Project Jackwagon window into young man motorsports career

Episode 419

February 5, 2023

Project Jackwagon

Episode ideas come in practically every shape, size, and situation. Such was this episode. My eye was drawn to the idea that a 24-year-old young man from the County was doing something many would call “risky”. After looking at his photos, I too joined the chorus of nay-sayers, however, the backstory was intriguing and begs to be told.

Lance Lagasse, the son of Melanie and the late Dick Lagasse, lives less than five miles away from HTF Motorsports headquarters the home of UpNorth Motorsports. I thought the story was an adventure I might have attempted when I was his age. What I found was not just this story but also a unique college experience that no one in the County has had. (If I am wrong, I would love to hear from others also)

Lagasse graduated from Caribou High School in 2017. While in high school, he took the Drafting and Engineering course at Presque Isle Tech Center. He credits his instructor Terry Harper with pointing him toward McPherson College, a private school in McPherson, Kansas.

Harper noted that Lagasse’s love for restoration of cars might be raised to a higher level by taking the Auto Restoration Program at the college. This program is the only of its type that offers a bachelor’s degree upon successful completion.

Lagasse took the advice to heart and upon graduation from high school in spring of 2017, began his post-secondary education at McPherson College in the fall of 2017. Lagasse mentioned that only 50 students are allowed to enter the college’s Auto Restoration program, one of which was the New Sweden man.

“I learned may different tricks of the trade during my time in school ranging from full electrical systems, paint and body, sheet metal and panel making, upholstery, machining, engines and many other skills,” said Lagasse. “I took almost every automotive class they offer including some of the discontinued classes for motorcycle rebuilding.”

I asked Lance what his favorite course(s) at McPherson College, he replied, ” I took the automotive restoration technology route to get the most hands-on experience possible. I really enjoyed all of them. I was one of those ‘weird kids’ that enjoyed everything. I enjoy fabricating, machining, engine and drive train rebuilding, I currently have been doing more full chassis electrical than anything else. I also enjoy paint and body. And upholstery is fun to pass the time in between all of that.”

“My current job is the Northeast Paving, Presque Isle, hot top plant operator,” said Lagasse.” I am going to be moving forward soon into opening a restoration shop. I would love to get into manufacturing restoration parts that are no longer available.”

More about Project Jackwagon but first some interesting facts about the college that Lagasse attended.

McPherson College

McPherson College, located in McPherson, Kansas near the center of the state, was started in 1887 and is associated with Church of the Brethren. The private school of 800 offers several majors including the Automobile Restoration program.

For a list of courses, I have a link here https://catalog.mcpherson.edu/technology-22/

The Automobile Restoration program got its start in 1976 when local entrepreneur Gaines “Smokey” Billue gifted 125 classic and antique cars to the program. He along with the Templeton family made it possible to open Templeton Hall which is the headquarters for the restoration program.

The world-renowned program is home to the only program offering a bachelor’s degree in North America. Jay Leno became aware of the program in 1997 and the college described his interest this way, “In 1997 this unique automotive restoration program attracted the attention of classic car enthusiast Jay Leno who established the Fred S. Duesenberg Scholarship and the Jay Leno Popular Mechanics scholarship. Both scholarships continue to provide financial assistance to students interested in studying classic automotive restoration. His involvement raised awareness of the program in the car collector community.”

Another thing that caught my attention was the program vision statement:

By 2023 to compete and win at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on August 20, 2023, at the famous Pebble Beach Country Club.

This is one of the most famous concours events in the world and one of the toughest to win. Information about the Pebble Beach Concours may be found here:

https://pebblebeachconcours.net/

And now the story of Jackwagon the truck

In Lance Lagasse’s own words: I bought the 1990 Dodge W250, known as the Jackwagon my sophomore year of college. I picked it up one weekend with a few buddies about 45 minutes from McPherson in Emporia, Kansas. I bought it in a package deal for $1400 with a 1993 Dodge W350 with a Cummins that I parted out.

The name Jackwagon was an inside joke amongst my friends, and it stuck. One of my buddies from Texas kept hounding me to fix it for us to drive around. At first, I just wanted to sell it, but with a battery and some gas it started up. We decided to give to a little drive.

To our surprise it was horrendous. The front end was nearly unbolted because the guy that I bought it from wanted to swap the front end into something different. After a few days of working on it, we had the front end bolted together. We did a tape measure alignment and off we went. It was terribly fun.

It had no exhaust, bad brakes and a pill of other issues. The truck is a 318(5.2L), 4speed (SM435) 4WD (T-Case 241D) With 3.73 gears. I’m currently not sure the direction I want to go with the truck. I’m thinking about building a low-buck pre-runner to drive on the logging roads and in the winter.

I graduated from McPherson College in the Spring of 2021.A few mechanical issues had me park it from 2020 at one of my friend’s shops and I agreed to help build a pretty sweet hot rod for him.

About two weeks ago. I decided to start my year off with an interesting plan on fixing it and driving it home… 2,100 miles.

I decided in December of 2022 to buy a one-way flight to Kansas to work on the truck and my friend’s hot rod for a few weeks.  With help from friends Matthew Shrader and Cuatro Brown, after a little less than a week, the truck was running and driving, however I only put about a hundred miles on it before my journey back home.

The Journey

Day 1:

First day was a 15-hour 860-mile drive to Ohio. It was relatively smooth… despite the atrocious bump steer, abysmal 9 1/2 mpg, 65 miles-an-hour speed (if I was lucky), alternator belt squeal and best of all the heat would not shut off. The wind noise, exhaust note and blown out seat are a nice addition to the list of complaints. However, I got to Ohio with minimal issues.

Day 2: