Off Road

Johnny Greaves took a step back, and it proved a big key to winning the Traxxas Off Road Championship Pro 4 title in 2010, his first since 2007. That step back was using the truck with which he won the championship three years ago, thereby ending the longest dry spell of his career.

“I was unhappy with [that dry spell],” says Greaves. “It’s one of those deals where you’re probably working harder and putting more effort into it and just having more issues. We finally just said, ‘lets back down.’ We broke out the old truck that we won with in ’07, went through it. I really like that truck; I’m comfortable in it. It’s not the newest, latest and greatest four-wheel drive technology, but it feels good and I drive it well. We were going to give up a little bit here and there, but we were going to gain the reliability that truck has because it’s seasoned. We were going to gain my confidence back.”

In the end, 2010 came down to a fight between Greaves, driving the No. 22 Monster Energy/MasterCraft Safety Toyota Tundra, and Rick Huseman in the No. 36 Monster Energy/Traxxas Toyota Tundra. And it went down to the wire, with Greaves claiming the title by only three points after the two of them swapped one-two finishes during the finale weekend at Crandon International Raceway in Wisconsin. The Toyota pair finished one-two five times in 12 races.

“It’s cool that it came down to me and him,” says Greaves. “I can trust racing against Rick, because we are, in a roundabout way, teammates. We’re racing for the same companies. Whether I win or he wins, if we go one-two it’s good for both of us. It was satisfying knowing that when it came down to the wire, it was he and I, so I probably didn’t have to worry about any cheap shots or anything like that. I knew we were going to have a real championship on our hands and may the best man win. It was a real knockdown drag out to the end. The way he dominated some of the other series he’s running in, it’s pretty impressive. I think I put a feather in my cap on that one.”

Huseman is running some of the latest technology on his truck. In fact, it’s so cutting edge that other teams regularly send the TORC tech inspectors over to take a look at the No. 36. But every time that happens, he gets the all clear, goes out and goes fast. But it wasn’t to be his season in TORC, and Greaves came out loaded for bear.

“Those guys did their homework and spent maybe two years developing that truck, and now it’s running strong,” says Greaves. “So we always have our hands full with Rick. But I was so happy I got the [Oakley Bomb award for fastest lap] more than he did, That’s one thing you can’t take from Rick – he always goes out there and lays down the fastest laps. So once we started racking up a couple of those, it really boosted my confidence.”

Greaves was especially happy with his performance on the bigger tracks like Crandon and Bark River. That was key, since the two races at those two tracks made up two thirds of the season. He cites the first weekend at Michigan’s Bark River as one of this best of the year. “I’ve never been so comfortable in the truck,” he says. “The gearing was perfect, the suspension was perfect.” Greaves took both victories that weekend.

But it was at the second Bark River weekend where Huseman began a run of three straight wins that put him ahead in the points. A bad finish at Route 66 Raceway In Joliet, Ill., though, set the stage for the Crandon showdown.

Greaves was confident going into Crandon and, with a win in the weekend’s first race, he only needed to finish ahead of Huseman, or right on his tail, in the second to win the title. And he did just that – Huseman won, but Greaves was right behind to seal the deal.

“That was a great feeling to go to Crandon, and say, ‘I know we’ve got the setup to get to the first turn, and once we get to the first turn and clean air, we can put time on these guys,’” says Greaves. “And it played out perfect. I couldn’t have written a better story. It happened the way I wanted it to happen. I was glad Rick was able to run the pace and show everybody that the championship wasn’t luck, wasn’t a gimme; it was real racing,”

For 2011, Greaves plans to stick with his tried-and-true truck, but with a few added go-fast goodies. “There’s a few of those latest, greatest technology things that, now we’re confident we can make good use of them, we’ll implement into that truck,” says Greaves. “I’m looking forward to next season and defending the title.”

The 2011 season begins April 30 at Cycle Ranch in San Antonio, Texas. That’s one of several new venues on the calendar, with Charlotte Motor Speedway, a non-points event at Pikes Peak Speedway, Colo., and a potential Californian event also joining the calendar.

You can keep up to date on all things TORC and off-road racing at toyotaracing.com, but also check out torcseries.com for the latest news.