Chandler, AZ – The Rigid Industries LED Lighting Torture Team descended on the season opener for the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series (LOORRS) at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Arizona. After an off season that seemed like an eternity, the Torture Team was back on the dirt banging rev limiters and fenders as they clawed their way to the front of the pack. The team demonstrated that sometimes you’re the hammer… Sometimes you’re the nail. Kyle Leduc hammered the Pro-4 field in round one. He started by setting the fastest time in qualifying and backed it up with the victory.

Torture Team member Ricky Johnson was on the podium in third. In round two, a race that was filled with heavy contact, it was Ricky’s turn to stand on the top of the podium; Kyle got nailed. “Saturday we were out front all day,” says Kyle, “Every time we touched the dirt, we were setting the pace. We had the Rigid Industries star logo shining in front of the huge crowd and the competition. Sunday was a crash fest and we got tied up in it all. I tangled with a couple trucks and then Carl spun out in front of me; I had nowhere to go.” Kyle limped in for a ninth place finish.

In Pro-2 round one, Torture Team racers Marty Hart, Myan Spaccarelli and Rodrigo Ampudia finished in a train. They were all on the lead lap but the best finish was Marty in fifth place. Jeremy McGrath and Bryce Menzies were knocked out early. RJ Anderson was sidelined when he nailed another competitor stopped on the track. RJ was at full song off a blind jump when he spotted the stalled truck in his landing zone. RJ did a miraculous job of attempting to avoid the crash but trucks just don’t turn in midair. The contact broke his front suspension and steering.

Round two was much better for the Torture Team. Bryce Menzies qualified second fastest and then checked out from the pack during the race for a decisive win.

This was the first race back in the Lucas Oil Series for Bryce and his Menzies Motorsports teammate Ricky Johnson. They have been racking up championships in the TORC Series for years and are now back racing LOORRS. Their success at the Redbull Frozen Rush where the two and Torture Team member Johnny Greaves swept the podium for Rigid Industries was an indicator to what the pair has planned for their competitors in 2014.

In Prolite, RJ Anderson was doing what he does best, landing on the podium in third place during round two.

Casey Currie, Kyle Hart, Ryan Beat and Brandon Arthur ran in the top half of the field to secure valuable points in the season long championship battle. It’s smarter to run your best pace and finish than to push too hard and crash. This was the debut of Brandon Arthur in the Prolite field. He tested the limits of his new truck during qualifying when he rolled it. He landed on the tires and kept going; posting his fastest lap the next time around. He finished 12th in round one but got hammered in round two when he was sandwiched by two others on the first lap breaking his front end.

The Rigid Industries LED Lighting Torture Team will rebuild and repair in time to hit the next two rounds of LOORRS racing on April 25-26 at the Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park in Lake Elsinore, California. If you like action, you won’t want to miss it!

Photography By: Bink Designs
www.binkdesigns.com