Hug your Crew Chiefs... and your fathers.-RDC

[SteveG]

I'm pretty sure a lot of you guys know or at least know of Ken Leavitt, a fellow Bronco owner and racer. I just read this on RDC.

So I'm just now getting around to spreading this very sad news.

My father and Crew Chief, Ray Leavitt died while fishing on October 14. He was 64. He died with a fishing pole in his hand, when his jet-boat bumped a rock while drift-fishing the Snake River in Hell's Canyon, Idaho. It was our 10th year doing this trip. Apparently the under-tow pulled him down and he was gone in seconds. Two guys went in the water and we are very lucky we didn't lose two good people. The water was running over 16,000 cubic feet per second, twice its norm. I was there on my boat, fishing with my only brother, just 50 or so yards away. We have some amazing photos from the night before. Odly enough, the steelhead in these photos completely screwed up our bass tournament, because nobody specified what species was required to win the tourney! The next day was scheduled to be a rematch of the teams.

My father CHOSE to live his life HIS way. He never wore a seatbelt, helmet, or life-vest, except on some gnarly rafting trips. He hated laws that required him to do these things. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, nor making excuses or suggestions. It was HIS way. He loved jetboating, fishing, snowmobiling, harleys, off-road racing and had not EVER missed a race of mine since I started driving them in 2001. He was married for 35 or so years to my mom, who is struggling with this, of course. We had a HUGE party in Idaho the day before his 65th birthday. Thanks to my friends who attended.

He had raced desert bikes against Jack Johnson, Casey Folks, Malcom Smith and Max Sweitzer (sp)? among many others.

He was an amazing man. I plan to spread some ashes in the silt of Baja and the rest in Hell's Canyon, when we return October 14, 2010 to catch the few fish he missed. I truly think the Fishing Gods decided to put a stop to this human who was making a dent in their population!

"Heaven didn't want him and Hell was afraid he would take over".

Miss ya pop.

My only advice is to truly listen to your elders, they are full of advice and usually pretty good advice. And take lots of pictures... you never know when the next picture you take might be the very last one.

Like these:

[Nick]

Very sad! My prayers go out for the family.

[Andy Jones]

God Speed.

[BajaBronco13]

I'm sorry to hear about Ken's father's passing. I never met him but I do know Ken. Ken's white race bronco was what really pulled me into the idea of one day racing a bronco. God Speed Ray.