Rockstar Makita Team LeDuc is Victorious at Crandon International Raceway!

Kyle LeDuc Wins the Prestigious BorgWarner Cup at Crandon Raceway!

Curt LeDuc Takes Home Third in the BorgWarner Cup Challenge
Todd LeDuc Wins Round 11 in Pro 2WD Class

The highly anticipated 40th Anniversary of Crandon International Raceway kicked off over Labor Day weekend to an estimated crowd of nearly 40,000 fans. The live ABC broadcast of the competition not only added to the notoriety of the event, it also brought nation-wide attention to the “small town with big time racing.” With just three more races left (including Crandon) in the Off-Road Championship (TORC) Series, Rounds 11 and 12 brought all-out competitive action in the Pro 4×4 and Pro 2WD classes. Claiming victories in both the 2 wheel and 4 wheel drive classes, the Rockstar / Makita Team LeDuc rightfully earned their spot in the history books during this legendary anniversary race at the venue dubbed “The Big House.”

When the final checkered flag dropped Sunday evening at Crandon International Raceway, it was Kyle LeDuc in the No. 99 Rockstar / Makita Pro 4×4 Ford who earned his first BorgWarner Cup and the 4th Oakley “Bomb Award” of the season for the fastest lap time in the race. Father, Curt LeDuc, the 1998 winner of the coveted BorgWarner Cup, also claimed a podium position in his No. 43 Rockstar / Makita Pro 4×4 Ford by crossing the finish line in third place.

As both LeDucs took to the stage to claim their trophies and the $100,000 sterling silver Cup, it was an obviously emotional and historic accomplishment for the family and crew. Becoming the first “father and son” team to earn podiums in this prestigious race, Curt commented, “It has been an unbelievable day and a great weekend for my family, our team, and our sponsors. To any father who has ever worked with his sons, keep doing it! It does pay off! I couldn’t be more proud of both Kyle and Todd.” In addition to earning the celebrated Cup title, Kyle also takes home a $40,000 cash purse compliments of Crandon International Raceway and another $3,500 cash prize from Ford as a “Racer Performance Award.”

Sunday’s hard-fought victories were in sharp contrast to Saturday’s disappointing Pro 4×4 race as Curt LeDuc suffered a dramatic crash while making a charge for the third position during his 7th lap. Kyle, who had been running in second place, was battling for the lead when he received the black flag during the fifth lap for an incident with the No. 2 truck of Steve Barlow. Forced to go to the back of the pack due to the penalty, Kyle crossed the finish in the 9th position while Curt was able to recover and claim an 8th place finish. As the final points were tallied at the conclusion of the weekend, Kyle will head into the next race in the second points position while Curt currently claims the fifth spot on the points grid.

Saturday’s Round 11 Pro 2WD action found Todd LeDuc claiming the “hole shot” during the land rush start and dominating the field of 19 competitors. Leading entire race from the green flag to the checkers, Todd also earned his first Oakley “Bomb Award” of the season for the fastest lap time. “It is a real honor to take home a win during the 40th Anniversary celebration of Crandon and I can’t thank the fans, the dedicated crew, and my generous sponsors enough for making this possible,” commented Todd LeDuc.

Sunday’s Round 12 brought lots of excitement to the spectators and the television audience as a three-way race for fourth place broke out between Todd LeDuc, Robby Gordon, and Evan Evans just a few hundred feet from the finish. Todd, who was running in fifth, made a last minute charge for fourth and successfully passed Robby Gordon just seconds before crossing the finish line. Gordon and LeDuc made contact during the battle and Robby ended up backwards on the track, ultimately finishing in the sixth position. Todd currently claims the second spot on the points grid and is trailing leader, Ricky Johnson, by just two points! With two races left in the regular season and just two points separating Todd from the leader, the next race at Perris Auto Speedway is sure to be exciting in the Pro 2WD class.

Rockstar / Makita’s Team LeDuc Racing will return to the track for Rounds 13 and 14 of the Traxxas TORC Series racing on September 25 – 26 at Perris Auto Speedway. Coverage of The Off-Road Championship Series Crandon race can be seen Wednesday, September 9th on the ESPN2 Network at 10:30pm Pacific Standard Time.

