rebuilding after the crash

Will you be going to a 1.25 gear in the future ?

 

It's already back in. With Jerry Newman putting more power into the car it will be able to pull the 1.25
We were talking about going to the Grove next week for testing before Edgewater

 

We won't be at the Grove too many family things going on. The car is all back together. We are ready for Edgewater.

 

My good friend who I have talked about alor on this site was recently honored. Roger Lechtenburg was recently chosen for the Iowa racers Hall of Fame. A much deserved honor for a man who has made a big impact on many forms of motor sports. The induction will take place during the off season. I will make sure I'm present along with many team mates.

 

Congrats to your friend Mr. Lechtenburg, very cool honor.
Curious about that Iowa Racers Hall of Fame so did an online search and found this:
Iowa Racing Museum – A destination for fun and memories
Mostly dirt track oval stuff but still looks like something to put on the "neat to visit" list.

 

If you’re looking for interesting race museums in Iowa, make sure you add the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum in Knoxville, Ia. It is a fantastic place to visit and they have a lot of historical information. The track has some top notch races with all the big names too.
https://www.sprintcarhof.com/ Is their website.

Edit: the site you posted is not the museum where Mr Lechtenburg is being inducted. He is be inducted into the Iowa Hall of fame and racing museum in Algona, IA. Their FB link is https://www.iowaracingmuseum.com/

Or maybe it is. The link is their site but, they say they are in Algona. Yet that link shows a Otho address. Weird since those cities are an hour apart.

 

Yep, thanks, Knoxville is on my radar too - been wanting to get there for years.
Iowa has been a racing hotbed for years and it's neat to find out more about the Iowa HOF, its inductees and another museum collection that I never knew about. Hopefully they'll get a few more drag racers in there though, right?

 

It's the same. Just a month or so ago the museum in Algona was finished and opened. Otho is where they are based. We got Radar's long time partner, Dale Suhr, into the HOF last year. It is really cool that they were able to get in back to back years.

 

Just a few of Rogers career highlights.
He invented the Mopar B-1 heads that won three pro stock champions for Mopar. He sold the patent to Koffel to be mass produced
He invented many of the parts for the 2.2 Mopar performance engines. They found there way onto Paul Rossis racing program.
He repaired cylinder heads for many big show race teams including John Force.
He invented the first blower setback manifold that is now common in all forms of blown racing.
He designs and builds one off tractor pulling heads. Starting with five hundred pound aluminum billets.
He does incredible cylinder head repair. You have seen some of his work here.
He was involved with my nitro street project from day one.
Roger has driven every form of race car that runs nitro.
A few driving highlights.
Set low et in the dragster March meet.
Runner up top fuel March meet.
Won March meet fuel altered.
Top fuel record dragster.
World series Cordova winner.
This is just a few. Racing in these circles is hard to do.
As a side note Justin that posts things on here was part of the dragster team for years. He has been there and done it. I'm sure the whole team will be present at the award ceremony.

 

I am lucky enough to own the first "Orange Crate" Top Fuel car that was built new for Dale Suhr in 1997. The last event that it ran, the 1998 NHRA Hot Rod Reunion in Columbus, Ohio, was also the first event that Radar drove a Top Fuel car. It is my prized possession. This is the only photo I have of that car when it was new, which is from the 1998 Goodguys event at Indy.



In 25 months, Dale Suhr and Roger Lechtenberg became the quickest and fastest Nostalgia Top Fuel dragster in class history, running 5.780 and a record setting 248mph at Las Vegas in October 2000. Roger will be joining Dale in the Iowa Racing Hall Of Fame this Fall. We were able to get Dale into the HOF last year.

 

This is the essay that I put together for Roger Lechtenberg's nomination application, and some of his stats.



The following is a very short life summary of the man known to racers and fans simply as “Radar”. Born in 1952, Roger Lechtenberg grew up in the era when motorsports took great leaps forward. Most of the 1970’s were spent serving his country in the United States Army, as well as racing a six cylinder powered front engine dragster. After working for Uncle Sam, Roger turned to the engine shop Ostrich Motors in Nevada for employment. There he picked up the skills and knowledge that led to a partnership with Jim Eggleston in 1978, to which they started R&J Performance in Dysart.

The 1980’s brought on the marriage to the love of his life, Suzanne. Looking for more motorsports thrills, Roger decided to go dirt sprint car racing. Fans in Mason City and Knoxville were able to see his red #23 competing for half of the decade. In 1987, Roger became the sole proprietor of R&J Performance. Besides doing cylinder head work for such professional drag racers as John Force, one of Roger’s brightest claims to notoriety is the creation of the B1 cylinder head for big block Chrysler engines.

