Event Facts: Antigo Lions Roaring Raceway
For the third time in the four year history of the series, AMSOIL Championship Off-Road presented by the U.S. Air Force will kick off its season on the Langlade County Fairgrounds at the Antigo Lions Roaring Raceway
The venue, which hosted its first off-road race back in 1988, is a unique stop on the Champ Off-Road circuit in that it is the only track on schedule with a dirt oval stock car track as its base, featuring jumps throughout the oval and infield. Different from the past two Antigo Off-Road Nationals is this year’s track layout. It will be ran in reverse and includes updated features as designed by 7x PRO4 Champion Kyle LeDuc.
Champ Off-Road kicks off the 2023 season with exciting additions to the series, including a new venue for the season finale at Jay, Oklahoma’s MidAmerica Outdoors and the addition of the U.S. Air Force as presenting sponsor of the series.
Success at the Langlade County Fairgrounds has often translated to success elsewhere, evidenced by Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Famers Scott Douglas and Scott Taylor being the all-time wins leaders at the facility in PRO4 and PRO2, respectively.
Pro Truck Storylines
CJ Greaves further added to his decorated career last season, joining his father and Kyle LeDuc as the only seven-time champions in PRO4 history. The 28 year old Greaves will begin the journey to his 8th title at Antigo, a track that he has not lost a PRO4 race at.
Also looking to become the first ever 8-time PRO4 champion in history is the category’s all-time wins leader Johnny Greaves. Despite having more PRO4 starts at Antigo than any other driver, the off-road icon has never won at the track, something he will look to change with an all-new truck in 2023.
With 2022 champion Jerett Brooks taking a step back from full-time short course competition, the US Air Force PRO2 2023 title is wide open for the taking. Several past winners in the class will battle multiple newcomers to claim the crown in perhaps the sport’s most competitive class.
The PRO2 drivers to beat at Antigo in 2022 were Mickey Thomas and Ricky Gutierrez, who took home the first two checkered flags of the season last year. Both finished the season in the Top-5 in points and will attempt to start their 2023 campaigns the same way they did their 2022 efforts.
All eyes in PRO LITE are on defending class champion Kyle Greaves and the always stacked class has many contenders waiting to knock him off his throne, including multiple past winners. Greaves has never won at Antigo and will look to change that to begin his title defense.
The fast-growing PRO SPEC class will more than double in size for the 2023 season, with drivers from all walks of short course racing looking to take the title Gray Leadbetter claimed last season. Leadbetter and Nick Visser took the PRO SPEC wins at Antigo last season. Class rookies include Matt Cunningham, Paul Hayward, Tony Keepers, Dylan Parsons, Chad Rayford, and Justin Tessmer.
Pro Buggy Storylines
Michael Meister comes into the season off of his 5th career Pro Buggy championship in 2022. Meister has won 3 of the 4 Pro Buggy races at Antigo the last two seasons and is the favorite to find himself at the front again in 2023.
Mark Steinhardt picked up a win at Antigo in Round 2 of the 2022 season to kick off a campaign that saw him finish 2nd in the season standings. With countless championships in the 1600 Buggy divisions, Steinhardt is chasing his elusive first Pro Buggy championship.
Pro SxS Storylines
The Pro Stock SxS championship was won the last two seasons by Brock Heger, who will be focusing on desert racing for 2023. This leaves the door open for new title contenders, including 3-time Pro Stock champion CJ Greaves looking to win his first title with Polaris.
The 2022 Pro Turbo SxS season was chaotic to say the least, with 6 different drivers taking wins in the 11 rounds of racing. New Zealander Hamish Kelsey emerged from the chaos victorious, taking home the championship over countless SxS veterans in his first full season racing in the midwest.
Pro Stock SxS is set to see many new faces in its ranks for 2023, from multiple graduates of Pro-Am SxS to proven Pro short course winners, including Andrew Carlson’s first foray into the stock class and Dave Mason Jr’s brand new Honda program.
The battle within the battle in AMSOIL Pro Turbo SxS is the manufacturer war. Each manufacturer is represented by multiple contenders, including Rodney and Owen VanEperen for Yamaha, the Polaris trio of Greaves, Carlson, and Robert Loire, and Can-Am’s Kyle Chaney.
You can watch live all season long on the FloRacing network and at a later date on the CBS Sports Network (air dates TBD). For more information on how can follow along with the racing action in Antigo, click here.
The 2022 race season commences June 10-11 in Antigo, Wis., at the Antigo Lions Roaring Raceway for the Antigo Off-Road National. For event information, click here.
About Amsoil Championship Off-Road: Comprised of the best of the best competition and crown jewel venues, AMSOIL Championship Off-Road presented by the US Air Force is short course racing at its best. AMSOIL Championship Off-Road presented by the US Air Force and AMSOIL Championship Snocross are owned and operated by the International Series of Champions (ISOC) out of Albertville, Minn. For more information on its events and schedules, go to www.champoffroad.com.
