Antigo, Wis. ~ AMSOIL Championship Off-Road, presented by the U.S. Air Force, kicked off its 2023 schedule in Antigo, Wis., on Saturday with clear skies and captivating racing across all 18 classes.
The season opener featured 287 entries for the Antigo Off-Road National, the first of seven weekends and 14 rounds of short-course action in 2023. Rain soaked the horseshoe-shaped track at the Antigo Lions Roaring Raceway overnight, but the skies were clear to start the day, allowing for near-perfect racing conditions throughout Saturday. That gave the best off-road racers in the world the opportunity to work towards their season-long objective: being crowned a 2023 Champ Off-Road champion.
Greaves Gathers Up Victory in AMSOIL Pro Turbo SxS
Last season it took CJ Greaves ten rounds to finish on the top spot of the AMSOIL Pro Turbo SxS podium. Development and comfort of a new Polaris race car kept Greaves motivated in 2022, and that increased tenfold this off-season.
That motivation paid off as Greaves took home a solid opening-round win on Saturday. He grabbed the holeshot and stretched his lead over Owen VanEperen, who would close the gap on the race leader just before the mandatory caution. But Greaves nailed the restart and mashed the throttle to victory lane.
Robert Loire also mashed the throttle off the restart, gaining an edge over VanEperen. Loire moved into second and never gave up the position as they went bumper-to-bumper for the final podium positions.
Greaves Gets Win in Pro Stock SxS Opener
CJ Greaves won four Pro Stock SxS races in 2022 but still found himself sitting second overall in the final standings. He spent the first part of the season dialing in his Polaris and found his rhythm in the second half of the year.
In 2023, he found his rhythm off the start; He quickly worked his way from an eighth-place starting position and into the lead by the beginning of lap two. The former class champion didn’t miss his marks from there, driving to a convincing opening-round win.
Behind Greaves, things got a bit chaotic. Scott Wasz held onto second for several laps, with Owen VanEperen in third. A mid-race crash would take them both off the leaderboard, moving Trey Eggleston into second and Tyson Marquardt into third. They would hold those positions through the checkered flag, with both drivers picking up their first podium finishes in a Pro SxS class.
Pro-AM SxS: Bryer Pingel held point in the Pro-AM SxS for the first nine laps, but Kolton Krajicek found an opening with two laps to take his first career Champ Off-Road win. It was Krajicek’s first career race in Champ Off-Road, and he was opportunistic at the end to put himself in position for the victory; Ping would challenge for the win but crossed the line in second. Matthew Boerschinger would cross the line in third.
570 SxS: Ryker Remington just missed out on the 2022 570 SxS championship (2 points), but he started out on the right foot with an opening-round win in 2023. Bryce Powers and Hudson Houle had a back-and-forth battle for the runner-up spot, with Powers securing the second position on the final lap.
Sportsman SxS: Lucas Houle finished the 2022 season with his first podium in Sportsman SxS and ended the year ninth overall. Houle now sits atop the championship standings after opening up 2023 with the wire-to-wire win in Antigo. Ben Heiting finished second, and Erik Hill crossed the line in third.
170/200 SxS: Raymond Deininger worked his way to the front of the combined 170/200 SxS race, grabbing his first win. Ellie Hentges kept pace, finishing second, and Tanner Thibeault was third.
Youth SxS: Champ Off-Road added a new Side-by-Side class for the 2023 season, Youth SxS. The class is a step up from the 570 SxS class and is for kids 13-18 to use as an entrance into short-course racing or to graduate to more robust competition. Ryker Remington, who finished second in 570 SxS in 2022, took home the inaugural Youth SxS win. Libby Nielsen finished second, with Livy Hentges in third.
Up next for AMSOIL Championship Off-Road, presented by the U.S. Air Force: Day two of the Antigo Off-Road National in Antigo, Wis., on June 11, 2023.
With a subscription, you can watch all 14 rounds of the AMSOIL Championship Off-Road season live on FloRacing. For more information on how you can follow along this season, click here.
