Adrian Cenni headlines wild Bark River weekend

Last-lap scrambles, wrecks that took out frontrunners, a drag race to the finish, and even the water truck used to put moisture on the track rolling over were among the film reel of moments in a very eventful Championship Off-Road weekend at Bark River International Raceway.

In the top-flight Pro 4, C.J. Greaves, Adrian Cenni, and Cole Mamer all suffered flat tyres or mechanical issues on Saturday, but Greaves was able to rebound after pitting and capitalised on the other two’s problems to win. Greaves’ luck ran out on Sunday, however, after contact with Jimmy Henderson sent him spinning into the wall. Henderson received a penalty shortly after, which cycled the top spot back to Cenni who scored his first Pro 4 win under COR sanction.

“It’s a culmination of teamwork that’s finally coming together,” said Cenni. “We got some really good guys and once the setup’s right, then it’s hopefully I don’t make too many mistakes and just be patient.

“It was tough out there to see. There was a lot of dust. They didn’t prep a couple of the turns after Pro 2 so very slippery. If you didn’t get turned on entry, you kind of got pushed out to the side and it was hopefully wait for the guys in front of you to do that and try to sneak in front.”

Behind Cenni, Mamer suffered another mechanical failure on the final lap that allowed Andrew Carlson to take third despite going off course and falling to last on the opening circuit. Mamer’s issue was not the only time a driver went from taking the white flag in prime points position only to walk away penniless, nor was it the lone instance of Carlson capitalising upon said misfortune: Carlson spun on the last lap in the Sunday Pro Turbo SxS race while chasing down Kyle Chaney for the win, dropping him to third; Greaves passed Carlson for the spot, only for the former’s car to break down just meters from the finish line.

In Pro Lite’s Race #1, Trey Gibbs suffered substantial body damage only to steal second from Matt Wood when the latter’s truck came to a stop on the penultimate corner. Saturday winner Brody Eggleston flipped on the first lap the next day as did Gibbs, the latter doing so from the lead. Like Gibbs, Pro SPEC driver Chris Van Den Elzen went over while running first, adding to a difficult 2023 season.

Other classes had cleaner final laps but made up for it with wild finishes. Ryan Beat, a week removed from his Stadium Super Trucks weekend in Nashville ending with mechanical failure from contact, scored his first Pro 2 win at Bark River on Saturday by passing SST alumnus Keegan Kincaid in the last turn.

Beat’s win was one of a handful of dramatic runs to the checkered on Saturday. Jordan Bernloehr barely survived a side-by-side sprint with Michael Meister to win Pro Buggy on Saturday; Meister had found a run in the final corner before diving to Bernloehr’s inside, only for the latter to hit his stride in the closing run. Pro Am SxS came down to the last turn as well when Tyler Remmereid was harangued by David Gay throughout the final laps before the two made contact, which allowed Gay to pull ahead while Remmereid had to hold off a last-ditch move by Bill Berger for second.

After coming up short on Saturday, Meister’s Sunday was hell on earth. Leader Mike Kirkham spun in front of Meister and Larry Job, causing the three to wreck together. Meister’s team repaired the left-rear wheel, only for the one on the right front to also be damaged. The car eventually lost its hood before blowing its engine, setting up a one-lap run to the finish that Mark Steinhardt won.

Kyle Kleiman scored a podium in Race #2 in his first Pro 2 weekend of the year. Pro 2 regular John Holtger endured a rough weekend that included bowing out of both races in his Pro 4 début.

Class winners

Pro

Sportsman