CORR: Kyle LeDuc Discusses Pro 4 Sweep at Chula Vista II

Kyle LeDuc (above) keeps redefining himself.

The youngest member of Rockstar Makita Team LeDuc started his rookie season in Championship Off-Road Racing’s Pro 4 class wanting to get a podium finish before the eight-event, 16-round season was over. He did that with a second-place finish in round four.

He wanted to establish himself as a consistent front-runner, and he did that with top-10 finishes in three of the next four rounds. Then came the first win, at Pomona on August 16, and LeDuc said that was “huge.” Then on Saturday, September 13, after he had held off defending class champion Carl Renezeder for his second win, LeDuc talked of being “one of the big boys” in the class.

Sunday, LeDuc established himself as one of the best of the big boys when he completed a sweep of CORR’s second visit to “The Quarry” in Chula Vista by besting class heavyweights Johnny Greaves and Renezeder. His third win in four races moved LeDuc to fourth in the point standings, 47 behind co-leaders Renezeder and Rick Huseman with two events and four rounds of racing remaining.

Saturday, LeDuc had taken the lead on the first lap and held it all the way. Sunday, he started his Rockstar Makita Ford in ninth, but had moved into second by the time the mandatory caution flag waved on lap five. LeDuc took the lead from Huseman on lap 12 of 15 and held off a charge by Greaves while Huseman faded to fourth.

“I felt really good on the last lap with Johnny closing in on me,” said LeDuc, who went into the weekend fifth in the standings, 81 points behind Scott Douglas. “He’s good and he’s a clean driver so I knew he wouldn’t bag me. Back-to-back wins are unbelievable.”

The weekend was a mixed bag for the other members of the team.

Team leader Curt LeDuc, who had been relegated to last place in the 15-truck Pro 4 field on Saturday due to mechanical problems, rebounded on Sunday to finish seventh and remain eighth in the point standings.

Pro 2 contender Todd LeDuc, whose string on six straight top four finishes had been broken by a seventh on Saturday, struggled home in 13th on Sunday after his Rockstar Makita Ford was damaged in an incident with Scott Taylor while the two were battling for third on the final lap. Todd remained third in the class point standings, but lost 35 points and now trails leader Rob MacCachren by 95 with events remaining at Primm, Nevada, October 25-26, and Chula Vista, December 6-7.

Pro Lite rookie Brian Deegan, the freestyle motocross star who created the famed Metal Mulisha, had a variety of issues with his Rockstar Makita Ford en route to a 19th-place finish on Sunday and remains 10th in the standings.  

In addition to Rockstar Energy Drink, Makita Industrial Power Tools, Ford Trucks and Toyo Tires, the team is sponsored by Kal-Gard Racing Lubricants, K&N Air Filters, KC Hilites, KMC Wheels, Precision Gears, Mogi Transmissions, Ringers Gloves, Automatic Transmission Design (ATD), MSD Ignitions, Sign Pros and Dragon Optics.