WHEATLAND, Mo. — The finale of the AMSOIL Champ Off Road Show-Me Shootout weekend was a race to remember.
Johnny Greaves, a 2024 inductee into the Off Road Motorsports Hall of Fame, held off Jimmy Henderson by less than a half-second to claim the Pro 4 victory.
The 60-year-old Greaves, of Suamico, Wisconsin, took the lead on the restart following the halfway mark and the veteran known as “Johnny G” was able to take it home and into victory lane. The margin of victory over Henderson, of Conyers, Ga., was a slim .335 seconds.
“This one’s for dads and grandpas and the over 60 crowd. We can still do it,” Greaves said.
Henderson held a 4.68-second command at the competition caution at the halfway mark with Adrian Cenni running third. Greaves took advantage of the restart, with Cenni battling Henderson for second.
“Jimmy kind of crept away from me the first half, but I knew if I just cleaned it up a little bit, his car don’t quite leap the line as good as mine does,” Greaves added. “I knew maybe if I had a chance to get beside him in turn one … it worked out. He’s a great racer and I knew it would be fun. That last lap we were side by side through most of the turns.”
Henderson, gunning for a weekend sweep, got going the next time around and was on Greaves’ bumper. Greaves took a half-second lead into the final lap and held off repeated challenges, with a few bumps exchanged, to prevail.
Early race leader Ryan Beat rallied from a mishap that sent him to ninth to finish third. For Henderson, it was disappointing to lose but fun dueling with a legend.
“We were out in front and I felt like I had really good pace,” Henderson said. “It kind of shocked my when Johnny blew my me. But man, what a show. I was having a lot of fun out there. I tried to drive him clean and he was a better man today.”
Holtger wins wild Pro 2 feature: What looked like another dominating day for Saturday’s Pro 2 winner Ryan Beat took a wild turn after the second-half restart. Johnny Holtger of Abrams, Wis., took advantage and went on to win the feature by 1.26 seconds over Jacob Rosales with Ricky Gutierrez third.
Beat rolled to a 2.7-second lead over Holtger just one lap into the race and he took a 3.7-second lead to the halfway competition caution. That’s when things got crazy as Beat spun in front of a bunch field after the restart and multiple trucks piled to a half.
Beat fell back to ninth as Holtger took the lead and didn’t give it up the rest of the way. Beat eventually finished eighth.
“Yesterday we got caught up in the melee and didn’t get to show what she had,” Holtger said of a new truck that debuted this weekend. “It worked super well. Hats off to my team. Everyone who plays a role, thank you so much.”
Drake Mittag, driving for injured Connor Barry, made it a sweep by dominating the Pro Lites feature for the second day in a row.
Mittag made it a runaway by the halfway break, opening a 7.2-second lead over Michael Funk. The script didn’t flip in the second half of the event as Mittag outdistanced Funk and third-place Travis Milhausen Jr.
Bootle sweeps AMSOIL Pro SxS: Jeb Bootle of Yemassee, S.C., completed a sweep in the Amsoil Pro SxS division, leading all the way in dominating fashion. He outdistanced Robert Wolff for the second straight day, this time by seven seconds.
Bootle sped away to a five-second lead over Nathan Wolff at the halfway break with Robert Loire in third, subbing for the injured CJ Greaves. The top two separated themselves on the first lap after the restart, with Wolff applying pressure as Loire fell six seconds behind.
Bootle finished off the race in style, pulling away by an even bigger margin than his Saturday triumph.
Cross Kirchmeier of Arlington, Texas, completed a perfect weekend, leading all the way for the second straight day to capture the Pro Stock SxS feature.
Kirchmeier prevailed by 1.53 seconds over David Gay in a race that had a one-lap sprint to the finish following a red flag. Collin Truett was third.
“It’s awesome to come out here and get a sweep. The first win was yesterday and to back it up today means a lot,” Kirchmeier said.
Wyatt Miller of Statesville, N.C., made the winner pass on the final lap to pick up the Pro Spec win. The defending series champ, who won both Pro Spec races at Wheatland a year ago, is the 13-year-old grandson of the late Dale Earnhardt.
Chris Van Den Elzen took the early lead over Draxton Szymik with Wyatt Miller third. The top two were separated by just over one second at the halfway mark.
Miller took advantage of the restart to take second away from Szymik and immediately applied pressure to Van Den Elzen. He made the decisive move with a big jump on the table top as the two entered side by side.
Cole Bernloehr of Lakeville, Minn., led all the way to win the Pro Buggy, edging out his brother Jordan Bernloehr in the Pro Buggy feature.
“It was desperately needed, but I knew there was chaos behind me,” Cole Bernloehr said of an eventful race. “I had my issues here last year. It’s cool to come back here and get it done.”
Tony Keepers went off the track after the table top jump while leading on lap one. That gave the lead to Cole Bernloehr who maintained it until the mid point, 1.54 seconds ahead of Zachary Drapkin.
Jordan Bernloehr made a bold, three-wide move to take second on the next-to-last lap. Drapkin finished third with Saturday’s winner, Billy Buth, settling for fourth.