The year 1990 kicked off a new decade with new challenges and greater goals. R&J Performance moved from Dysart to a brand new shop outside of Cedar Falls. Looking for the next step up the thrill charts, Roger found his way back to the drag strip. This time, it was the top step of the sportsman ladder. He campaigned the “Cannonball Express” Top Alcohol Dragster in much of the Midwest with all major sanctioning bodies.

By the time 1998 came around, the Nostalgia drag racing craze was in full force, with the Nostalgia Top Fuel class at the top of the list. These cars were styled after 1960’s supercharged Nitromethane burning front engine dragsters, but with the best of modern technology and safety. At the last event of the 1998 season, Dale Suhr asked Roger if he would drive his 6 second, 230mph front engine Top Fuel dragster at the Columbus, Ohio quarter mile. That was all it took to set the hook, and was the beginning of an over fifteen year partnership on the “Orange Crate”. Soon after this combination came together, they would become known as “The Children Of The Corn” and the most feared team in the class, winning numerous events, as well as setting speed and elapsed time records all across the country.

When the 2010’s rolled into town, Roger made guest appearances in the Nostalgia Top Fuel dragsters of Dan Horan, Sr., Art Dromgoole, and Mark Lorance. Since the 2014 season, Roger has been driving Scott Gaulter’s “Nitro Madness” Nostalgia Fuel Altered all over the United States.

Whether you are a truck or tractor puller needing engine work, a young drag racing fan wanting an autograph, or a fellow racer chatting about track conditions and engine tune, most people that know “Radar” look up to him for any of several different reasons. His far reaching knowledge of how engines work has not only helped guide him with building race cars over the years, but also tuning and driving them. Roger Lechtenberg is amongst an elite group of drag racers that are considered “Kings Of The Sport”.



Roger Lechtenberg’s life highlights;

Born August 18, 1952

Married Suzanne Miller - June 21, 1980

Served in the United States Army stateside from 1970-1978

Roger Lechtenberg & Jim Eggleston started R&J Performance in Dysart in 1978

Dave Rotter took over for Jim Eggleston at R&J Performance in 1979

Designed “B1” cylinder head for big block Chrysler engines in the early 1980’s

Roger became sole proprietor of R&J Performance in 1987

R&J Performance moved to Cedar Falls in 1990



Roger Lechtenberg’s early racing highlights;

Raced a six cylinder powered front engine dragster in the 1970’s

Raced a 410 sprint car at Mason City and Knoxville in the 1980’s

Raced the “Cannonball Express” Top Alcohol Dragster in the 1990’s



Roger Lechtenberg’s modern front engine Top Fuel dragster highlights as a driver;

1998 - September - First passes in Dale Suhr’s “Orange Crate” - Columbus, Ohio

1999 - August - Winner - Heartland Hot Rod Reunion - Noble, Oklahoma

2000 - June 11 - 4th entrant into the Goodguys 5 Second Club

2000 - June 11 - 5th entrant into the Nitronic Research 5 Second Club

2000 - August - Winner - Heartland Hot Rod Reunion - Noble, Oklahoma

2000 - October - Goodguys speed record - 248mph - Las Vegas, Nevada

2000 - October - Quickest elapsed time in history - 5.780 - Las Vegas, Nevada

2001 - April - Winner - ADRA West Coast Reunion - Fallon, Nevada

2002 - Winner - ADRA Winternationals

2003 - March - March Meet #1 Qualifier - 5.853 @ 239.93

2003 - March - Goodguys elapsed time record - 5.787 - Bakersfield, California

2003 - June - Hot Rod Reunion #1 Qualifier - 6.10 @ 183

2003 - June - Winner - Hot Rod Reunion - Bowling Green, Kentucky

2004 - August - 6th entrant into the We Did It For Love 250mph Club

2006 - June - Hot Rod Reunion #1 Qualifier - 6.018 @ 251.44

2008 - June - Winner - Goodguys Hot Rod Nationals - Indianapolis, Indiana

2010 - August - Blue Suede Cruise #1 Qualifier - 5.895 @ 226.20

2014 - March - Drove for Dan Horan, Sr. - Bakersfield, California

2014 - June - Drove Art Dromgoole’s “Back Yard Guys” - Bowling Green, Kentucky

2019 - June - Drove Mark Lorance’s “Nitro Bandit” - Bowling Green, Kentucky



Roger Lechtenberg’s modern Fuel Altered drag car highlights as a driver;

2014 - Started driving Scott Gaulter’s “Nitro Madness”