Rockstar / Makita Team LeDuc Racing is Sponsored by:

Rockstar Energy
Makita Tools
Toyo Tires
KC HiLites
KMC Wheels
King Shocks
MSD Ignition
K&N Filters
MasterCraft Safety
Simpson
Leatt Brace
Ford Trucks
Beco Radiators
Kalgard
United States Air Force

It was an emotional celebration as Kyle takes to the podium to claim his $100,000 sterling silver BorgWarner and 18k gold Crandon Cup. Curt LeDuc also took home the third place finish in the BorgWarner Cup race.

Kyle LeDuc joins the ranks of racing legends, such as recent Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee, Jack Flannery, and his Dad, Curt LeDuc, who have added their name to the BorgWarner Cup.

Kyle LeDuc takes the final turn heading toward the finish to claim his victory in the 16th Annual BorgWarner Cup.

Todd LeDuc charges hard to earn the “hole shot” during the land rush start in Saturday’s Pro 2WD competition. Leading the race from the green flag to the checkered, Todd took home the win and is currently just two points off the leader in the points chase.

Curt LeDuc earned third place and joined his son, Kyle, on the podium during the 16th Annual BorgWarner Cup race.

Todd LeDuc crosses the finish line with the victory in Round 11 of TORC Series competition.

Superlites Fastest Driver Wins Round 5 of the Lucas Oil Offroad Racing Series

Rockstar hart and Huntington Premiere Motorsports Group driver Chad Leising, brought the team their second consecutive SuperLite victory. This is a huge victory for the season as it thins the Championship point’s margin between John Harrah and Chad Leising. Currently Harrah is ahead of Chad by a small lead.

The Rockstar Hart and Huntington PMG Team welcomed Lucas Oil as the title sponsor of Chad’s #17 SuperLite. For everyone involved with the program, it was important to put our best foot forward during the Lake Elsinore event and present Lucas Oil with positive results right on and off the track.

After an awesome first place qualifying session during Friday afternoon, Leising now held the fastest lap time of the SuperLite division going into Round 5 Racing. Starting from fourth position after the inversion, Chad would have to make moves throughout the 10 lap event to gain the lead position. On the opening lap, the young gun Joey Granatelli gets a little sideways and bangs into two other trucks as they were all going into Turn 1 three wide. Chad immediately capitalized and cruised up to 2nd position. The officials opt to restart the race because of the sloppy start. The field was restacked and the green flag waiving the SuperLites powered through the muddy track fighting for position. Chad comes out hauling in 3rd after getting around Granatelli once more. Keeping all the momentum he can muster Chad gains speed and makes a spectacular pass for 2nd over the huge backstretch table top. The action on the track was heating up and the body panels were peeling off several trucks due to the wheel to wheel brutality and contact between competitors. At some point Chad’s lost nearly all of his driver side skins.

The competition yellow was flagged to stack the SuperLites and prepare for an all out sprint to the finish. During the down time, the announcers from Totally Off Road Radio who were doing live commentating had nothing but positive comments about Chad, his consistent driving style and impressive career to date. The heat was intense but the fans seemed to be enjoying the days hot action.
With the green flag out, the spotters strongly encouraging each of their drivers, and loud whine of the Mazda Rotary spinning, The SuperLites powered through the Lake Elsinore Track which featured huge table tops, a rhythm section, 6 turns, and deep bowls making for a fast fun course. Chad chased John Harrah through the track during restart preparing to move in and steal the lead. Harrah spins his #13 SuperLite out in the last turn before the front straight away and Leising cruises into the lead. Chad immediately opens a huge gap over the second place. Harrah shows impressive resilience and closes the gap on the back stretch bringing the action side by side. Both drivers exchanged the lead back and forth bringing the filled to near capacity grandstands on their feet in anticipation. The white flag comes out with Chad in control of the race and running strong. The checkered flag drops with Chad flying through the front tabletop and earning an impressive 1st place victory.

Before the champagne celebration back in the PMG Pits, Chad was interviewed by the SPEED Production Team and then headed to the podium to thank Ryan Busnardo of Rockstar Hart and Huntington Premiere Motorsports Group and all the sponsors of the #17 Lucas Oil SuperLite including Forest Lucas, Bob Patison, and Tony Vanillo for all their hard work and dedication that has gone into the development of the Lucas Oil Off Road Series.

What makes this win even more impressive is during the start the alternator failed. This mechanical issue created a much more complicated scenario leaving Leising and a guest co-driver to fumble with the cars electronics the entire time on the course. Leising’s Crew Chief Craig Stevens determined the remaining battery power would be reserved for oil coolers, MSD box, and radio only. To preserve as much juice as possible they cut the power to the electrical fans for the radiator, cut the parker pumpers that provide fresh air, and switched off power steering down on the straight aways. It was concluded later there was likely only enough battery left for another lap.
The SuperLite FPO Spec Trucks all retain identical power plants creating an even playing field. Chad proved throughout the weekend that he is the most consistent and fastest driver in his division by flying his #17 Lucas Oil SuperLite at speeds just under 50 MPH and lap times that were consistently getting faster. Starting out with a 1:15.5 from Friday’s practice, and a qualifying lap time of 1:15.2, Chad was able to improve his time scoring a 1:12.9 during Sunday’s event. Only John Harrah placed a faster time than Chad with a 1:12.2, also during Sunday.

Chad would like to give a special thanks to Rockstar Hart and Huntington Premier Motorsports group, Lucas Oil, Stevens Motorsports and Ryan Busnardo, for all of their support with bringing in another the great win! We’d like to thank General Tire for all of their support; their company and personnel really stood up and made a positive influence in the races today.
“You’re only as good as your last race. Tomorrow is a new day we are going right back at it for the win!” -#17 Chad Leising

Rockstar / Makita Team LeDuc Takes on Crandon!

Kyle LeDuc Claims 2nd Position in Pro 4×4 Points Chase
Todd LeDuc Moves up to 2nd Position in Pro 2WD Points Chase

Rockstar / Makita’s Team LeDuc took the Brush Run Races by storm, earning a total of seven podium finishes during Rounds 5 and 6 of the Traxxas TORC Series! Celebrating 40 years, Crandon International Raceway hosted two action-packed days of competition as the TORC Series headed east over the Father’s Day weekend for their Wisconsin debut to a crowd of nearly 24,000 fans.

Thundered towards Crandon’s infamous turn one, the Pro 4×4’s created heart-pounding excitement as the biggest names in the sport fought for an early lead during the land-rush start. After the dust settled, it was Kyle LeDuc who would claim the hole shot during Saturday’s Round 5 action while father, Curt, tailed closely behind in the second position. After battling it out and trading positions with Rick Huseman during both Rounds 5 and 6, it was Kyle in the No. 99 Rockstar / Makita Ford and Curt in the No. 43 Rockstar / Makita Ford who would claim the second and third place finishes during both rounds of TORC Series competition. Earning two consecutive silver place podiums during the Brush Run Races, Kyle LeDuc moved up from the fourth to the second spot on the points grid while Curt LeDuc currently holds the fifth points position.

During Saturday’s Round 5 action, Team LeDuc Racing once again claimed the sought-after hole shot when Todd took the early lead over Mark Oberg and Rob MacCachren in his No. 3 Rockstar /Makita Ford Pro 2WD. Battling it out over the 1.75 mile track, Todd fought hard to maintain his lead but in the end it was Rob MacCachren who would claim the first place podium with just two laps to go. Earning two consecutive silver place podiums during Rounds 5 and 6, Todd climbed the points grid and currently maintains the second place position in the TORC Series Pro 2WD class.

As the points races came to a close it was the full-throttle, fender-banging mayhem of the Forest County Potawatomi Chairman’s Cup Challenge that would conclude the weekend’s festivities. With a total contingency purse of $28,500 in prize money, it was a fierce battle for a podium finish between both the two-wheel and four-wheel drive classes. The Pro 2WD’s staged for a staggered start near the notorious Borg Warner corner while the Pro 4×4’s lined up at the starting line. As the Pro 4×4’s charged through turn one, the Pro 2WDs created chaos with a three truck pile-up forcing the four wheel class to dodge the massive carnage. In the end, Curt LeDuc held on strong and survived the high attrition rate of the drastically thinned field to proudly claim third place and earn Team LeDuc Racing the seventh podium finish of the weekend.

Rockstar / Makita’s Team LeDuc Racing will return for Rounds 7 and 8 of Traxxas TORC Series racing on July 11-12 at Bark River Raceway in Michigan. Coverage of The Off-Road Championship Series can be seen on the ESPN2 Network. Check local listings for broadcast times!

Rockstar / Makita Team LeDuc Racing is Sponsored by:

Rockstar Energy
Makita Tools
Toyo Tires
KC HiLites
KMC Wheels
King Shocks
MSD Ignition
K&N Filters
MasterCraft Safety
Simpson
Leatt Brace
Ford Trucks
Beco Radiators
Kalguard