Troy Dog
Former Orange Brigade KTM’s and Star Racing Yamaha’s Matt LeBlanc doesn’t have any regrets on how his life in motocross went. Originally from Louisiana, LeBlanc burst onto the moto scene early having success in 51cc and 65cc classes. He first gained support through KTM’s Orange Brigade system and racked up three Loretts Lynn’s championships for the brand.
In 2018 Leblanc officially became a member of the Star Racing Yamaha team, although Leblanc said that team owner Bobby Reagan had been trying to sign him since the 65cc classes. LeBlanc is the only rider to join Star Racing on a supermini bike, as the team had not done that before him, nor since. LeBlanc won three more Loretta’s championships including back-to-back 450B titles.
LeBlanc admits that he turned pro later than Star had originally planned. A series of injuries including a broken back and wrist had set him behind at crucial parts of his amateur racing. So, when given the chance to do Loretta’s one more time in the Pro Sport classes or turn professional and race an outdoor season, Leblanc chose to go to the big leagues.
It turns out it wasn’t a difficult decision for LeBlanc to forgo another summer chasing another Loretta’s title. He decided to spend it chasing his peers who had already turned pro like Ryder DiFrancesco and Maximus Vohland. Besides, LeBlanc was coming to the end of his Star Racing deal and he figured he would renegotiate at the end of the season if it all went well.
“I think they really wanted me to turn pro when I was 16 or 17, but then all of my injuries pushed that back,” LeBlanc said. “Entering my last year with them they left that decision up to me. I think they wanted me to be an amateur, but at the same time I think they wanted to see what I could do outdoors. They left it up to me and I made the decision. I felt like it kind of would have been a waste of time doing another year at Loretta’s.”
What the fans don’t get to see that us in the media get to hear from time to time, is that LeBlanc was suffering from a pretty bad case of burnout. The riding, training, and injuries added up quickly for him and he said that he considered going back home and going back to a real school and living a normal kid life as early as 13 years old. Then one thing turned into another and the Star deal came about, which gave him a fresh set of legs to possibly make this motocross deal a real career.
The 2022 Pro Motocross Championship did not go the way that Star or he expected. LeBlanc was thrown into the deep end at the opening round at Fox Raceway finishing 20th overall on the day. However, he started to quickly turn it around at Hangtown with a 14th overall and a season best 8th overall at round three in Thunder Valley. At Southwick the rails came off as he crashed out of the top ten. It was the best that he had felt all season. From there he came back and gutted out Ironman and the Fox Raceway finally despite not being fully ready to race.
At the end of the Pro Motocross Championship, #329 finished with six top 20s and one top ten finish overall in eight rounds. LeBlanc found himself burnt out and both Star Racing and himself were looking to move in different directions.
“I had talked to Bobby a little bit,” LeBlanc said. “I think at that point we were kind of both ready to go our separate ways. I had asked them about their thought process or what they were thinking about doing, but besides that, nothing too crazy.”
It was a great five years between the two of them. Some other opportunities to race in 2023 arose for LeBlanc, yet never became set in stone. Teams like Bar X Suzuki, HEP Suzuki, and a fill-in tryout with Pro Circuit were all talked about at some point.
Knowing his heart wasn’t into it, he chose to move home to Louisiana to be near his friends and family. He got a job as a machinist and he fabricates parts for oil rigs now. He’s happy, healthy, and still watches the sport when he has time to.
LeBlanc never ruled out a comeback to racing in the future, but for now he’s happy where his life ended up and he has no regrets on how things played out.
If you enjoyed this story you can listen to the full interview with Matt Leblanc on this week’s episode of the Squad Pod on the Vurbmoto Podcast Network. New episodes are out every Friday!
Main image: Yamaha
