. In total Greaves leaves Antigo with five trophies after a Pro Turbo Side-by-Side sweep.
Brody Eggleston claimed his first career Pro Lite win in Round 2. Eggleston held a nice lead for the first half of the race. After the mandatory caution, Matt Wood applied pressure on Eggleston. Eggleston stayed calm, cool and collected driving the truck to the checkered flag for his first win. Kyle Greaves rounded out the podium in third.
The Championship Off Road Racing Series heads to Crandon International Raceway June 24th.
