Off Road

"I seem to be running well here at Bark River this year and it always feels good to win in front of my sponsor Forest County Potawatomi here in their backyard," said Greaves. "I knew if I got a good start I stood a good chance of winning." Greaves and TRD took some risk running the engine full-out since the engine was showing some issues on the diagnostic equipment. "The engine had some time on it and we made the decision to go with it instead of making another engine change this weekend," said Greaves' crew chief Curt Greaves. "Johnny made our decision look good with the great start he got."

"The motor actually ran pretty good," stated Greaves. "I guess the boys at TRD were just really on their game with the engine diagnostics – these guys are the best!"

Greaves continues, once again to demonstrate his talent and passion for the podium and will make a run at both the WSORR and the CORR series titles.

WSORR Round 8 | Bark River, MI

Bark River, MI (August 11, 2007) – Johnny Greaves maintained a narrow WSORR points lead even after an early race black flag during round 8 of the U.P. Off-Road 100 at Bark River, MI. Johnny was running in 5th when he made his move and had position on the 4th place running Kent Brascho. Johnny stuck the nose of his Monster Energy Potawatomi Toyota Pro-4x4 into the turn when he and the Brascho machine got tangled up sending Brascho off the track, but Johnny continued on taking an apparent fourth place running position. When the third place running Adrian Cenni pulled off for mechanical problems, it looked like another Greaves march to the front. That’s when WSORR issued the black flag to Johnny for the so-called “rough driving” incident with Brascho. Greaves took a trip through the hot pits for his penalty and within a couple of laps was able to take third place, but well behind the front runners, Scott Douglas and Carl Renezeder. In an effort to save the motor, Greaves didn’t push too hard and settled for a third place.

To add to Greaves’ issues, he had a tough decision to make in the race concerning his engine. During the pre race inspection by TRD, they noticed some irregularities in the engine – with little time to make adjustments. This left Greaves with the option to either “go for it” and hope all worked out, or take it easy on the motor during round 8 in hopes of saving the engine for Sunday’s race.

Greaves was non-explicit about the decision. “I ran her pretty hard because I wanted to win as always. When racing against these guys you can’t take it too easy you know,” said Greaves after the race. Greaves went on to comment about the black flag incident, “I don’t really know if it was a fair call by the officials or not – these things happen in a good race and I guess they made the call the way they saw it – no hard feelings about it. I am just glad I was able to finish as high as I did today."

WSORR Round 7 | Bark River, MI

Bark River, MI (August 10, 2007) – Johnny Greaves and his Monster Energy Potawatomi Toyota Pro-4 Off-Road team started the weekend off right with a Friday night win at Bark River’s U.P 100 with the rare Friday evening race, World Series Off-Road Racing offered a free admission night for the fans which drew a large crowd to see pro class drivers compete.

The win did not come without great deal of team effort. Randall Speir, Off-Road Program Manager for TRD and Johnny made the call to change the engine when a glitch developed following the morning practice. The change proved to be a good call with a combination of Johnny the TRD motor and BFGoodrich tires all hooking up for an impressive first place finish over a field of 7 Pro-4x4 trucks.

When the green flag flew, Greaves found himself in third place with Scott Douglas and Adrian Cenni in first and second and Carl Renezeder right on Johnny’s tail. On lap four, Johnny overtook Douglas and Cenni to take the lead and never looked back. Renezeder pulled off the track with mechanical problems leaving Al Drews to battle for second. Johnny “checked out” and won by a comfortable margin to once again put his Monster Energy Potawatomi Toyota on top of the podium.

WSORR Round 6 | Bark River, MI

Bark River, MI (July 15, 2007) – Johnny Greaves repeated his Saturday performance by winning the WSORR Round VI by a 30 second interval in the highly competitive Pro-4 Class. Greaves drove his Monster Energy Potawatomi Toyota to the front of the pack in lap one and never looked back.

"It felt good to get a weekend sweep going again," stated Greaves. “The Forest County Potawatomi fans were all here and I was just glad I could give them a sweep here close to home."

The race began with Greaves in a tough starting position near the outside as they began their “land rush” start. But Greaves put on a fast charge down the hill toward the first turn, passing all but Adrian Cenni in the first turn. Cenni would crash in the second turn giving Greaves the opening to move out front while veterans Scott Douglass and Carl Renezeder battled hard for second and third positions. As race unfolded, Greaves continued to increase his lead on every lap. Douglas finally secured the second spot when Renezeder pulled off with a mechanical problem on lap 6. Kent Brasho would sneak in to finish third and round out the podium.

"This was really fun this weekend since a lot of my local fans were here. We have done some testing since the last race and it really paid off. My TRD Tundra really felt good out there and that always makes a difference," said an elated Greaves from the pits.

Next, Greaves heads to Crandon where he will go after the coveted Borg-Warner Cup on Labor Day weekend.