Interview with Off-Road Competitor Colton "CJ" Greaves

You’d be hard-pressed to find a Monster Energy motorsports star who had a more productive competition season this summer than AMSOIL Championship Off-Road (COR) competitor Colton “CJ” Greaves.

The short course off-road racing specialist, son of the great (and still great) Johnny Greaves, stepped ‘er up and won his unprecedented ninth premier PRO 4 division title in COR, toping rival Jimmy Henderson 634-606, with Johnny Greaves picking up the third overall podium spot (571 points).

Then, in PRO SXS, CJ, running a Polaris Factory Team side by side, topped Jeb Bootle by 32 points, 578-546, and backed that up with the PRO SXS STOCK title by a 629-604 count over Owen VanEperen.

Securing his titles at his home track in Crandon, Wisc. (Crandon International Off-Road Speedway), CJ then put the glowing green Monster Energy M-claw logo on the side of his Toyo Tires/Vision Wheels-shod PRO 4 Toyota atop the Red Bull Crandon World Championship Cup race, closing out a spectacular race season for the team out of Suamico, Wisc.

For some 19 years, Monster Energy has sponsored Greaves’ short course off-road racing program, beginning with a helmet jawline deal with Johnny Greaves in 2006 and continuing – for a second generation – with CJ’s excellence on the COR series tracks.

MonsterEnergy.com had a chance to catch up with CJ to get his take on this summer’s COR season and his three-title performance. Here’s what went down…

Monster Energy: Dude, what a weekend at Crandon. You collected three AMSOIL Championship Off-Road titles (PRO 4, PRO SXS & PRO STOCK SXS), along with putting the Monster Energy logo on top of the Red Bull Crandon World Cup race. You and your team gotta be pumped with that. 

CJ Greaves: Yes! We are pumped! It was a crazy season and fall finale. As the season progressed, and we realized we were in a position to potentially win all three, it just felt a little surreal. Going into Crandon we just wanted to make sure we had our I's dotted and T's crossed, leaving the business up to me. It was an unreal weekend (and I) still can't believe we were able to pull off the hat trick as well as the Cup race! 

ME: Rewind a bit back to the start of the ’24 COR season. You’d won four-straight COR PRO 4 titles dating back to the first year for the series in 2020. You and your team obviously knew how to get things done. Talk about your preseason strategy heading into the opening COR round at the Lena (Wisc.) Dirt City Motorplex, May 18-19. 

CJ: Going back to 2020 we have been on a four title streak, with last year being the first person to break seven titles – putting us at eight. Going into this year, knowing that we had a chance to put number nine up, that this one was going to be even tougher - let alone with a brand new truck. The game plan was just to do what we did best and grind it out throughout the year. We wanted to never get caught being down in the weekend or the race and continue to stride forward all the time.

ME: At Dirt City you got off to a slow start – shut off the podium on both Saturday and Sunday. Then the following race, in Antigo, Wisc., you went 1-1. What was the key to the turnaround there – and was that the event that set you on your way to winning your fourth-straight COR PRO 4 title?

CJ: Lena (Dirt City, Wisc.) definitely had a set a slow start. But we knew we had the speed leading every lap when we were 100-percent. Being a brand new truck we knew that there was a possibility of some random gremlins because there always is. After Lena, first and foremost, the plan was to go back to the companies we work with and sort out the issue we had. Once we knew we had that squared away, I knew it was back to doing business as normal and doing my thing.

ME: Sticking with PRO 4, you’ve battled over the years with some of the all-time greats in the sport, basically since you were 16 years old. Jeff Kincaid, Rick Johnson, Adrian Cenni, Bryce Menzies to name a few. … Oh, and your dad (laughter). Talk a bit about the new school COR racers like Jimmy Henderson, Kainan Baker and Paul Wolff and how they compare to the short course off-road PRO 4 greats you’ve battled in the past.

CJ: Throughout the years of PRO 4 we've definitely battled with a lot of legends. As the sport continues to grow, we continue to get new drivers in and out, the competition is always stout, and I have a blast racing with them. I wouldn't say the competition has really changed in a sense, just more or less the names changing which keeps the class interesting, exciting, and a blast to be a part of.

ME: The PRO STOCK SXS win by a 629-604 count. At what point in the season were you able to secure that crown – and what was the story behind it?

CJ: My pro stock championship came down over Owen VanEperen. We know he's always fast and battled with him for many years already. My Polaris XP 1000, which is also a brand new platform to the class, and our team performed awesome year. The platform is fairly similar to my car from last year, so we knew we just had to get the bugs worked out early, keep our head down, and run our laps.

ME: The transition at races between PRO 2 and PRO 4 trucks is understandable to the average short course fan. But when you get into switching seats – on the same race day – from PRO trucks to Side by Sides, how does that work?

CJ: PRO side-by-side has always been an up-and-down battle with us, going in and out of the class. We only captured one other mod (modified) side-by-side title a few years back, so that made us want to dig just that much harder. Coming into the year on an all new platform to the class we weren't really sure what our expectations would be in the side-by-side class. But our team does what we continued to do - just grind forward on the platform. With our team, alongside our awesome Polaris family, we continued to develop the car throughout the year, putting us in a position with a few rounds to go to have a chance at the title. We just did our best to never give up and continue to dig at making that car a little bit better every week. Moving over to the PRO STOCK side-by-side, we have been in that class for many years with a lot of years of success. Last year, getting our first championship with Polaris was really something to put on the pedestal. Moving forward, we always know backing up that the first one is going to be challenging as well. We had great battles all year, making it a little better being that (competitor) Jeb Bootle houses out of our shop as well. So to have some championships go down to the last weekend with one of your friends is almost as good as going down to the end with your dad (laughter).

ME: The AMSOIL Championship Off-Road series seems to be on a healthy growth curve, attracting more and more fans each year and expanding its race venues. What’s COR got in store for the racers and fans in 2025?

CJ: Championship off-road has definitely been on the upswing the last few years. Coming into 2025 we’re excited to go to Wheatland, Missouri for the first time ever!

ME: OK. Here’s one… Who’s faster in short course and why… your dad in his prime or you right now?

CJ: Man, who is faster in short course? My dad and his prime or myself right now? I would say being that the vehicles have gotten so much better and faster, I would have the advantage, but it would definitely be interesting to get my dad in his prime and put myself in the race truck he was at that time and see what we can hash it out!

ME: And… your dad in his prime on a dirt bike, supercross and motocross, or you?

CJ: Oh, you’re bringing it way back now. I think my dad definitely has me beat on the dirt bike side. I got out of motocross at 14 so it’s hard to say, but that man is just an animal!

ME: Right on. What’s your plans for the rest of 2024?

CJ: Definitely a little downtime, some fishing, little RC racing, and a little bit of traveling. Then it’s back to work getting some customer cars built.

ME: Alright, CJ. Thanks for your time. And congrats from everyone here at Monster Energy HQ. 

CJ: Thank you guys for all the support over the years and we look forward to continuing to do great things together!