ERX Cooks in Triple-Digit Heat as AMSOIL Championship Off-Road Hits the Halfway Mark

Rounds seven and eight at Elk River turned into a two-day survival test, and the guys who kept their trucks together came away with the points that matter most.

A Track That Fights Back

Elk River doesn't hand anybody a clean weekend, and this one delivered exactly what regulars have come to expect from ERX Motor Park. Saturday brought temperatures into the mid-to-upper 90s with barely a breath of wind, and Sunday cranked the heat index up past the 100 degree mark. Add in a circuit that gets rougher and more rutted out with every lap, and you get a recipe for broken parts, blown tires, and drivers hanging everything out just to survive to the checkered flag.

By the time the dust settled on Sunday, the 2026 AMSOIL Championship Off-Road season presented by Brunt Workwear had run eight rounds across four national weekends, officially crossing the season's halfway point. The points battles across almost every class are tightening up fast, and this weekend reshuffled more than a few of them.

None of the four-wheel classes felt the punishment more than PRO4. Saturday's finale saw points leader Jimmy Henderson jump out front before mechanical trouble knocked him out of contention, handing the lead to CJ Greaves. Mickey Thomas reeled Greaves in and made a pass just corners before the mid-race caution, but a flat tire one lap after the restart put Greaves back in charge for good. Greaves held off a hard-charging Cole Mamer to bag his second win in a row.

Thomas Answers Back on Sunday

Sunday flipped the script. Thomas, Henderson, and Andrew Carlson swapped the point through the opening lap before Carlson picked up a flat tire, then Henderson caught a rut entering the split lane and triggered a pileup that let Thomas break clear. A stop-and-go penalty for a yellow-flag violation briefly cost him the lead to RJ Anderson, but Thomas grabbed it back within a lap and held on through a truck-length duel to the line for his third win of the season and second straight weekend on top.

Greaves salvaged third after a late trip to the hot pit dropped him a lap down, which was enough to flip the points lead away from Henderson, who failed to finish. It's the kind of shakeup that makes the back half of a season worth watching, and PRO4 now heads into the next round with three different drivers who could realistically end up wearing the number one plate.

Streaks Everywhere You Look

PRO2 belonged to the Greaves and Beat rivalry all weekend, with Kyle Greaves taking Saturday and Johnny Holtger sneaking past him at Talladega Turn with three corners to go on Sunday for his second win of the year. PRO Spec turned into a Chris Van Den Elzen showcase. He led flag to flag both days, held off a hard-charging Wyatt Miller who lost it in the final corner Sunday, and walked away with a season-best three-race win streak.

PRO Buggy told a similar story on the other side of the paddock. Jordan Bernloehr, racing in front of his hometown crowd, made the pass on Tony Keepers on lap twelve Sunday to complete a weekend sweep, his third straight win at ERX and fourth all time at the track. Meanwhile Jeb Bootle kept doing what Bootle does, sweeping both PRO SxS and putting together a heavyweight duel with points leader Cross Kirchmeier to take PRO Stock SxS as well, stretching his SxS win total to six on the year.

Joey Maciosek picked up his second PRO Lite win of the season on Sunday after a wire-to-wire drive, edging out points leader Connor Barry, who still walked away with the championship lead intact. It's shaping up to be a genuine four-way fight in that class the rest of the summer.

What It Means Heading Into the Back Half

Nobody left Elk River with the points lead untouched. Henderson's DNF on Sunday cracked open PRO4, Van Den Elzen and Bernloehr both put real separation between themselves and the field in their classes, and Bootle's SxS run is starting to look like the story of the season if nobody slows him down soon. With the schedule now past its midpoint, every round from here carries more weight, and drivers who can keep their trucks in one piece through weekends like this one are going to be the ones racing for a title in September.

Weekend Standouts at ERX

A quick rundown of who made the most noise at Elk River this past weekend.

1. Mickey Thomas: Battled through a stop-and-go penalty to win PRO4 on Sunday, his third of the season.
2. CJ Greaves: Took PRO4 on Saturday for his second straight win in the class.
3. Chris Van Den Elzen: Swept PRO Spec both days and stretched his win streak to three straight races.
4. Jordan Bernloehr: Completed a PRO Buggy sweep on home turf, his third ERX win in a row.
5. Jeb Bootle: Swept PRO SxS and outdueled Cross Kirchmeier for the PRO Stock SxS win too.
6. Joey Maciosek: Led wire to wire for his second PRO Lite win of 2026.
7. Johnny Holtger: Made the winning move on Kyle Greaves in the closing corners for the PRO2 win Sunday.

← More from the Live On Dirt blog