Off Road

While his chief competitor in the title fight, fellow Toyota racer Rick Huseman, wound up on his roof two different times in the weekend’s first race on Friday night, Greaves played it cool in his Monster Energy/Toyota/MasterCraft Tundra and was rewarded with a second-place trophy for his efforts behind race-winner Scott Douglas. It was the fourth top-two performance in five races for Greaves, who won the season-opening round in Crandon and swept both races at Bark River earlier this month.

“I was just trying to be careful,” said Greaves, who makes his home in the Green Bay area, some 45 minutes away from Oshkosh. “I saw Rick on his lid there. Me and Rick, right now, are in the closest points battle and Scott is creeping up.

“Once I knew that happened, it probably took a little wind out of my sails, because I got a little conservative. Then I settled in and it seemed like maybe I could get a run on Scott in a few spots, but he ran a really good race and his truck was working good. It’s hard. He would have had to open the door to get by.”

Despite the incidents, Huseman managed to rebound to finish a hard-fought and well-deserved fourth in Race #1. In Race #2 on Saturday night, it was Huseman’s turn to take a podium spot with a third-place run in his Monster Energy Toyota Tundra behind winner Mark Jenkins and second-place finisher Douglas. Both Huseman and Greaves took turns at the front of the field, but neither were a match for Jenkins and Douglas on this night.

“I’ve been making it wild for the fans, I guess,” Huseman said after the race. “It’s getting a little too wild. We worked really hard. I was having problems with my front end. That’s just racing, you know.”

Greaves wound up fifth on Saturday night, but continues to lead the PRO 4X4 Driver Standings at the halfway point in the 12-race 2010 season. Greaves has a total of 136 points to lead Douglas by 12 points. Huseman – who won Round 2 at Crandon – is now third with 123 points, just one marker in arrears of Douglas.

Meanwhile, Jeremy McGrath had what was easily his best weekend of the 2010 season to date with a pair of podium results in PRO 2WD action. The former Supercross and Motocross star drove his Monster Energy/MasterCraft/Toyota/BFG Tundra through the field from eighth on the starting grid to finish a season-best second behind winner Ricky Johnson.

“We had a little bit of bad luck at Bark River,” McGrath said following his Friday night ride. “My guys worked hard. We’ve been beating our heads against the wall for two weeks and I’ve got to say thanks to them. They’ve been putting a lot of effort in.

“We just had a good night. We needed a night like that. It was a little hard to catch Rick, but the door opened to pass Rob there and I was on the inside and I took it. Very rarely do you get an opportunity like that with a great driver like Rob MacCachren, so we bumped into each other a little bit. I didn’t figure he was going to make a mistake, so that was my only opportunity. These guys are the best out here and I like to be up on the podium. We’ve got to climb back in the points. We were eighth on the grid tonight. That was a tough race.”

The next night, McGrath was at it again and came home third behind Johnson, who swept the weekend, and points leader MacCachren. It was a solid weekend for McGrath, who gained five spots in the championship standings over the Oshkosh weekend and is currently third in the PRO 2WD standings with 96 points. He trails MacCachren, who leads with 133 points, and Johnson, who is second with 127 points.

The next event for the Traxxas TORC Series is back at Bark River (Mich.) International Raceway on the weekend of Aug.14-15.

Toyota Driver Results – PRO 4X4, Friday/Saturday
Johnny Greaves, 2nd/5th
Rick Huseman, 4th/3rd

PRO 4X4 Overall Standings (after six rounds)
1. Greaves, 136 pts
3. Huseman, 123 pts

Toyota Driver Results – PRO 2WD, Friday/Saturday
Jeremy McGrath, 2nd/3rd

PRO 2WD Overall Standings (after six rounds)
3. McGrath, 97 pts