I remember back in 1996 or 97 at Bradenton Fla. I had the opportunity of racing in a Viper/Vette Shootout. Going up against John Lingenfelter was an experience I will never forget. I didn’t have the pleasure of conversing with John, but just his presence was overpowering at the event and lining up with him for a drag race was intimidating. I could feel the presence of his competitive spirit. The first race was pretty much “A handing me my ass in a basket race”. The next time we lined up I wanted to try so hard to do a better job; I ended up ripping the half shafts off the line. That was my only close connection I had with someone with such a legacy as John Lingenfelter.
A gentleman stopped by our shop and was talking about mods. He mentioned to me about being at LPE right before the tragic accident. He spoke of John’s spiritual level of praying and how he approached his next race. John L. was obviously someone who grasped many people’s ideals and thoughts. Dealing with and running into many people in the high performance world always ended up with some kind of reference to John Lingenfelter. I have had the pleasure of always hearing positive things in such conversations. Incredible to think of leaving such a legacy that touched so many people in so many different ways. He is certainly someone that you could take positive mentoring from, in other words Mr. Miyagi. As a driver, a business owner, a pioneer of the performance industry, as a good person, he excelled in all levels.
John Lingenfelter leaves us in a shroud of controversy. Almost like the late Ayrton Senna losing his life in F1 and the ongoing strain of problems with Williams. A sad way to remember such greatness, but it is what it is and people hold on to the way they choose to look at it.
A few months back a close friend of mine was in a coma from a motorcycle accident. Spending a great deal of time in the ICU showed me the frustrations loved ones experience dealing with the lack of compassion from hospital workers. The ICU started to remind me of people being treated like cattle going through the big corporate machine. My friend’s brother (Dave) almost punched this guy nurse /images/graemlins/gay in the face for telling him: “Your wasting your time trying to talk to him he can’t hear you”. Dave told this guy nurse: “If you come by me or my brother again I’m going to throw you out the window”. For the next month and a half Dave prayed by his brother’s side, put headphones on him and played all his brothers favorite music, got everyone in the ICU to pray for his brother and constantly was there for him. Dave considered himself his brother’s keeper. Butch came out of his coma and to this day I believe it was Dave’s ultimate determination through combined prayer that brought his brother back.
Sorry about throwing in the personal stuff, but this recent tragedy just brings me back to a very closely related subject. Butch's accident is an amazing story that would be worth writing a screenplay about. I only wish happiness and compassion for all situations, however they end up.
My prayers go out to John Lingenfelter and all his family and friends.
