SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/602700
landmark," LeDuc said. "For anybody in any class. The whole thing has to come together; logistics, pre-running, having pits and chase trucks in the right places. When you get involved in our sport, you think you know how to win. If I do this and that I am going to win. But until you actually win, you just think you know how to do it. When I won my first Baja 500 overall in the Don-A-Vee Jeep Trophy Truck in 1995, Ivan Stewart told me that he now knew I would be a threat from there on out. I had led races, and had some success, but until then I had not won." As with any desert off-road racer, the ultimate goal is to win the Baja 1000. For LeDuc, it was also an accomplishment he finally achieved. "To grow up in Massachusetts and read about SCORE racing in magazines for 20 years, move my family out to California and immerse myself in racing and then later win the Baja 1000 was achieving the ultimate goal." LeDuc was also proud to be part of the creation of Trophy Truck and to see this class thriving today. "To be part of the founding group of Trophy Truck, going to Jimmy Smith's, and come up with the rules with guys like Cal Wells, and to be part of that with Don-A-Vee, was a huge career highlight for me," said LeDuc. "We wanted to set ourselves apart. We wanted to be the biggest, the baddest, and the fastest in the desert. To see that carry through to today, so many years later is a tribute to Jimmy Smith, Frank Vessels, Walker Evans and all those guys that had the vision for where our sport could go." Like many drivers, LeDuc relishes the challenge racing a Trophy Truck brings. "I think what drives SCORE, is that people in this sport want a challenge. They have had success in their lives, marriage, business, partnerships but they need a challenge. SCORE racing allows people from all walks of life to tackle a huge challenge, and it keeps bringing them back." LeDuc didn't just make an impact in off-road racing on the track. He also created the Off Road Swap Meet that continues CURT LEDUC HAS BEEN INFLUENTIAL TO FANS AND RACERS THROUGHOUT HIS RACING CAREER. to this day and is held twice a year. "Starting the off road swap meet was the best way I could give back to the sport," says LeDuc. "Before the swap meet there were no places to buy used parts. Now a kid can come to the swap meet, buy some shocks, and seats and in a couple weeks they are out in Barstow bouncing their truck around having fun. " The Trophy Truck class has been dominated by youth and exuberance this season. However, the wisdom, experience and treachery a veteran brings to the table is formidable. After 30 years of off-road racing, LeDuc knows all the tricks of the trade. "I can read the dirt, look at the tire tracks of someone in front of me, and tell how hard they are pushing," says LeDuc. "I never had a helicopter at a race, so I would put my radio on the Herbst channel. Then I could tell what was happening or if there was a problem on the course. When I am chasing a guy and he comes to his pits, I switch to his radio channel. I want to hear what they are telling him, will they short pit him or something else. When you come up to a road crossing at night, turn off all the lights except one in the middle. The guys in the pits think you are a quad or a bike and they don't send their car out ahead of you, and you drive by. If you are on a dry lake at night you flip the lights down, it can give you an extra six miles 013 SCORE JOURNAL