Greaves/McGrath Looking Solid in Prep For Upcoming TORC Series!

The team of Johnny Greaves and Jeremy McGrath decided to get in one more test race in preparation for the TORC Series opener in Crandon, WI. So what better way than to put the team to the test, and go race rounds 3 and 4 of the Lucas Oil Off Road Series. Last month, the LOORS Las Vegas opener showed that this Monster Mastercraft Toyota team is a force to be reckoned with, although displaying some bad luck that weekend, they came to Surprise, AZ with the same crazy fast speed and their game faces on!

After putting in the fastest U4 practice times, Greaves found himself starting in the third row with the inversion. With help of his BFGoodrich tires, and Toyota motor, Johnny displayed his usual “Greaves style” as he maneuvered himself around the outside of the pack in turn one, and completed another smooth pass in turn two, finding himself already looking at the back of the leader. On the 2nd lap, Johnny made a quick switchback pass, for the lead. Hungry for a win, he continued to charge hard, as he laid the next 4 fastest laps, and had a 12second lead by the mandatory yellow, only to find out what he had suspected was true, he had a rear tire going low. The decision was made not to pit, and Johnny continued to lead for 2 more laps, until the tire finally blew forcing him to the pits for a quick change.

McGrath losing no speed from the previous rounds 1 and 2, proved once again to be one of the fastest on the track. Qualifying second, put him on the pole, along side Carl Renezeder. The two drivers put on an awesome display of “cat-n-mouse” right to the finish, with Jeremy putting on several charges to get pass Carl, but unfortunately couldn’t make any of them stick. Jeremy and his new Monster Mastercraft Toyota U2 are showing incredible speed, and have definitely got the attention of all the other drivers, including Rob MacCachren, multiple champion, who fought to get past him, but to no avail!

Optimism was high in the pits for Sunday’s race! The team felt confident the Toyota Tundra’s were going to be strong, both Jeremy and Johnny qualified 2nd, however, the inversion put them both starting in the third row.

U-4 was all but exciting, and kind of short lived for Johnny. He had worked his way up to 3rd position, behind Carl Renezeder, and was waiting for the door to open to make a clean pass. Rick Huseman, running 4th, was trying to work Johnny at the same time. Contact was made as Rick tried to get on the inside of Johnny. As the front wheel was turned and in motion, this contact caused the seal to get knocked out of the power steering, which eventually lost all steering fluid. Johnny after a few laps was forced to pull over.

U-2 on the other hand, was full of excitement, almost too much to recap in a race report. There were multiple accidents and a lot of carnage throughout the entire race. Jeremy got turned around backwards on the face of a jump, from some rear contact, already on turn 3. Starting from 18th, Jeremy and his Monster Energy Toyota made some serious headway, working his way all the way up to 5th position, closely behind the lead pack. Things were looking good, with plenty time to still make it to a podium finish. Finding an opportunity, Jeremy tried to make a pass for 4th place, only to get a severe hit in the rear from another competitor, spinning him completely around, and then driving completely up over the front end of the Mastercraft Toyota, and putting it out of commission for the day.

Lastly, we all knew the day would come, where Johnny’s son would take the field. CJ Greaves, at the young age of 15, ran his Traxxas SuperBuggy at the LOORS Las Vegas opener only to run in the lead the entire race until the last lap, his very first time in short-course. At that time we knew we had a racer here! CJ brought his same upbeat, fun, and of course a very fast truck to the track here in Surprise—this time in a SuperLite.

Given a great opportunity by Speed Technologies, CJ was out to show the fans what these small trucks are made of. Saturday CJ started in pole position. He let a few guys get him in the first few corners after the start, but not for long. As a small battle happened in front of him, CJ took advantage of the moment and passed the pack for the lead. For the next 5 laps CJ held off the pack, and made it look like he was going to take his first race in checkered style! Two corners before the checkered flag, CJ went in tight to protect his line, and hit an unexpected rut, flipping him over, and giving over the lead. He crossed the finish in 7th position.

Almost identical to Saturday’s race, CJ again started in the pole position, this time getting the lead early, and maintaining it for the entire race. Two laps from the finish, expecting the white flag to come out, nerves created CJ to be very conservative on his last lap, not wanting to roll again, but inadvertently left the door open and let Chad George pass him making CJ have to settle for 2nd! All in all, I would say he’s definitely a “chip off the old block!”

At the end of the weekend, the team felt that they are ready for the TORC Series to begin. The trucks are very competitive and the drivers are stoked for the battle in the Midwest!

Please visit JohnnyGreaves.com for the latest news of Johnny and Jeremy’s off-road racing.