At 17, Leadbetter 1st woman to earn Championship Off-Road Pro Class Title

CRANDON, Wis., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In a sport where men dominate, 17-year-old Gray Leadbetter driving the Ryan Beat Motorsports #28 Bilstein Chevrolet has shown she can do more than just compete, she can win it all. That's what she did last weekend in Crandon, Wisconsin. On Friday, she took her fourth win of the season, and on Saturday, a third-place finish secured the championship by just two point over, Nick Visser. 

Leadbetter winning the championship should come as no surprise. In June, she put her competitors on notice by winning the first race of the season. That marked the first time a woman had ever won a Championship Off-Road Pro Class race. Since then, she was always in contention and came into the final weekend trailing Visser by just two points for the championship.

It was an impressive performance for a young women who coming into the season, said her only goal was, "To finish." Her consistency was a major factor. She exhibited great control and was quick to pounce when competitors made a mistake. Closed-course off-road racing requires drivers to push the limits, but the slightest mistake can cost them dearly. "It's a dirt surface," says Leadbetter, "so it changes every lap. Catch a big rut just wrong and it can really throw you out of shape or bog you down, and that alone can make the difference between winning or losing."

Leadbetter considers this a big win for her charity, the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation. "I teamed with NPCF to increase awareness for the wonderful work they do," said Leadbetter. "I hope this championship is an inspiration for the brave children battling cancer that I've met. It shows that you can win, even when the odds are stacked against you." (To donate visit: nationalpcf.org)

Other sponsors for Leadbetter's championship Ryan Beat Motorsports #28 Bilstein Chevrolet include: ReadyWise, Vision Wheels, Sparco, OnTrack School and Monster Energy. 

The Championship Off-Road season is over, but Leadbetter has weeks of sprint car racing still ahead of her. With her sprint car sponsor, ReadyWise (maker of freeze-dry emergency food), Leadbetter will be racing most weekends until the World of Outlaws Finals November 2 – 5 in Charlotte, NC.

Emergency food supplies: https://readywise.com 
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SOURCE Gray Leadbetter Racing