Off Road

The mixture of the clay track base and the dirt used to create the jumps and whoops proved tricky to many drivers, but Pro 4x4 Toyota Tundra drivers Huseman and Greaves both seemed to handle it just fine, even though both suffered other difficulties in the races they didn’t win.

The races began with Jeremy McGrath’s induction into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. Before becoming an off-road driver and joining Greaves’ team as the driver of the No. 2 Monster Toyota Tundra in the Pro 2WD class, McGrath was a star in Supercross and Motocross, and the eight-time AMA Motocross national champion was honored for his two-wheel exploits. McGrath had a pair of fifth-place finishes to maintain third place in the Pro 2WD points.

Greaves started on pole for the first race on Wednesday, but tire trouble put him out of the running. Huseman, on the other hand, started mid-pack and worked his way quickly through the field and took the lead before the competition yellow. He was never headed after that.

Greaves finished the first night in sixth, and started the second race on pole by virtue of the inversion of the top six drivers from the first race. He led the entire race, while Huseman dropped out early.

“Tonight couldn’t have gone any better,” Greaves said. “If you’re a good truck and a good driver, if you don’t win starting from pole you might as well pack a lunch. I knew I had the equipment to do it and felt I had the talent; we went out there and did our thing. Until the yellow you just stay out of trouble, preserve your truck and don’t use your tires up. After the yellow I started pushing a little harder and harder. It worked out great. It may not have been the most exciting thing to watch, but it was what I needed right now.”

Greaves took over the points lead with Huseman’s DNF, by a scant two points, heading into the finale at Crandon International Raceway on Sept. 4-5.

“We’re back in the game. It’s going to be tight going into the last race. It’s going to be good,” said Greaves.

The TORC races at Joliet featured a special guest. Toyota NASCAR driver Kyle Busch made his off-road debut before racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Chicagoland on Friday night. He qualified sixth for the first race, but mechanical difficulties ended both of his races prematurely.

Toyota Drivers – Pro 4x4 Wednesday/Thursday
Johnny Greaves 6/1
Rick Huseman 1/9

Toyota Drivers – Pro 2WD Wednesday/Thursday
Jeremy McGrath 5/5
Kyle Busch 12/11