Today at the 2015 SEMA Show, Skyjacker announced a new partnership with the LeDuc family, including patriarch Curt and his sons Kyle and Todd. Skyjacker’s Lonnie McCurry Sr. and Jr. were on hand to make the announcement and introduce the racers, citing the company’s involvement with the family and their sponsorship and racing relations in the past.
The LeDuc family will help develop the line of coilover kits that will be sold under the Skyjacker Suspensions brand, and the family will also race in a new Skyjacker Trophy Truck next year (its big unveil will be at the 2016 Mint 400). Curt LeDuc, who was recently inducted into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame, commented on his involvement with Skyjacker and what he brings to the table with the partnership.
“I’ve had a lot of opportunities to race and travel and I’ve used my experience to make the cars better,” Curt said. “I’ve passed that on to my sons, both Todd and Kyle, and I look forward to this involvement with Skyjacker. I fly back there and we work on graphics and suspension and spring rates to get them up to speed on what it takes with a coilover kit and what the difference is. I would do these kinds of projects on a one-off rig, you know, and I would send it down to Baja and it could race for the next 10 years, but I’ve taken that experience and involved it into something that the regular consumer can buy, bolt on themselves and go out and have that good ride and good longevity.”
Curt’s son Kyle, fresh off defending his Pro 4 Championship in the Lucas Oil Off-Road Series, also reminisced about his beginnings and how Skyjacker was involved in starting his race career.
“It’s been a long road for me,” Kyle said. “I know he [Lonnie Sr.] talks about 2003 and that’s a long time ago. They helped me start in Pro Light and they were my first sponsor, and they raced with my dad a couple of years before that. It’s been a long career, and I thank you guys a lot for helping me get started and keeping me pushing and keeping me motivated to win races, and now we’re here with a beautiful Trophy Truck behind us. It’s been a long road so I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”
Todd also drove for Skyjacker early on in his career, and he said the pairing of the two families is a positive relationship he looks forward to growing.
“You guys took the risk and were one of my first sponsors also in short-course racing, and you guys are a really tight family, and so are we,” Todd said. “I think Curt brings a lot of the old school and we bring a lot of the youth, so it’s a good balance with everybody. You guys are a great company, you guys are growing, and I’m proud to be associated with you guys. This Trophy Truck is going to be a lot of fun racing out in the desert, and hopefully we have a lot of years developing and growing as a company and our families.”
We also talked with Curt about his induction into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame at a ceremony at the start of the week.
“I don’t know what to say,” Curt said. “It’s a validation of all of the hard work, and all of the sponsors, and all of the people that have helped me, the tire companies, wheel companies, shock companies, it just validates that all of the hard work can pay off. There are some great inductees ahead of me, and there will be some great ones behind me.
“I’m proud of my legacy. I had two of my grand kids at the ceremony the other day, and it was a great time. I always say I have a few friends that are esteemed and powerful in their world as I am in mine, and I enjoy their company more than anything in the world, and I had about 500 of them at that party the other night, so it was a great time.”
Be on the lookout for more information regarding the upcoming LeDuc coilover line from Skyjacker Suspensions, and to stay up to date with the company be sure to visit them at Skyjacker.com.
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