Thread: RIP Rick Huseman: off-road racing champion

We have lost yet another great racer today.

Champion off-road racer Rick Huseman was killed this afternoon in a plane crash near Barstow, California. While unrelated to thedeath of Dan Wheldon, it's another sad occasion in what will long be remembered as a dark day in motorsports history.The accident occurred approximately 2:00 pm Sunday afternoon when the plane, a Beach 33 Bonanza, was attempting to makean emergency landing at the Barstow/Dagget Airport. Huseman and his family were returning from the Monster Energy Cup held in Las Vegas last night. According to DIRTNewz, his younger brother Jeff was one of the three people killed. It's unclear who the third victim is.
Huseman has been racing 1997 and was the first PRO4X4 Traxxas TORC Series Championship in 2009, garnering six wins and 10 podium finishes. In 2010, Husman won the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Pro-4 Championship. He was in second place in the 2011 Lucas Oil Series following the most recent race in Arizona, just 23 points behind the leader.
Huseman was 38 years old.

Unfreakin believable. I stepped away from off road about a year ago, so this is the first I'm hearing of the accident. Man, we've lost an amazing person in the off road world. He was one hell of a driver, always FULL ON.

so sad....RIP Rick Huseman

His passing, as well as Wheldon's, hit me hard on Monday. Godspeed, Rick!

Got this today from TORC:

Traxxas TORC Series drivers and officials mourn the death of TORC champion Rick Huseman

"A fierce competitor that always strived to be on top," said TORC racer Scott Douglas of the great Rick Husema
By Pat Schutte


INDIANAPOLIS (Oct. 20, 2011) - Back in 1996, when professional stadium off-road truck racing was happening in some of the major markets around the country, a then 30-year-old Johnny Greaves (Monster Energy/Toyota/Maxxis) ran into an upstart racer competing in the 7s class trucks - a support race to the headline USHRA Monster Trucks.

The two would hit it off that first quarter of '96, battling hard and quickly becoming stern adversaries on the track - but at the same time good friends in the pits. Then after an invitation to race the granddaddy of all short course off-road events - TORC's Crandon International Raceway - Rick Huseman's (Monster Energy/Toyota/BFG) interest in the sport piqued and he would build a truck for the new Championship Off-Road Racing (CORR) Series, which would start up a year or so later. And Greaves and his new buddy, Huseman, would meet up again.

"Rick was the only guy back then where I'd look down the line, see him, and knew for sure I had my hands full," said Greaves, who tragically lost his friend in a plane crash this past weekend.

Wisconsin and California can be worlds away at times. Blaze orange deer hunters vs. black wetsuit surfers. But the sport of short course off-road racing, born on Mexico's Baja Peninsula, had a way of blurring those lines of difference and brought the off-road guys from the east and Midwest to the same unique playing field as the guys from California. TORC competitor from Wisconsin, Jeff Kincaid (Traxxas/AMSOIL/BFG), raced hard and often against Huseman in the early days of CORR, the two having an epic back-and-forth title shootout in 2001 at Crandon.

"I had more than one championship battle with Rick, dating back to our 7s class (subsequent called PRO Light) racing," said Kincaid. "But yeah, 2001 on the CORR Series was memorable. Rick came into the final round at Crandon with a 19-point lead and ended up blowing a line on the first day, which put me within a point of him. Then we went into the first turn together on the second day and he wound up rolling, which gave me the championship. But yeah, he was great competitor, top notch and fast, along with being a great person. Didn't take him long to move up the ladder."

Michigan's Chad Hord (BOSS Snowplows/Nissan/AMSOIL), who races TORC's PRO 2 class, also went at it with Huseman on the track during the CORR era and considers Huseman one of the tougher competitors he's ever faced.

"I had the privilege of competing against Rick Huseman in the Pro-Lite days of CORR," said Hord. "Rick was a fierce competitor who always made you push yourself to do better and dig deeper. It was not surprising to see him excel in the PRO 4 class as well - he always strived to be the best. His presence at the track will be greatly missed, because any race involving Rick Huseman was an exciting race to either be in as a driver or watch as a spectator."

In the mid-2000s Huseman, as Hord pointed out, moved up to the PRO 4 trucks, purchasing Greaves' 'slightly used' (Haha) PRO 4 Toyota Tundra. Greaves was instrumental in delivering Huseman to Toyota, a sponsorship that would carry on through numerous championships for the Huseman Racing Team.

