Les has been a racer for over 40 years. However, his racing career is just a test bench for the things he has accomplished in the mechanical world. In the 1970s, he decided that the auto world needed a dyno that closely replicated the drag strip run. He build an inertia dyno that could measure horsepower in milliseconds via a computer and a given weight that was spun from one rpm to another. The time to accelerate the weight becomes the measure of horsepower applied. His engineering background and mechanical/electrical skills produced a tool that today is used by almost all race teams. Les has constructed several more dynos for teams like Walt Austin Racing to do their parts evaluations. Les also uses a liquid flow bench in connection with the dyno to measure fuel flows and set up base line tune-ups.
Currently crew chief and assisting with a number of alcohol drag racers and most of the current good runners use his fuel program and his clutch program. His shop is state of the art CNC machinery and he has built parts for racers, the government and the oil industry.
His current home is just outside of Calgary, Alberta, Canada and even though the winter is long, he took advantage of that several years ago and built his own personal airplane.
Now some of the drag race events are hours away rather than days. Piloting an RV6 200 mph plane is just part of life. Not as fast as some of the cars he has driven, but certainly more time in the seat. His fast time in the Lakester was 333 and his projected fast time in the new car will be 550. |
