C. J. Greaves

Last updated
C.J. Greaves
AMSOIL Cup CJ in the Laurel wreath.jpg
Greaves celebrating his 2013 AMSOIL Cup win
Nationality American
Born (1995-06-01) June 1, 1995 (age 28)
Abrams, Wisconsin
Related to Johnny Greaves
Pro 4 career
Debut season2014
Current teamJohnny G Motorsports
Car number33
Championships2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
Wins33
Best finish1st in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
Finished last season1st
Championship titles
2010, 2011 TORC Super Buggy
2014, 2015, 2016 TORC Pro 2
2015, 2016, 2017 TORC Pro 4
2017 TORC Pro Stock UTV
2019 Lucas Oil Midwest Short Course League Pro Stock UTV
2018, 2019 Lucas Oil Midwest Short Course League Pro 4
Awards
2013, 2015, 2018, 2022 AMSOIL Cup
Last updated on: October 29, 2014.

Colton "C.J." Greaves (born June 1, 1995) is a professional American off-road racing driver from Abrams, Wisconsin. He raced in the TORC: The Off Road Championship Super Buggy and Pro Light divisions, winning the 2010 Super Buggy championship. He now races in the Pro Stock UTV division and the Pro 4 division, in which he competes against his father, seven-time Pro 4 champion Johnny Greaves. Greaves won the 2013 AMSOIL Cup world championship race in his Pro 2 truck. He won the 2014 Pro 2 championship and made his first Pro 4 start that season. Greaves won both the Pro 4WD and Pro 2WD class championships in 2015 and 2016 and also won the Pro 4 Championship in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Greaves has also won Pro Stock UTV Championships in 2017 and 2019. Greaves is the son and teammate of Johnny Greaves.

Contents

Background

Greaves grew up in a racing household. His father Johnny Greaves who started in buggies and rose up through the ranks, eventually racing in the premier 4-wheel-drive Pro 4 trophy trucks. To focus on his racing career, C. J. did not attend a physical high school and instead took online classes. [1]

Racing career

Greaves' 2013 Pro 2 truck at Crandon International Off-Road Raceway Crandon 2013 Pro 2 CJ Greaves 33.jpg
Greaves' 2013 Pro 2 truck at Crandon International Off-Road Raceway

Greaves began racing in off-road short course buggies. He won the 2010 Super Buggy class championship. [2] He continued racing Super Buggy and started Pro Light in 2011. Greaves finished second at Antigo's Saturday buggy race and won the Sunday race for first win of the season. [2] He finished sixth in Pro Light points. [3] Greaves finished the Super Buggy season with two wins at the Oshkosh to win his second consecutive Super Buggy championship. [4]

Greaves continued racing Pro Light in 2012 and began racing a Pro 2 trophy truck full-time. He started from the pole position for the season's first Pro Light race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway dirt track and he finished on the podium in third. [3] He raced in his second Pro 2 race that day hoping to get accustomed to the truck. [3] Greaves ended up winning the race to become the youngest Pro 2 winner in history. [3] He had a third place holeshot and held the position until the competition caution. He passed Jeff Kincaid after the restart and passed for the win after Bryce Menzies spun out. [3] "I was very proud and excited to see CJ get that win," said Johnny Greaves after the win. "We were really not sure how he would feel in the truck since it was only his second time in the seat. He is really able to feel the tire hook-up and communicate what the truck is doing to Brad and me. CJ knows it's just the first race, but it's just very exciting." [3] Greaves followed up the win with a third-place finish on next day's race at Charlotte. [3]

Greaves began the 2013 season by setting the fastest time and winning the Pro Lite race at the Saturday Dodge City Raceway Park race. [5] After not recording a qualifying time in Pro 2, he raced from the back of the field to finish third in Saturday Pro 2 race. [5] Greaves finished third in the 2013 Pro 2 points with five fastest laps. [6] In Pro Light, he had the fastest lap eight times to finish second in the championship. [6] In the 2013 AMSOIL Cup race at Crandon, Greaves started with the Pro 2 trucks ahead of the Pro 4 trucks. Greaves battled his father Johnny (in his Pro 4 truck) for the final four laps, well ahead of third-place Chad Hord. The Greaves father-and-son duo went side by side across the finish line and C.J. claimed the victory over Johnny. [7]