2014 - August 17 - Winner - World Fuel Altered Nationals - Eddyville, Iowa

2014 - September 20 - Winner - CSS Nitro Nationals - Tulsa, Oklahoma

2015 - May 24 - Winner - Midwest Pro Outlaw Series - Eddyville, Iowa

2015 - August 22 - #1 Qualifier - World Fuel Altered Nationals - Eddyville, Iowa

2015 - August 23 - Winner - World Fuel Altered Nationals - Eddyville, Iowa

2016 - March 6 - Winner - March Meet - Bakersfield, California

2016 - June 6 - Winner - Midwest Pro Outlaw Series - Eddyville, Iowa

2016 - Champion - Midwest Pro Outlaw Series - Eddyville, Iowa

2017 - August 18 - #1 Qualifier - World Fuel Altered Nationals - Eddyville, Iowa

2018 - August 4 - #1 Qualifier - Midwest Pro Outlaw Series - Onawa, Iowa

2019 - August 16 - #1 Qualifier - World Fuel Altered Nationals - Eddyville, Iowa

2020 - September 19 - #1 Qualifier - CSS Nitro Nationals - Tulsa, Oklahoma

 

With all of those accomplishments it's hard to get conversation out of him sometimes. When he does talk you listen. You listen very carefully because you never know if you will hear the lesson again.
Justin thanks for getting the list together.

 

We arrived safely at Edgewater in Ohio. It's close to Cincinnati. We are all set up ready to run. This is a cool historic track. Lots of history here.
Before we left the car was run on the lift to check the lenco. It's all good. Bring on the chaos

 

All the best to you Brian on this outing. Give them HELL!

 

Will do.

 

Paul Brown photos:

Q1



Q2

 

Brian ends up 5th in the B field.

 

In the first round, Brian ran a 4.57 @ 164.47, just barely losing to a full boogie blown Nitro fuel altered that ran 4.55 @ 141.51.

 

Brian has moved from 19th to 12th in points.

 

Man that’s haulen!

 

Especially when Brian’s car is steel not a carbon fiber car nor is it very aerodynamic I’m proud to know Brian and know his car is more real than any of the others also he is not trying to run the ragged edge like the others also he is only running a small injector hat and realistically a small blower compared to the others

 

Good show, Brian! That's gotta be knockin' on a 6 second quarter. Will you be in Eddyville at the World Fuel Altered deal in August?

 

Wow what a weekend. It was hot on the track and hot in the pits hot everywhere. Twice while in the lanes suited up the race stopped due to spectators passing out.
On Q-1 we did smart qualifying. That being we got a green light and the car went fast enough to qualify. That game is all about points and guaranteed money. The car hopped off the line a little. The tire pressure was dropped from 7.5bs to 7lbs. I also took four clicks out of the rear shocks. Q-2 the car hooked hard and pulled a big long wheelie. I stayed in it best I could. I had to lift. It was a very dark track and it was hard to see how close I was to the wall.
I should mention I was doing license upgrade passes. They won't count if you over drive the car
For Q-3 four flats were removed from the barrel valve. It cleaned up the pipes great. The car ran a personal best 1.11 60 foot in the heat and moved us up to number five qualifier spot. The car drifted slight right but I put it right back in the groove. I got the nitro super fan money out of that pass. A hundred dollars
For E-1 three degrees of timing was added. The air was 145 water grains. That's horrible air. The extra timing helps. The car hooked like never before. The wheels came up about six inches. Straight as a string. Another personal best 60 at 1.01 seconds. Wow. Unfortunately I lost by two hundreths of a second.
Overall a good weekend. Nothing broke. Had a few personal best. Got a lot of points. Moved up the ladder a lot. Made some money. Got to hang out with cool guys.
Next up this weekend is Eddyville Iowa. I have a two run match race Saturday.
The car is getting a larger lower pulley to speed up the blower. I also ordered larger pills for the high speed lean out.
The short track numbers are great. These two changes will make it fly down track.
If there is anyone wondering why we didn't do these changes before it's out of safety. At this hp level things can go wrong in a huge way. It's all about baby steps. The car will tell you what it wants. You just have to listen.

 

Mohr I will be there. Those numbers are easy six seconds passes.
We will also be in MoKan the weekend of July 17th for another nitro chaos event.

 

I love that every time you say “personal best it ran like a scalded dog!” It’s immediately followed with “so I’m gonna add some more power”

lol perfect

 

1.01 60’ is moving! That’s incredible

 

Sounds like a pretty awesome weekend, how did the license upgrade go?

 

I will see you at mokan can wait to see the car run in person

 

Went great. I got signed off. The track gives you a special blue tech card. The passes have to be singles. Two moderate passes and one full power. The et slips have to say licence. The track manager has to sign off. The track records everything. There are serial numbers on everything and they all need to match. Now I will send it all in.