Pair of Greaves, Brooks, Heger Among 2022 Championship Off-Road Title Winners at Crandon
Sept. 6, 2022
Off Road Racer Staff
Cousins CJ and Kyle Greaves each secured a Championship Off-Road Pro Truck championship with a race victory, while Jerett Brooks locked up the Pro 2 title without scoring any, as the series wrapped up its 2022 season on Saturday afternoon at Crandon International Off-Road Raceway. Before the standalone Crandon World Championship races on Sunday, COR’s Pro and Sportsman classes were in action from Thursday through Saturday, with a full set of practice, qualifying, and race sessions.
CJ Greaves’ record-tying seventh career Pro 4 title was all but locked up coming into the race, with him needing to finish 13th or better in what turned out to be a 12-truck starting lineup. He’d back off early to run towards the back, but as issues would plague Cole Mamer, Kyle LeDuc, and Andrew Carlson as the race wore on, Greaves finally found himself in the top spot in the closing moments of the race, taking his sixth win in 11 starts this season. Scottie Lawrence would finish second to score his first podium of the year, with Kyle Chaney in third; Kyle LeDuc and Johnny Greaves, the two drivers that CJ Greaves tied with his seventh title, would wind up second and third in points.
Most of the remaining championship chases were a bit closer. The largest final gap in any other Pro class was 16 points, with CJ Greaves on the other end of that battle. While he’d score a win in the season-ending Pro Stock SXS race, second place finisher Brock Heger maintained his points lead after a more consistent season. Owen VanEperen was third in the race and in the standings, but was nearly two races worth of points behind Heger’s total of 543. In Pro Turbo, Kyle Chaney did what he needed to do to win the race, but fan favorite and series rookie Hamish Kelsey of New Zealand survived a flat tire to finish sixth and head off Chaney by four points in the final standings.
Pro Lite came down to what was essentially a winner-take-all battle, and Kyle Greaves went and took it for his first Pro championship. Heger would finish second in that class as well, winding up second in the championship, while third title contender Trey Gibbs’ late season surge ended in heartbreak after mechanical issues dropped him to 16th. Pro Spec saw its own battle of attrition to the finish with two races, owing to its lack of a Sunday World Championship event; Gray Leadbetter won the Friday show and finished third on Saturday when Nick Visser ran into issues to become COR’s first woman to win a Pro class championship by just three points.
Pro 2, meanwhile, wrapped up with the winningest driver finishing third in points, a winless driver taking the championship, and a driver named Winner between them. While Brooks and Cory Winner piled up the podiums, and Winner lived up to his name on top of the box earlier in the year, Mickey Thomas’ fifth victory of the campaign was also his fifth podium. Brooks, meanwhile, would focus on staying ahead of Winner, settling into third place at race’s end behind Doug Mittag as Winner came home fifth to fall seven points short of the championship.
Unfortunately, Saturday night’s action, scheduled to end with an Ultra4 race on Crandon’s UltraCross course, would end in tragedy. Rufus Racing driver Zandy Willems suffered a crash during the event and would pass away from his injuries. Ultra4 officials would abandon the race, but organizers and competitors agreed to contest Sunday’s World Championship action alongside COR and Class 11 as scheduled upon encouragement from Willems’ team and family.
Images via Championship Off-Road
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Most of the remaining championship chases were a bit closer. The largest final gap in any other Pro class was 16 points, with CJ Greaves on the other end of that battle. While he’d score a win in the season-ending Pro Stock SXS race, second place finisher Brock Heger maintained his points lead after a more consistent season. Owen VanEperen was third in the race and in the standings, but was nearly two races worth of points behind Heger’s total of 543. In Pro Turbo, Kyle Chaney did what he needed to do to win the race, but fan favorite and series rookie Hamish Kelsey of New Zealand survived a flat tire to finish sixth and head off Chaney by four points in the final standings.
Pro Lite came down to what was essentially a winner-take-all battle, and Kyle Greaves went and took it for his first Pro championship. Heger would finish second in that class as well, winding up second in the championship, while third title contender Trey Gibbs’ late season surge ended in heartbreak after mechanical issues dropped him to 16th. Pro Spec saw its own battle of attrition to the finish with two races, owing to its lack of a Sunday World Championship event; Gray Leadbetter won the Friday show and finished third on Saturday when Nick Visser ran into issues to become COR’s first woman to win a Pro class championship by just three points.
Pro 2, meanwhile, wrapped up with the winningest driver finishing third in points, a winless driver taking the championship, and a driver named Winner between them. While Brooks and Cory Winner piled up the podiums, and Winner lived up to his name on top of the box earlier in the year, Mickey Thomas’ fifth victory of the campaign was also his fifth podium. Brooks, meanwhile, would focus on staying ahead of Winner, settling into third place at race’s end behind Doug Mittag as Winner came home fifth to fall seven points short of the championship.
Unfortunately, Saturday night’s action, scheduled to end with an Ultra4 race on Crandon’s UltraCross course, would end in tragedy. Rufus Racing driver Zandy Willems suffered a crash during the event and would pass away from his injuries. Ultra4 officials would abandon the race, but organizers and competitors agreed to contest Sunday’s World Championship action alongside COR and Class 11 as scheduled upon encouragement from Willems’ team and family.
Images via Championship Off-Road