In 2014, he began the season racing in Pro Lite and Pro 2. In Pro Lite, he won the World Championship race at the Crandon Labor Day race weekend and finished third in season points. [8] In the higher ranking Pro 2 class, he won the season championship over Chad Hord, Jeff Kincaid, Steve Barlow, and Jarit Johnson. [8] He also made his first start in the highest ranking Pro 4 class and finished ninth in the season points. [8] That class was topped by his third-place finish at the final race at Crandon. [9] The following year, he competed at X Games Austin 2015, driving in the Stadium Super Trucks category. [10] After finishing third in his heat race, he went on to win the Last Chance Qualifier to advance to the final; he finished fourth. [11]

In his short career, Greaves has become one of the winningest drivers in short course off-road history, with 33 wins and 5 championships in the Pro 4 class, 29 wins and 3 championships in the Pro 2 class, 11 wins in Pro Lights, 12 wins and 2 championships in Pro Buggy, 25 wins and 2 championships in Pro Stock UTV, and one win in Pro Mod UTV. He has also won three Red Bull World Cup races at Crandon International Off-Road Raceway, tied with Scott Douglas and Rob MacCachren for most in the race's history. Greaves is also the only driver to win that race in both a Pro 2wd truck (2013, 2018) and a Pro 4x4 truck (2015).

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Auto Club</span> Auto racing sanctioning body in the United States

The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapolis 500. Today, USAC serves as the sanctioning body for a number of racing series, including the Silver Crown Series, National Sprint Cars, National Midgets, Speed2 Midget Series, .25 Midget Series, Stadium Super Trucks, and Pirelli World Challenge. Seven-time USAC champion Levi Jones is USAC's Competition Director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Championship Off-Road Racing</span> Auto racing championship held in the United States

Championship Off-Road Racing was a sanctioning body for short course off-road racing in the United States. It formed in 1998 and went bankrupt in 2008. Its Midwest races were supplanted in 2007 by the Traxxas TORC Series and by the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series on the West Coast in 2009. Both received most of the drivers and adopted the same racing format.

The Short-course Off-road Drivers Association was a short course off-road racing sanctioning body in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crandon International Off-Road Raceway</span> Racetrack

The Crandon International Off-Road Raceway is a short course off-road racing racetrack, located near Crandon, Wisconsin, United States on U.S. Route 8. The course hosts the World Championship Off-Road Races, Red Bull World Cup, Forest County Potawatomi Spring Brush Run Races, and Lucas Oil Midwest Short Course League points races. The track is a non-profit entity, run by a board of directors, with president Cliff Flannery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ricky Johnson</span> American motorcycle racer

Richard Bernard "Ricky" Johnson Jr. is an American former professional motocross, off-road truck and stock car racer. He competed in AMA motocross and Supercross during the 1980s and, won seven AMA national championships. He later switched to off-road racing. He won the Pro 2WD Trophy Truck championship in the 1998 Championship Off-Road Racing and 2010 TORC Series. He also won the Pro 4WD class at the 2011 and 2012 TORC Series. In September 2012, Johnson won the 4x4 world championship race at Crandon International Off-Road Raceway and later that day won the AMSOIL Cup pitting the two and four wheel drive trucks. Johnson won the 2014 Frozen Rush, the first short-course off-road race on snow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Greaves (racing driver)</span> American racing driver

Johnny Greaves is a professional American off-road racing racetruck driver from Abrams, Wisconsin. He has competed in numerous major off-road series, including SCORE International, Short-course Off-road Drivers Association (SODA), Championship Off-Road Racing (CORR), World Series of Off-Road Racing (WSORR), and Traxxas TORC Series (TORC).

Jack Flannery was an American off-road racing driver who was active in the late 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Flannery won six short course off-road championships in Short-course Off-road Drivers Association (SODA) and one in Championship Off-Road Racing (CORR). He had over 150 event wins in his career. He was the first person from the Midwestern United States to be inducted in the Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame and his induction was unanimous. In his induction statement, the hall of fame said that Flannery "brought short course off-road racing to the mainstream by being the first Midwest native to organize a professional off-road race team that was capable of competing against, and beating, the best off-road racers in the world."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob MacCachren</span> American racing driver

Rob MacCachren is an American off-road racer from Las Vegas, Nevada. MacCachren won over 200 off-road races including five editions of the Baja 1000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TORC: The Off-Road Championship</span> Former racing series

TORC: The Off-Road Championship (TORC) was an American short course off-road racing series. It tours throughout the United States featuring professional four and two-wheel-drive Trophy Trucks along with a Pro Light class. TORC was founded by off-road racing driver Ricky Johnson in 2009. It was known as the Traxxas TORC Series, owing to title sponsor Traxxas, from 2009 to 2013. It was purchased by The Armory in August 2013. It was sanctioned and officiated by the United States Auto Club (USAC) since its inception.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Renezeder</span>

