LENA, Wis. — The AMSOIL Championship Off-Road season’s second half officially kicked off with a return trip to the Dirt City Motorplex.
The weather brought a mid-summer scorcher for the second weekend of racing at Dirt City, with temperatures pushing a sticky 90-plus degrees with nary a breeze to keep things a bit cooler. But the action on Saturday was as heated as any through the first seven rounds of the 2024 campaign.
Last season, Jimmy Henderson broke through with his first career Pro 4 in Lena. On Saturday, he was nearly unstoppable as he drove to his first win of the season.
Henderson took the lead for the third race in a row on the first lap. The difference on Saturday was that nothing got in Henderson’s way as he drove to the top of the box. Kyle Chaney was pressuring Henderson early before C.J. Greaves moved into the runner-up spot on lap five. Greaves used the restart to apply heavy pressure on Henderson but fell off the pace, allowing Henderson to pull away from the field for a convincing win.
“Lena and the fans here have been so good to us,” said Henderson. I got my first off-road win here, and to be able to do it again is awesome. With all the changes we made to the team and the truck, it’s all starting to come together.”
Greaves’ stutter allowed Kainan Baker, Chaney, and Adrian Cenni to move up positions and drop Greaves to fifth. Baker wouldn’t give up the spot, but trouble found both Chaney and Cenni. That moved Greaves back into a podium spot, where he would finish behind Baker in third.
Tight tracks such as Dirt City bring tight racing. The trucks have high-speed opportunities, but as quickly as they get up to race speed, the drivers are tapping the brakes and setting up for one of the circuit’s four 180-degree turns.
In Saturday’s Pro 2 race, all of that back and forth culminated in a fantastic and chaotic finish. Ryan Beat was looking for his second straight win and had control of the race from the drop of the green flag, but with three laps to go, a softening tire let go, and he was forced to go into the hot pit. Three trucks were in position to get the top spot, but Ricky Gutierrez took control and held off a pair of breathtaking moves from defending class champion Cory Winner over the last three turns to earn his first win of the season.
“The hours spent getting this truck dialed in,” said Gutierrez. “We had some bad luck at Antigo, Lena, and even ERX. We knew we were fast, but just the adversity. My crew just pushed through and to get up here and win just feels good.”
Winner was less than a half-second behind Gutierrez at the line to earn his second straight podium. Mickey Thomas was equally as close to Winner, finishing third and retaking the points lead from Beat (four-point differential) along the way.
Trey Gibbs wrapped up the first half of the season with the largest points differential of any class in Championship Off-Road. He increased that points lead on Saturday while starting a new winning streak in the process.
The first half of the race saw a renewal of the opening weekend showdown between Gibbs and round one winner Johnny Holtger. The pair were door-to-door as Holtger kept looking for a Gibbs to give him an opening. But Holtger pulled into the hot pits two laps after the restart for a tire change. That gave Gibbs a wide gap over the runner-up position, and he didn’t miss a beat, driving to his second straight win and sixth win of the season.
Round six winner Carson Parrish benefited from Holtger’s pit stop when he moved into third. One lap later, he was second after Tyler Remmereid pulled off the track. Parrish drove to his fourth straight podium while holding off a late charge from Michael Funk, who finished third.
Four drivers have picked up wins in the Pro Spec class, led by points leader Nick Visser, who had three coming into Lena.
Any win in what is considered the most balanced class in the championship is well earned, as the trucks are built evenly, and it’s up to the drivers to determine the outcomes. Visser was in control of the outcome for the first half of Saturday’s race, leading to the mandatory caution. But Dylan Parson is locked in on a championship and took advantage of the restart and jumped into the race lead. Parson locked down the top spot and powered to his second win of the season while closing the gap to five behind Visser in the standings.
Wyatt Miller made his season and career short course debut on Saturday. The grandson of Dale Earnhardt has been on a steep, upward trajectory in sprint car racing, and that talent and ability crossed over to Pro Spec. Miller got past Chris Van Den Elzen on lap 11 for second, but time ran out before he could reel in Parson’s.
Van Den Elzen picked up his third straight podium, finishing third behind Parsons and Miller.