SCORE racing veteran and Off Road Motorsports Hall of Fame Inductee Curt LeDuc, started his 30 year plus career in off-road racing back in the 1970’s building roll cages and brush guards for his friends who owned Jeeps. “I built stuff for my buddies who participated in local club events in Massachusetts, “ said LeDuc. “This evolved into a four-wheel drive shop, and ultimately I got into racing to grow the business.”

During his early years in racing, LeDuc raced straight axle, 4x4 Jeep Cherokees. It wasn’t a typical race vehicle, but LeDuc wasn’t a typical racer either. “Most people don’t think four-wheel drive vehicles had good speed, but we won 100 races with one,” said LeDuc. “These were short course races where you’re wheel to wheel and the four-wheel drive Jeeps proved themselves to be superior at that time.”

LeDuc met Walker Evans and began working his pits and on the vehicles. It was a great experience for LeDuc, who still operated his business of making Jeep parts and building vehicles. “I was involved with Donavee Jeep, the largest Jeep dealer in the U.S. and owned by Clive Skilton. Along with that, I was building lots of race cars in my own shop.” While Evans was driving his Class 8, LeDuc had wanted to drive for Evans, as well as fabricate for the team. Knowing however, that Walker was the main guy in the driver’s seat, there was little chance for him to reach that goal anytime soon.

When the SCORE Trophy Truck division began in the mid 1994 LeDuc was offered a ride with Walker, but Donavee’s Skilton made a counter offer that gave LeDuc a three-year SCORE Trophy Truck deal that was too good to pass up. “I called Clive and told him that Walker offered me a ride and that I have to take this,” said LeDuc. “I learned that Clive had just bought a Trophy Truck for his son Darren, but he told me that I had to allow him to make a counter offer. Later, I get a fax from Donavee Jeep and it was an offer from Clive for a three-year deal. I could put anything I wanted on the car, and I had a budget. Walker’s deal was only for one year.”

LeDuc started with the rest of the SCORE Trophy Trucks, driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee Trophy Truck. At the SCORE Baja 500, LeDuc started the race but immediately had problems. “We started first that year and at the time, Troy Johnson, now owner of the Fab School, was my crew chief. We took off from the start and I went to put the car into third gear and found that it wasn’t there,” said LeDuc. “Because this was a Chrysler Jeep, it had a Dana 60 axle and we had to run 4:11 gears. With that gearing we were still able to get up to 115 miles per hour in second gear. I was mad as this was our second year running the car and it still seemed like we didn’t have it all together. Over the radio I told Clive that I wasn’t stopping. I was driving angry.”

Without a third gear, LeDuc managed to keep it all together along a tough course. “We finally stop to get fuel when they told me we had passed Jim Baldwin and were second on the course. Back then we only had two radios,” said LeDuc. “I got even angrier and I saw Jimmy Smith in front of me. I pass him coming down to Valley T and then I know I’m the first car on the course. I stop for a splash of fuel and I chase down the Simon and Simon team. They end up crashing and I get to the finish and won the race.”

According to LeDuc, Clive Skilton was the happiest guy in the world after winning the race. “It took us a year to win it but we finally did,” said LeDuc. “I remember having dinner that night with Ivan and a bunch of sponsors. Ivan knew that once I won the race, I figured it out. We won four other races that year in other venues, but winning the SCORE Baja 500 remains at the top of my list.”

While this would be the only year that a Jeep Trophy Truck would ever win a SCORE Baja 500 race, LeDuc’s career continued to blossom. He would compete tirelessly in many races throughout his 30 plus year career and in 1997, he became the SCORE Trophy Truck Champion. “Winning the races were more important to me than winning the SCORE Championship,” said LeDuc. “That year started off normally and ultimately led us to a position to battle for the championship. Now looking back at it years later, it’s one of my proudest things that I’ve accomplished.”