Carl Renezeder is a retired American off-road racer for Team Renezeder Racing. As of the end of the 2016 season, Renezeder has won 125 short course national events he has competed in Lucas Oil Off Road Racing (LOORR), Championship Off-Road Racing (CORR), and World Series of Off Road Racing (WSORR). He has won nine short course off-road racing championships. Renezeder was also the first driver in short-course off-road racing history to win championships in both two wheel drive and four wheel drive trophy trucks in the same season when he won the 2009 Unlimited 2 and Unlimited 4 divisions in LOORRS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Huseman</span> American racing driver

Rick Huseman was an American race driver from Riverside, California. He raced off-road and his career peaked in the highest level in a four wheel drive short course racing truck. He won the 2009 Traxxas TORC Series (TORC) and 2010 Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series (LOORRS) championships before dying in an airplane crash in late 2011. He had won 50 races in his career between Pro Light and Pro 4.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Short course off-road racing</span>

Short course off-road racing is a form of auto racing involving the racing of modified vehicles on a dirt road closed course of a short length. It is distinct from long course desert racing such as the Baja 1000, which consists of racing at least hundreds of kilometers / miles over a quasi linear (non-closed) course from one point to another.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chad Hord</span> American racing driver

Chad Hord is a professional American off-road racing driver from Felch, Michigan. As of 2012, he races a PRO 2 short course truck in the Traxxas TORC Series (TORC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Taylor (racing driver)</span> American racing driver

Scott Taylor is a retired American professional off-road racing driver from Belvidere, Illinois. His off-road racing career began in 1974 with buggies and his career peaked in the premiere two-wheel-drive truck class called Pro2. He retired from driving after the completion of the 2013 Traxxas TORC Series (TORC) Heavy Metal race at Crandon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrian "Wildman" Cenni</span> American stuntman

Adrian "Wildman" Cenni is a world record adventurer, professional off-road truck racer, and President/Founder of Atrium Staffing. Cenni is the first person to successfully land a true 360 degree barrel roll in a vehicle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Polvoorde</span> American off-road racer

Christopher Polvoorde is an American off-road racer from Southern California. He has raced in many different forms of off-road competition including short course, desert racing, and rally raid, while also dabbling in other disciplines like dirt track racing.

Casey Currie is an American off-road racing driver. Along with Ricky Brabec in the bike category, Currie was the first American to win at the Dakar Rally in 2020, having won the UTV category with Sean Berriman for Monster Energy Cam-Am. In 2010, he won the Pro Light championship in the Traxxas TORC Series. In 2017 he won the Baja 1000 in the Ultra 4 Class in a Trophy Jeep.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyle LeDuc</span> American racing driver

Kyle LeDuc is an American professional racing driver. He mainly competes in short course off-road truck racing, where he has seven Pro 4 class championships, six of which came in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series (LOORRS), and over 100 career wins. As of 2022, he races in Championship Off-Road (COR) and Extreme E, the latter for Chip Ganassi Racing.

Ryan Beat is an American professional off-road racing driver. He competes in the Championship Off-Road Series, driving the No. 51 Pro 2 Chevrolet for his team Ryan Beat Motorsports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerett Brooks</span> American racing driver

Jerett Brooks is an American racing driver. He mainly competes in short course off-road racing such as TORC: The Off-Road Championship, Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, and Championship Off-Road.

References

  1. ↑ Verdegan, Joe (September 6, 2014). "Both Greaves are TORC truck series champs". Green Bay Press-Gazette. Gannett. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Smart Racing Grants CJ Greaves a Big Win". VP racing fuels. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "16 Year Old CJ Greaves Wins First Race in the Pro2WD Class in Charlotte, Brings Home 3 Podiums". Race-Dezert. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Alumi Craft Driver CJ Greaves Clinches Back to Back TORC Championships". Alumi Craft. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  5. 1 2 Wheatley, Lonnie. "Two Greaves and a MacCachren on TORC Night 2 at DCRP". Dodge City Raceway Park . Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  6. 1 2 "2013 Pro 2 points". Traxxas TORC Series. Archived from the original on April 14, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  7. ↑ Hamlin, Kilain. "CJ and Johnny Greaves go 1,2 in Photo Finish Amsoil Cup". Race-Dezert.com. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 "2014 season points". TORC: The Off Road Championship. Archived from the original on October 28, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Crandon Labor Day Weekend Results". TORC: The Off Road Championship. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Off-Road Truck Racing: Teen Drivers". X Games . June 2, 2015. Archived from the original on June 19, 2015. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Off Road Truck Racing". X Games . Archived from the original on June 19, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.