Bark River, Mich.: Bark River International Raceway put together one of the most exciting weekends of racing that the AMSOIL Championship Off-Road, presented by the U.S. Air Force, has witnessed over the past few seasons.
Sunday did not disappoint the fans lining the Bark River hillside and the worldwide watchers on the FloRacing.com broadcast. Points were at a premium in Bark River, especially in the Sportsman classes ending Labor Day weekend in Crandon. And as the speeds increased throughout the day, so did the intensity.
Nearly every race came down to the final turns, a big left-hander that bounced fortune in every direction on Sunday, including nail-biting finishings across the Pro classes.
Bark River Beneficial to Chaney in Pro Turbo SxS
Kyle Chaney entered the weekend with three wins and started the day with an eight-point lead over CJ Greaves for Pro Turbo SxS Supremacy. He would put together a clean run for win number four and benefit from an unfortunate finish from Greaves.
Chaney immediately moved into the lead on Sunday, and Andrew Carlson was looking to challenge the former champion. But despite good speed, Carlson had to stare at the back bumper for most of the race, until Carlson unexpectantly spun out on the last lap. Chaney, meanwhile, was out front breathing clean air, driving to his fourth win of the year.
Carlson’s spin allowed Rodney VanEperen and Greaves to move up one spot each on the leaderboard. VanEperen would drive to a second-place finish, backing up his Saturday win. Greaves, meanwhile, was closing in on his second podium of the weekend. Still, he came to a slow crawl with two turns remaining, putting Carlson back into third.
Greaves tried to coax every ounce of power left in his car as he inched toward the finish line. He was looking to secure as many points as possible but could not keep his forward momentum going up the finish line jump and came to a rest just 30 feet from the line. He was credited with a tenth-place finish and dropped 25 points behind Chaney.
Greaves Sweeps Pro Stock SxS
CJ Greaves took care of business on Sunday, completing the weekend sweep in Pro Stock SxS.
Much like Saturday’s win, Greaves found the lead off the start and then held off Jeb Bootle and Owen VanEperen late in the race for his eighth win of the season.
Bootle and VanEperen were bumper to bumper at the end of the race, finishing 4/10ths of a second apart at the line. Both drivers had their hands full of Andrew Carlson throughout the race, who first challenged Bootle for second and then VanEperen for third before finishing two car lengths back in fourth.
Pro-AM SxS: Kolton Krajicek might want to switch his number to five as the rookie Pro AM SxS driver took the lead on lap five and drove to his fifth win of the season on Sunday.
David Gay was the early leader before giving way to Krajicek. Two laps later, Jared Jadin and Rory Navin got around Gay for the final two podium positions.
Points leader Bill Berger finished sixth, with second-place driver Derek Liebergen picking up a couple of points after he crossed the line ahead of Berger in fifth.
570 SxS: Corbyn Wassenberg put together a perfect weekend of racing in Bark River by finishing with the weekend sweep and his fourth win of the year. Unofficially, he gained 11 points on Bryce Powers with one round of competition left in Crandon.
Round two winner Hudson Houle finished second, and round seven winner Ellah Holtger crossed the line third.
Sportsman SxS: Sunday’s Sportsman SxS race was almost a mirror image of Saturday’s contest as it came down to a last-lap showdown between Bryce Carlson and Trent Peetz, but Carlson held on for his first win of the season.
Ben Heiting held the point with less than two laps remaining and his teammate Carlson in second. But Heiting hit a rut and rolled into the berm just before the white flag, putting Carlson in position for his first win in 2023. Peetz was in striking distance of Carlson, and the two were bumper-to-bumper coming through the final turn, with Carlson taking the win. Joel Steinbrecher finished third.
Peetz entered the day trailing Lucas Houle by five points, but Houle finished seventh, putting Peetz into the overall points lead with two rounds left at Crandon.
170/200 SxS: Kody Krantz made it a weekend sweep of the 170/200 SxS class with a convincing win on Sunday. Raymond Deininger started eight on Sunday but drove to his third straight podium finish in second place despite a bent rear wheel. Axel Dreher led the first two laps and finished third.
Youth SxS: Points leader Ryker Remington started third on Sunday before moving into the race lead for god on lap seven. It marked his fourth straight win and seventh overall victory this season as he looks to lock down the championship in Crandon.
Three-time winner Libby Nielsen finished second behind Remington on Sunday, and Carter Jutila finished third for the fourth race in a row.
Up next for AMSOIL Championship Off-Road, presented by the U.S. Air Force: Crandon International Raceway in Crandon, Wis. on Labor Day Weekend. Championship Off-Road Racing will be held Friday and Saturday with the Polaris World Championships and Red Bull Cup on Sunday.
With a subscription, you can watch all 14 rounds of the AMSOIL Championship Off-Road season plus live on FloRacing. For more information on how you can follow along this season, click here.
