Bark River, Mich. – Racing has been a centerpiece in Bark River, Mich. for the past 47 years, and every time AMSOIL Championship Off-Road, presented by the U.S. Air Force, makes its annual trek to the Upper Michigan track, the competition is close, fast and flowing.
Saturday’s action lived up to the hype as round nine brought home multiple tight finishes, many by fractions of a second. No lead was secure, and the racing action was unleashed and unabashed from start to finish.
Rodney VanEperen Busts Through in Pro Turbo
Before Bark River, the Pro Turbo SxS class had produced four winners. Saturday’s race bumped that number to five thanks to a 2023 breakthrough for Rodney VanEperen.
VanEperen has been searching for his first win of the season and jumped into position early on. He had a first-half battle with Andrew Carlson as they both sat atop the leaderboard. Carlson would pull off after the restart, putting VanEperen back into the lead. It also put CJ Greaves into second and Kyle Chaney into third. They would line up like train cars, pulling each other around the track. VanEperen was the locomotive, and he set the pace and stayed out front for his first win of the year, crossing just a few feet ahead of Greaves.
Greaves second place finish and Chaney’s third meant that Greaves picked up two points on Chaney in the overall points standing, which sits with Chaney up by only eight points.
Seventh Pro Stock SxS Win for Greaves
It was a drag race to turn one, with CJ Greaves beating the Pro Stock SxS field through the first corner. Greaves could have walked away with it, but Owen VanEperen and Jeb Bootle weren’t letting the points leader get an easy victory.
Greaves held point throughout, with Bootle jumping into the runner-up spot ahead of VanEperen after the mandatory caution restarted the field. The trio would pull away from the rest of the field. As Greaves drove to his fifth straight win, Bootle and VanEperen went bumper-to-bumper for second. Their battle extended to the finish line as Bootle edged out VanEperen by less than half a second.
Pro-AM SxS: Round four winner Tyler Remmereid was on his way to his second Pro-AM SxS win of the season, but David Gay played the role of late-race spoiler. Gay started 11th on Saturday and put himself into position to duck under Remmereid with two turns remaining, picking up his first career class win. Remmereid would finish 4/10ths of a second behind Gay while holding off points leader Bill Berger for second.
570 SxS: Corbyn Wassenberg was wicked fast in Saturday’s 570 SxS race, leading it nearly from start to finish for his fourth win of the season. Draxton Szymik took a brief lead mid-race after Wassenberg put it on two wheels but was able to settle in for his second podium of the year. Bryce Powers celebrated his birthday by finishing third and keeping hold of his points lead.
Sportsman SxS: Bryce Carlson was looking for his first after leading the first few laps, but Trent Peetz flipped the script and raced to his second straight victory in Sportsman SxS. Carlson did race to his fifth podium of the season by crossing the line in second, and Benjamin returned to the box for the first time since his round four win in Crandon.
170/200 SxS: Kody Krantz picked up his second 170/200 SxS win of the season with a strong race on Saturday. Three-time winner Raymond Deininger notched his second straight podium finish in second, and Axel Dreher finished third for the second straight contest.
Youth SxS: Ryker Remington has control of the Youth SxS points and was in complete control in Saturday’s race. Remington picked up his third win of the season with a dominant round nine win. Layne Peterson crossed the line in second, and Carter Jutila earned his third straight podium finish in third.
Up next for AMSOIL Championship Off-Road, presented by the U.S. Air Force: Round ten at the Bark River International Raceway in Bark River, Mich. on August 13.
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