"Toyota was talking to me about adding another truck and I asked Rick if he'd be interested," recalled Greaves. "So we got him hooked up and he brought along Fabtech and we worked together to get him into his first PR0 4 truck. Huseman would race that Greaves Toyota for a couple years before his brother, Danny Huseman, built Rick his own custom PRO 4.

"Danny is an extremely smart engineer," said Greaves. "It took a season for them to get things sorted out, but in 2008 he (Rick Huseman) was the guy to beat again." A major sponsor would again approach Greaves with interest in Huseman as Monster Energy was looking to add another PRO 4 driver to its ranks, which at the time, only included Greaves.

"So for two seasons we drove identical Toyota/Monster Energy trucks," added Greaves. "Couldn't tell us apart."

Huseman would tie Carl Renezeder for the CORR championship that year ('08), after which CORR dissolved. The following season, TORC's inaugural season, Huseman would capture that PRO 4 title and went on to add the LOORS title in 2010 - finishing second to Greaves for the prestigious overall 2010 TORC PRO 4 title.

Scott Douglas (AMSOIL/BFG/MasterCraft Safety), who lined up next to Huseman often, was most impressed with the California driver's ability to focus on his racing - and not the ancillary goings on oft associated with motorsports.

"What impressed me the most about Rick was his ability to stay calm, cool and collected off the track and not be affected by the politics and unfortunate confrontation that's involved with the sport," said Douglas. "Rick was a stellar guy, never complained and always drove 150-percent. I'm proud to be connected with the same sport as him."

From a SoCal standpoint 2011 TORC PRO 4 overall champion Rick Johnson (Red Bull/Mopar/Ram/KMC Wheels) was - and still is - a big fan of Huseman's. A highly-anticipated Johnson/Huseman/Greaves PRO 4 matchup in TORC short course matchup at the sport's premier tracks of Crandon or Bark River (Mich.) would have been epic had Huseman not been taken from us so early.

"Rick Huseman is one of my heroes and a huge reason why I wanted to race PRO 4," said Johnson. "His style on and off the track was first class. His family approach to racing was so cool. I will miss him both on and off the track."

And while Huseman's rapport with the other drivers was outstanding, his relationship and professionalism with his sponsors formed an equally impressive union as told by BFGoodrich's Nate Hunt.

"Rick's talent and determination was obvious to anyone watching him on the race track," said Hunt. "From a sponsor standpoint, the Huseman team was an absolute pleasure to have on board. Rick was never happy with a 2nd or 3rd. He wanted the top of the box and would drive the tires off the truck to get there. He never made excuses and always took any blame upon himself. If he didn't win, he felt like he let his race team (family) down, as well as his sponsors. He always looked and spoke professionally, and represented his sponsors well at any given chance."

Hunt continued: "On a personal note, the behind the scenes part of Rick, is what made him special to me and the BFGoodrich crew at the track. Most of the top drivers in racing have crew members that bring tires over to the truck to get mounted and grooved. On the Huseman team, Rick was that guy. He never failed to express his thanks for work, and for the tires that aided him in his championship runs. This past year was very special as his son Ricky was old enough to ride around on the cart with him and help roll tires. Seeing Rick as a father that loved, wanted to spend time, and involve his son in everything he did is something that I will remember every time I think of Rick Huseman. To the off road racing community he was a great champion and competitor. To those of us who had the honor of knowing him, he was a great father, son, husband, and friend."

Fittingly, we'd like to give the final words from the TORC Series on Rick Huseman's tragic passing to his friend and competitor, Johnny Greaves.

"I found out on Sunday night when I was packing to head back to Wisconsin," said Greaves, chocking back the tears, on when he first got word of the plane crash that not only took Rick Huseman, but also Huseman's brother Jeff and friend Daniel Hicks. "I decided to drive instead to California and see if there was anything I could do to help Rick's family. During that drive it really started to sink in ... many, many miles of thinking - and crying."

Greaves did his best to gather himself. "I even called his phone just to hear his voice once more time ... and obviously he wasn't there."

The TORC Series extends its heartfelt condolences to Rick Huseman Racing's family and friends. A special event celebrating the life of Rick Huseman, and his brother Jeff, will be held at 6 p.m. on Oct. 27th at Pole Position Raceway in Corona, Calif.


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!

Support the Huseman family! Robby Gordon donated his Monster Energy driving suit from the Dakar Rally for auction to support the Husemans.

Robby Gordon Monster Energy driving suit / Rick Huseman Memorial fund donation | eBay