There was a time when Johnny Greaves dominated the Championship Off-Road Racing series from his backyard in Abrams, Wis.
Then Jim Baldwin bought CORR, shifted the short-course series to off-roading's Southern California roots and turned Greaves into a road warrior.
“We had it a lot better when the series was back East,” the three-time champion of CORR's featured four-wheel drive pickup class said as he prepared for this weekend's doubleheader at The Quarry in Chula Vista.
“The first year that Baldwin owned the series, it was OK because four races were in the Midwest and four were out here. But with all the racing out here now, I'm stranded a little.”
But this year is better than 2007, when Greaves ran his operations out of his Wisconsin shop.
“Last year we were constantly traveling because we ran both CORR and the new Midwest series,” he said.
Greaves decided this season to concentrate on CORR. So he purchased a home with a shop in Temecula that serves as his team's base.
“There's always one or two members of the team living in Temecula and working on the trucks,” said the 42-year-old driver. “We all go back and forth because our homes are in the Green Bay area.
“But we spend as much time here as there. After the end of the season, we'll again evaluate where we are.”
Going into this season, Greaves was CORR's all-time leader in race wins with 66 in four divisions. In addition to the three Pro-4 championships, Greaves won two titles in the Pro Buggy division with race wins coming in four classes.
And although he was eclipsed in career race wins by Carl Renezeder this season, Greaves remains one of the most identifiable drivers on the CORR circuit.
During the formative days of the short-course series, Greaves became something of a cult hero to fans who found replays on CORR races on cable networks at about 3 in the morning.
Tomorrow's racing at The Quarry will be televised live on the Speed Channel (2:30 p.m.). In July, Chula Vista hosted the first CORR event to be televised live by a network.
“The series is really taking off,” said Greaves, who will be running Toyota pickups in the Pro-2 and Pro-4 divisions tomorrow and Sunday.
Bill Center: (619) 293-1851; bill.center@uniontrib.com
