Champ Off Road titles decided at Glen Helen

Making its first West Coast stop since the series' formation, AMSOIL Championship Off Road held its season finale at Glen Helen Raceway last weekend, crowning champions in its seven pro classes. It was fresh dirt for many of the racers, and for some, the first time racing at night under the lights.

After a third-place finish in the first race on Friday night, all C.J. Greaves had to do was start the final race of the season to claim his 10th Pro 4 title and cement his place in short course off-road racing history. Championship in hand, he battled toward the front and claimed another third, while closest title rival Jimmy Henderson won both races, his second sweep in a row after taking double victories at Crandon earlier in the month.

“It's been a really good year for us. We've gone almost every single weekend with winning a race, other than Crandon,” Greaves said before the finale.

“I'm glad to be able to put that number 10 on top. The next guy closest to us is at eight, and that's Kyle LeDuc. So for anybody else to get 10 is going to be many, many years away from now. It's cool to be the first one there and the only one there, and hopefully we'll continue to stack them up after this,” added the 30-year old Wisconsin native.

After scoring both wins at Crandon a few weeks ago, fellow Wisconsinite Keegan Kincaid was in a similar position to Greaves in Pro 2, needing only a 12th-place finish to secure his fourth title on Saturday night. While Ricky Gutierrez swept the weekend, Kincaid did what he needed to claim the championship.

“I think this one's the most meaningful to me, because this group of guys that I've got, my family and the trials we've had the last couple years,” said Kincaid, who like Greaves is the son of a short course off-road champion.

“It's been an up-and-down road, and it's that never quit attitude. There were times that we contemplated, like, what are we doing? And we we didn't quite have the budget to race for a championship. But, my dad always raced for a championship, so it's been one of those things we discussed, and I said, ‘I think it's time to compete for a championship again.’ We put our head to work, and no matter what, we just kept showing up.”

Connor Barry needed to sweep the weekend in order to win the Pro Lite title, and he did just that. Unfortunately, Barry also needed Johnny Holtger to struggle, and that didn't happen as Holtger podiumed both nights. It was Holtger's second Pro Lite championship, the first coming in 2020, and this one was much more satisfying.

“That's not really how I wanted to win; I only won one race that year,” Holtger said on the podium. “This right here, this is how I wanted to win it. Winning a lot, on the podium, just being the best. But I've really got to give hats off to Connor Barry; he's kept me honest all season long. We've had some good battles and put on some good shows, and it's been a lot of fun racing with him.”

Murrietta, California's Chaden Minder sealed his Pro Buggy Championship with a victory on Saturday night, his fifth win out of the final six races. It was Dave Mason Jr. that interrupted his streak on Friday.

Young phenom Wyatt Miller continued the strong run he started at Crandon to take the Pro Spec championship over Chris Van Den Elzen. Owen Van Eperen scored three podiums, including a victory, in the Side-by-Side classes at Glen Helen, adding the Pro SxS championship to the Pro Stock SxS title he had already secured earlier in the month at Crandon.