STEPPIN’ UP

Don’t look now, but 2008 double off-road champion Heidi Steele in on the move in a big way.

“That’s right, and I’m super excited about it,” Steele said.

“Eventually I’d like to race in Trophy Truck,” the perennially 21-year-old (don’t you dare ask her age!) Steele added. “That’s the goal.”

With that goal in mind, starting with the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge Steele will be partnering with Best In The Desert Class 7200 racer Ross Savage of Newport Beach, California, and will split time behind the wheel of Savage’s unlimited Ford Ranger, which slots into SCORE Class 6, and the Ford Ranger that she and co-driver Rene Brugger used to win championships in Best in the Desert and in SCORE in 2008.

“I’m going to race with Ross in Class 6, and I will still be with Rene in our truck, but instead of Class 7SX, we will be racing in Class 7 Open this year,” Steele said. “We’re just keeping our options open.”

Steele will be heading into this weekend’s SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge with only three laps of practice behind the wheel of Savage’s Ford Ranger, but even that was enough to really open her eyes to the differences between it and the Lucas Oil/Yokohama truck in which she and Brugger were so successful in ’08.

“Ross’ truck is incredibly different than mine,” Steele said. “The truck really leans over. Having the link suspension in the back and A-arms in the front, it’s like a whole different world. But I’m learning it, and I think it’s going to be lots of fun once I master it.”

Savage told Off-Road.com that he thinks it won’t be long before Steele is chewing on the big boys in SCORE Class 6 and BITD Class 7200.

“I was really surprised,” Savage said. “I had never ridden with Heidi before, and when we got into our pre-runner it just blew me away how talented she is. Then we got into my truck, and it was unbelievable how quickly she progressed. I think that she has the potential to do really well in this class. She has a lot of knowledge, and I definitely think that we can learn from each other and see where this takes us.”

Steele said that while she hopes to race with Savage as much as possible in 2009, her schedule hasn’t been cemented just yet.

“We haven’t made any final decisions,” Steele said. “Basically, we’re going to figure it out after this race, but I’m definitely going to be racing a more unlimited truck than 7SX allows. I’m not even going to race 7SX this year. It was great winning two championships last year, but I don’t want to do the same thing. I want to take on a new challenge.”

No surprises: Steele said that Trophy Truck-ragin’ hubby Cameron Steele is 100-percent behind her decision to move up in class.

“Cameron is really stoked,” Steele said. “He wants to get me into his Trophy Truck sometime this year, but we really need to pick the right race for that. I’ve only ridden in his truck one time, so I don’t have a lot of experience with it, and with that limited experience I could tell that is going to be another big step. So, I might as well start heading that way now, right?”

No arguments here, Heidi. Check back on Off-Road.com for a complete update on Heidi Steele and the rest of the tough competition at the 2009 SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge.