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MONSTER ENERGY/YAMAHA UTV TEAM SOARS AT ERX, CJ & JOHNNY GO 1&2 IN PRO4
Elk River, MN (June 10, 2017) —
Greaves Motorsports headed to Minneapolis-St Paul, Minnesota, for the TORC Series "Twin Cities Takedown" this past weekend. Round 3 produced some exciting racing while Mother Nature unleashed her furry on Sunday in the form of a tornado, causing race officials to postpone the race to September. Fortunately there were no injuries reported but there was damage to equipment and the track facilities.
The unique ERX Motor Park track features extensive elevation changes, big jumps, high-banking corners and wide, multi-line race surface. The “Crandon like” track is one of the most challenging on the TORC Series circuit. CJ Greaves made it 3 in a row, walking away with another win in his Monster Energy Yamaha Racing/Maxxis Tire/Yamalube YXZ 1000R #933 while team make, Jake Lunderby, grabbed his first podium with an exciting 3rd place finish in his Yamalube/Maxxis Tire Pro Stock UTV. Rodney VanEperen in the PowerSports1/Maxxis Tire #845 Pro Modified UTV was also a winner on Saturday.
Pro4 race was another Greaves-on-Greaves show with CJ Greaves prevailing in his Monster Energy’s Mutant Super Soda Maxxis Tire Toyota. Johnny came in a close 2nd which left the two Greaves in a tie for 1st place in points.
ROUND 3
Jake Lunderby rolled off from the front row of the field of 24 Pro Stock UTV’s in Saturday’s action at ERX Motor Park. CJ started on row 2 but wasted no time moving into the lead on lap 3 of the 14 lap race. CJ stretched his lead while Jake battled hard and made it up to the 4th position by the competition caution, midway through the race. On the restart, CJ took jumped out to a more than 4 second lead over the next vehicle. Jake however, got shuffled back but continued to work hard to stay in contention for a podium. With 2 laps to go, he was still in 5th. On the final lap, Lunderby made a power move, shooting ahead from the center of a 3-wide run to take 3rd to grab his first podium of the year.
Rodney VanEperen started his Yamaha PowerSports1/Maxxis Tire #845 on row 2 for the two-by-two rolling start in the Pro Modified UTV class. When the green flag flew, VanEperen landed in 2nd behind Tim Farr. He stayed right on his rear bumper until a full course caution came out on lap 2. Rodney was in the process of taking the lead when the caution flew, so he had to go back to 2nd for the restart. Johnny Greaves was spotting for Rodney with Rugged Radios helping make the calls clear.
VanEperen got a great start when racing resumed and powered ahead for the lead which he held up to the competition caution. On the restart, he got another great jump but Kyle Chaney and Zack Szymik made it a 3-way battle with VanEperen and Chaney eventually pulling away with 2 laps to go. Rodney was able to hold off the hard charging Chaney to take his 2nd win of the season. With the win, he made a big jump in the points–moving up to 3rd in the standings.
In Pro4, Monster Energy/Maxxis Tire Toyota duo of Johnny and CJ Greaves rolled off from row 2 and 3 respectively. The freshly groomed track would not stay that way long as the powerful 4-wheel drive trucks began to dig their Maxxis tires into the dirt. Kincaid took the early lead with Johnny in 4th and CJ in 5th and getting a feel for the track. CJ was up to 3rd by lap 2 but made the pass on Douglas to make a run for the lead. On lap 4, CJ and Kincaid hit the big jump at almost the same time. CJ landed closer and on the inside which gave him the advantage heading into the turn. Meanwhile, Johnny was on the move too, coming from nowhere to end up in 2nd behind CJ on lap 5 which they help leading up to the competition caution.
The Greaves Duo put on a show in the 2nd half of the race pulling away to nearly a 5 second lead. CJ got a great start but Johnny was able to take the lead midway through lap 9. The two went door-to-door several times with Johnny able to hold off CJ until the final lap. Coming into the split track, Johnny’s truck was setup out of the jump to take the outside and longer lane. CJ capitalized on Johnny’s move and took the inside lane, giving him the lead on the final turn–reminiscent of last year’s race. CJ took the win with Johnny close behind in 2nd. The win put Johnny and CJ in a tie for 1st place in the points standings.
Sunday’s races were canceled due to severe storms that came through the area Sunday morning. Round 4 has been rescheduled for the final weekend of racing at ERX on September 23-24.
Greaves Motorsports will head to “The Big House”, Crandon International Raceway for next weekends rounds 5 and 6 on June 24th and 25th. Be sure to follow all the racing on the TORC Series live YouTube stream.
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