CORR Off Road

Kincaid and Greaves experience CORR's ups and downs in Chula Vista

With the Championship Off Road Racing season entering the home stretch (six rounds left at the beginning of this past weekend's action at Chula Vista, Calif.), it's becoming increasingly important for all drivers to record solid finishes and rack up every point they can. Fortunately for Toyota Racing Development's three superstar shoes -- Johnny Greaves, Rick Huseman and Jeff Kincaid -- they were able to do all that and more, with Kincaid winning in Pro Lite on Saturday, while Johnny Greaves and Rick Huseman picked up a combined five top-four finishes over the two days of racing.

Saturday's first big contest, Pro 2, had Greaves taking the green flag from sixth on the grid. But by the end of lap 1, the Green Bay, Wis., driver had guided the No. 4 Monster Energy/Forest County Potawatomi Toyota Tundra to third position. And it was there he stayed for much of the race, though a fierce scrap with Ricky Johnson briefly put the motocross legend ahead before he spun on the next-to-last-lap, putting Greaves back onto the podium when the checkers waved.

"We've finally started to figure that thing out a little bit where I can keep it on the track without spinning it out," he said with more than a hint of satisfaction in his voice. "I'm still pretty conservative compared to my normal style, but after what I've been through and the crew's been through in the last month I just wanted to bring it home on the podium and in one piece so they didn't have to work on it all night, and we accomplished that."

Next came Pro Lite, and Kincaid got a fantastic start from his second-place grid position, pulling out a substantial margin over the rest of the field. Unfortunately, Shannon Campbell wadded-up his Ford in spectacular fashion at the bottom of the big leap before Kincaid completed lap 1, meaning a complete restart. But once again, the No. 4 Traxxas/Forest County Potawatomi Toyota Tacoma was in first after the first turn, and it would remain there until the end.

And although second-place Marty Hart was able to close right in on the last lap, the gentle giant from Argonne, Wis., explained there was no cause for alarm.

"That was kind of a fluke little deal," he said. "I was just letting off, making sure of things, but I knew I had enough on him to get away. We had a perfect setup today."

Pro 4, meanwhile had Greaves starting seventh and Huseman eighth, meaning the Tundra tag team had its work cut out. But the boys didn't seem phased: by the time the competition caution came out on lap 8, Huseman had the No. 3 Fabtech Tundra in third, while Greaves fought hard to get his Pro 4 No. 4 Monster Energy/Forest County Potawatomi Tundra to sixth.

After the restart, Huseman got as high as second, but was demoted to third on lap 12. But when it was all said and done, the Riverside, Calif., driver had to settle for fourth after once again being scorned by Lady Luck.

"I lost my rear end gears," he said. "All the ring-and-pinion gears are gone. I had to just limp it in; luckily I salvaged a fourth out of it."

Greaves, on the other hand, had worked his way up to fourth in the laps following the mandatory yellow, and when TRD teammate Huseman suffered his problem, the way was clear for "Johnny G" to take home his second third-place trophy of the afternoon.

"I was kind of bummed to see Rick have his problem," he said. "We've got an outside chance at the title, but he's got a really good chance, and I'd have really liked to see him win, but we've got to march forward no matter what."

As was the case 24 hours earlier, Pro 2 was first on the ticket, and Greaves lined up sixth to increase the feelings of dŽjˆ vu. But Greaves got an even more fantastic start on this day, going three-wide through Turn 1 and eventually storming his way up to second behind Carl Renezeder. After the restart from the competition caution, Greaves came under attack from Jeremy McGrath, and eventually he and eventual winner Rob MacCachren demoted Greaves to fourth.

On the next lap, the Tundra slowed abruptly exiting Turn 2, with Adrian Cenni literally having to drive over its left side. A few yards later, Greaves pulled off and parked.

"We broke a header early in the race," he explained. "It hurt my top end power, but I was pretty surprised we were able to hang with Carl, and I knew when we did the restart everybody was going to get a run on me and they all just started banging. It is what it is; I got hit too many times, and it twisted the driveshaft and we were done."

Greaves didn't get much time to contemplate his Pro 2 misfortune, though, as right afterward he and Huseman had to jump in their Pro 4 Tundras to start in sixth and fourth, respectively. But it didn't take long for things to get interesting, as the Team Tundra pair made contact in Turn 1 on lap 1.

By the end of the opening lap, Greaves was third and Huseman was fourth. The next lap, they both moved up one spot to second and third, respectively, and second was as high as Greaves would get: He would finish just behind winner Kyle LeDuc.

"I was way too conservative in the beginning," he lamented. "I was just waiting on the yellow and seeing if those guys would take each other out. Travis [Coyne] got sideways and pinched me off and a bunch got by me and I knew I was in trouble. I made a charge at it, it was just too late."

Huseman, on the other hand, managed to take the lead on the restart from the competition yellow, but eventually slipped back to fourth for the second race in a row.

"I can't complain," he mused, citing how many points he racked up on the day. "We felt like we had the race today, but unfortunate things happened. Can't win 'em all."

Finally, after such a strong performance the day before, everybody was anxious to see if Kincaid could do the double in Pro Lite. Things started out well, battling his way up to third by lap 5 after starting sixth.

Shortly after the restart he worked his way up to second, but when negotiating the rhythm section at the top of the hill on lap 11, it happened: The Tacoma skidded sideways, left the track and rolled. Kincaid was able to get back to the pits despite losing a tire, but he also lost a lap in the pits. He returned to the action and even managed to pass a handful of trucks before crossing the line in a disappointing 15th position.

"We had a great day today, coming back from sixth spot, working our way up to second three-quarters of the race," he recalled. "Just got a little squirrelly in one corner, hooked the berm and put me up on my roof and back on my wheels, but I couldn't gather it up and get back toward the front. Just not enough time to do it."

Saturday:

Driver	Truck	Class	Number Finish
Johnny Greaves	Pro 2	4	3rd
Jeff Kincaid	Pro Lite	4	1st
Johnny Greaves	Pro 4	4	3rd
Rick Huseman	Pro 4	3	4th

Sunday:

Driver	Truck	Class	Number Finish
Johnny Greaves	Pro 2	4	18th
Rick Huseman	Pro 4	3	4th
Johnny Greaves	Pro 4	4	2nd
Jeff Kincaid	Pro Lite	4	15th