Off Road

“I’ve got to pinch myself because it’s finally over and it all happened great,” said Greaves. “We came here to secure the championship, and we did that. The rest was just a little bonus.”

Because of inclement weather that left the track a soggy mess on Friday, there was no qualifying, and the drivers started in order of championship points, with the top two inverted thanks to a blind draw. In Saturday’s race, Greaves came out of the famed Crandon land-rush start, where all the trucks start in one line instead of a rolling two-by-two start, in second in his Monster Energy Toyota Tundra. But by Lap 2 he had a strong run out of Turn 1 and took the lead. Huseman followed in third.

Huseman had a minor brush trying to move his Monster Energy/Traxxas Toyota Tundra into second, and got caught up in a battle for third with the truck behind him, but eventually moved into second and started chasing Greaves. There would be no catching Greaves on this day, however, and Huseman had to settle for third while his fellow Toyota racer got maximum points with the win and the two bonus points for leading at halfway. It gave him a nice gap heading into the second race on Sunday.

Greaves got the holeshot in that race, with Huseman right behind. By Lap 2, Huseman was turning on the pressure, and Greaves let him go, chasing him all the way to the checkered flag. Greaves would have wrapped up the title with a third-place finish, so the runner-up result was more than enough to make him the 2010 champion.

“We came here with a plan,” said Greaves. “If we could just get out front the first day, max out with a win and the points at the yellow, as long as we keep Rick behind us to give us a little cushion on Sunday. Just let him go off and run his race, and if the opportunity arises, take a run at him. It worked really good because I got out front and he was right on me and was pushing really hard, so I said go ahead, waited until we got our yellow points and went after him, I gave him a little bit of a run in the end, just to make it fun.”

Greaves followed his championship with a strong run from 14th place in the inaugural Amsoil Cup, a special race in which the Pro 2WD trucks raced against the Pro 4x4 trucks. The two-wheel drive trucks started 12 seconds ahead, with the goal of having the top two trucks from each class arrive at the finish in a dead heat. The Pro 4x4 trucks were the hot ticket on this day, though, and Greaves ended up finishing third in a close race with two other Pro 4x4 trucks.

Jeremy McGrath clinched third in the Pro 2WD championship with a third-place finish on Saturday in his Monster Energy Toyota Tundra.

Toyota Drivers – Pro 4x4 Saturday/Sunday
Johnny Greaves 1/2
Rick Huseman 2/1

Toyota Drivers – Pro 2WD Saturday/Sunday
Jeremy McGrath 3/6