This veteran off-road duo has stepped onto the international stage with legendary team owner Chip Ganassi as the only American presence in the climate-conscious Extreme E series.

I currently race in a series called Championship Off-Road Racing, a short course off-road series. I race in the premier class, which are four-wheel-drive, about 1,000 horsepower machines. They are beasts to say the least.

I got involved with Extreme E when I got a call from Chip Ganassi Racing after they had done a ton of research on their side of it. I think they reached out to a couple of American drivers and were trying to narrow it down, and we were able to put it all together. I’m very proud of that. 

My Extreme E experience has been literally second to none so far. It’s mind blowing to me that we’re about to go to Greenland in remote locations. Saudi was awesome, and Senegal was pretty insane. It’s just a cool position to be in, to put these places on the map that I’ve been there and am racing there. Someday I will look back on this and not believe it was real.

The Extreme Series as a whole is something that’s incredibly unique and new to me, and new to the Ganassi program. We’re going at it with our minds set on racing and winning, but also working with the series to educate people about climate change. The male/female team aspect of it is something unique, too, and I think they nailed it on the head.

Driving with a teammate is something slightly new for me, but Sara is second to none, and I try to push myself to be at the top. I’ve made some mistakes with the car and broken some parts, but we’ve been fast. We have a lot of things to learn and a lot of things still in the books for us.

Looking forward, we definitely plan to run Extreme E for another season. I’m excited that the series has legs to grow; it’s got backing from big people and big teams. Hopefully the series grows within itself and also with all the teams.

Hats off to everyone involved in putting the Chip Ganassi Extreme E team on the map. We’re struggling a little bit here and there, but overall, we’re super fast. The car is great, the team is amazing, the sponsors are epic, so we’re on the right track. 

—Kyle LeDuc

I come from an off-road racing background, like the Baja 1000, 500, 250, as well as King of the Hammers, short course, you name it. So, Chip Ganassi Racing gave me a call and wanted to talk to me about being a driver for the Extreme E series. As you can imagine, in my shoes and in the off-road world, we don’t really get attention from people who are as legendary as Chip, so it was a pretty big deal to get that phone call. That’s how I found out about the series and found my home in Extreme E with Chip Ganassi Racing.

Extreme E is the first of its kind in the world of off-road motorsports, actually the whole world of motorsports I would say. There are nine teams—a male and female on each team—and we’re also racing for a cause. We’re racing to grow awareness of our climate and for causes that help the planet around the world.

The Extreme E SUVs are spec vehicles, so in this series, we all have the same vehicle. It’s really a driver’s series. The cars have a little more limited suspension than we’re used to, and the adjustments we’re allowed to do within regulations are very slim. With our suspension, they are sealed, so we’re not able to tap into the insides, but we have three spring settings that the series allows us to have. Everyone has the same springs, same manufacturer, and we’re allowed to choose between those three settings, as well as a few clickers and ride heights. That’s all we’re allowed to do when it comes to suspension.

When it comes to programs or data, there are only a few things our engineers are allowed to tap into or codes they’re allowed to play with. The rest, the series controls. Other than that, it’s just toe-in, toe-out, camber, and that’s really all we’ve got to play with. We try to set the car up the best we can with the knowledge that we have with our mechanic and our team. We just try to make it the best and fastest that we possibly can with the little bit of room that we’re allowed to play with.

Our first race was in Saudi Arabia and the second race was in Senegal. Greenland is up next (at press time). The Africa and Saudi terrain have been very similar to what I’ve grown up racing on, so that wasn’t too much of a change. I think Greenland might be a little different, but we have no idea what we’re going into; they don’t tell us. We just have to be as prepared as possible for anything.

Kyle and I are the only American drivers in the series, and we’re the only American team. Representing America is truly amazing, and Chip Ganassi Racing is the true definition of American racing. —Sara Price