West Cost off-road stars Kyle Leduc, Currie & Anderson “in” for TORC/SoCal
Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Pro 4 Unlimited champ Leduc and Pro Lite champ Anderson w/ Currie to mix it up @ TORC Lancaster round
By Pat Schutte
INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 26, 2012) – The 2012 Traxxas TORC Series, presented by AMSOIL stops at Antelope Valley Raceway in southern California this week for the series’ final rounds on Sat., Sept. 29. And joining TORC’s points chases in the premier PRO 4x4 class and the tightly-contested PRO Light division will be three of the west coast series’ top drivers – Kyle Leduc (PRO 4 Unlimited champ), RJ Anderson (PRO Lite champ) along with the always fast Casey Currie.
“TORC is pleased to welcome three of the west coast’s finest short course off-road racers to Lancaster this weekend and wish them the best of luck against our top guys in the PRO 4 and PRO Light classes,” said TORC’s Kevin Miller, President of USAC – the series sanctioning body. “Having the top caliber guys from the west coast creates an all-star event of sorts, pitting them against the top eastern-based guys on the TORC Series.
“This is exactly what short course off-road fans have wanted and the Traxxas TORC Series is pumped to be able to deliver such a thrilling event into the heart of the off-road industry.”
In TORC PRO 4 action heading into Lancaster Ricky Johnson (Red Bull/Ram/Mopar/KMC Wheels) has a solid lead over Scott Douglas (AMSOIL/Borla Exhaust/BFG) and Johnny Greaves (Monster Energy/Toyota/Maxxis). Points aside, Greaves, now that he appears to have all the gremlins worked out of his truck, was the fastest the last time the green flag flew on the TORC PRO 4s at Crandon. But it’s not Johnson’s style to hold back, ever, and when you add Kyle Leduc (Monster Energy/Toyo) to the lineup it’s going to make for one heck of a race weekend for west coast off-road fans.
“Kyle’s been running really strong this year since he got on board with the Huseman brothers. He’s had the pressure of being the front runner all season long and really picked it up,” said Johnson. “If there’s been one dominant guy on the west coast it’s been Kyle. So this has all the makings for a great show with him joining the TORC crew, Johnny and Scott and the Jenkins brothers (Mike and Mark).”
The only time Kyle Leduc’s seen the top TORC guys was last year at the Crandon World Championships. At that race Leduc finished a respectable 4th in the first contest, then crashed out in the second race, placing 12th.
In TORC PRO Light action at Lancaster Anderson (Monster Energy/Loctite/Polaris), who was crowned the west coast PRO Lite champ just this past weekend, is no stranger to the Traxxas TORC Series. In 2011 Anderson, racing for the Walker Evans program, was a top contender for the TORC PRO Light title, winning races at the Chicagoland Speedway NASCAR venue and at the final event of the season just outside San Antonio. Currie (Monster Energy/Nissan/General Tire ) will also add an interesting wrinkle to the 2012 TORC PRO Light points chase, which has a mere five-point gap, 253-248, separating defending TORC Series PRO Light champion Andrew Caddell (Ram/Mopar/Traxxas/BFG) and current PRO Light point leader Brad Lovell (AMSOIL/Nissan/Torchmate/BFG).
Said Lovell: “It’s a big deal for our team. Not only are we taking on Caddell as a great driver, we are challenging the most powerful and prepared team in TORC. We are clearly the underdog and have nothing to lose. AMSOIL, BFGoodrich, Nissan, Torchmate all took a huge gamble with me getting into TORC. I'm not about to let them down.”
Added Caddell: “I am really looking forward to Lancaster and continuing the points chase with Brad Lovell. He got into us last race which gave him a small point lead, but we are coming strong for this race and will be going for the win harder than ever!”
And while this will be Anderson’s first race in 2012 versus his fellow TORC competitors, Currie came up big at TORC’s marquee race of the year, going 1st/1st at the Crandon (Wis.) World Championships this past Labor Day Weekend.
Up next … Antelope Valley Fairgrounds, Lancaster, Calif., Sept. 29-30.
Kyle Leduc photo courtesy of race-dezert.com
About TORC
The Traxxas TORC Series, presented by AMSOIL, is the fastest, most punishing short-course racing series on the planet. TORC events are packed with flag-to-flag fender-banging as drivers push the limits over whoops and jump-filled natural terrain race tracks. Off-road racing fans come from far and wide to experience the most challenging form of high-octane competition. And once they taste TORC for the first time, they’re hooked for life!