Les Figueroa from FigSpeed dishes on drag racing on Episode 202

FigSpeed honcho, Les Figueroa dishes about drag racing, off-road, and being at “that” level with the big boys. It’s a great listen, plenty of stories to keep you entertained. Be sure to listen on your favorite podcast app.

5:17 – I still have the car that my dad raced and bought in 1970 

16:59 – knowing I always loved drag racing, I took the position at Mallory Ignition making minimum wage; about $4.25 an hour             

20:32 – all the events I was able to work at, I was also able to race at. The people on the West Coast thought I was an East Coast racer…I never told anyone I was new. 

23:48 – so leaving the starting line as close to perfect as possible was the name of the game

28:17 – being there for Speed Week was awesome, we stayed at the Speedway Motel by the Brickyard, Mario Andretti’s room was down the hall, and Jeff was next to him, once you were in at that level, it was one big, huge family.

34:28 – Our company Fig Speed had a great relationship with Lucas Oil

42:51 – I got kicked out for one of the Pedagon Brothers, the thing is, nobody told me I was kicked out, I had to read it in National Dragster

Special thanks to 4low Magazine and Maxxis Tires for support and sponsorship of this podcast.

Be sure to listen on your favorite podcast app.

All Automotive with Matt Clawson
Automotive related topics. Anything from owning an repair facility to racing. Anything...

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Transcript

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[00:00:01.060] 

Welcome to Conversations with Big Rich. This is an interview-style podcast. Those interviewed are all involved in the off-road industry. Being involved, like all of my guests are, is a lifestyle, not just a job. I talk to past, present, and future legends, as well as business owners, employees, media, and land use warriors, men and women who have found their way into this exciting and addictive lifestyle we call off-road. We discuss their personal history, struggles, successes, and reboots. We dive into what drives them to stay active and off-road. We all hope to shed some light on how to find a path into this world that we live and love and call off-road.

[00:00:45.280] 

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[00:01:13.020] 

Have you seen 4Low magazine yet? 4Low magazine is a high-quality, well-written, four-wheel drive-focused magazine for the enthusiast market. If you still love the idea of a printed magazine, something to save and read at any time, 4Low is the magazine for you. 4Low cannot be found in stores, but you can have it delivered to your home or place of business. Visit 4Lowmagazine.com to order your subscription today.

[00:01:39.800] - Big Rich Klein

On today's episode of Conversations, I have the pleasure of speaking with a guy that knew what he wanted to do from a young age, from going to drag races as a kid with his dad, then as an employee at Super Shops, to racing in NHRA events all across the country, offroading in the Sierras for Fun, to racing KOH. My guest is none other than Les Figueroa. Well, it's great to have you on the air today, Les. I'm really looking forward to this interview. How have you been?

[00:02:10.760] - Les Figeroa

Rich. Thanks for having me. Been doing great. I recently had a shoulder surgery, which kept me from being at King of the Hammers this year, which was a huge disappointment. We actually had an entry and couldn't make it. So other than that, we're doing great.

[00:02:27.270] - Big Rich Klein

Well, that's too bad. I always hate to see an entry burned. So how's the shoulder doing at this point?

[00:02:34.690] - Les Figeroa

Shoulder's doing great. About three and a half weeks into it, probably have another three weeks in a sling and in physical therapy, first time having rotator cuff surgery, but it seems to be a pretty common thing these days.

[00:02:50.030] - Big Rich Klein

Right. That's true. I should have mine done, but I don't know if I'm going to. I don't need to throw a football or a baseball any longer and pull pull-ups and pressing heavy weights is out of my wheelhouse anymore.

[00:03:05.160] - Les Figeroa

Got you.

[00:03:06.490] - Big Rich Klein

I'll get my knees done first.

[00:03:09.180] - Les Figeroa

There you go.

[00:03:10.440] - Big Rich Klein

So let's jump into this interview. And Let's find out where were you born and raised?

[00:03:18.210] - Les Figeroa

I was actually born and raised in Northern California, Alameda, California, to be exact. And I grew up there and ended up leaving there at about 14 years old and up to the Sierras. And yeah, that's where I spent my time, going to the drag races as a young kid and just enjoying and doing the normal things you do growing up.

[00:03:43.410] - Big Rich Klein

And Alameda was Did that mean one of your parents was in the Navy or anything?

[00:03:49.400] - Les Figeroa

No. Both parents were raised in Alameda, Oakland, area. None of them were in the military, but my dad worked for the company that would work on all the ships. Okay. And it's called Crale Maritime. They own the red and white fleet there in San Francisco. So as a kid, I got to go on lots of ships and submarines and aircraft carriers as a non-military person. It was very unique.

[00:04:17.160] - Big Rich Klein

Right. I'm always fascinated getting a chance to be on ships. One of my favorite is down in Corpus Christi area, and it's the Lexington. And just I love the aircraft carriers. And I realized that you need to be... You can't be a huge stature, and especially in a submarine. And then you got to be pretty nimble to get up and down those damn ladders and stairs.

[00:04:48.860] - Les Figeroa

Well, you wouldn't be able to do it with that rotator cuff issue, Rich. I could tell you that.

[00:04:53.190] - Big Rich Klein

There you go. There you go. Or overweight like I am with bad knees.

[00:04:57.850] - Les Figeroa

You can change that.

[00:04:59.620] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah. Yeah. So you said you were going to drag races and stuff. Was that down in... What drag races did you go to?

[00:05:11.650] - Les Figeroa

Yeah. In the early years... So I'm 59 years old. So...

[00:05:16.820] - Big Rich Klein

Fremont?

[00:05:17.320] - Les Figeroa

First grade, second grade. We lived in the Bay Area down in there, Fremont Alameda. And Fremont Drag Strip was the drag race of choice. It was close. And just really enjoyed it. And I just have lots of memories as a little kid going to the events and just watching. My dad would race as a hobby once in a while. And ironically, I still have that car that he bought in 1970. Wow. And it's almost finished. Again, it's a beautiful car, and I will drive it to work every once in a while here, but I'll trailer it to our drag strip in Las Vegas just to bracket race and have fun.

[00:05:58.280] - Big Rich Klein

And it's a 1970 what?

[00:06:01.260] - Les Figeroa

It's actually a 1963 and a half Falcon Futura Hard Top, and it was a factory four-speed V8 car, which were very limited production And a rare car, if you will, for that time.

[00:06:19.230] - Big Rich Klein

Nice. That's awesome. My dad drag raced, some at Fremont, but mainly over at Half Moon Bay when they had the drag, when they used the airport over there for drag racing. Yeah, that was a place I never got to go there.

[00:06:37.230] - Les Figeroa

But my dad talked about racing Half Moon Bay. Absolutely.

[00:06:41.180] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, that was back in the day. My dad dragged raced up until about '62 or '63, I think.

[00:06:48.310] - Les Figeroa

Very cool.

[00:06:49.360] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, I can remember when it snowed in San Bruno and he took the dragster, the race car. It wasn't a dragster. It was I don't know what you would call it. But anyway, I don't remember what class it was. But he went up and down San Bruno Avenue, and they're off of El Camino, where all the businesses are at, or San Mateo Avenue, whatever it's called right there. And it was snowing out, and they were just roasting the tires up and down the main shopping street there.

[00:07:27.260] - Les Figeroa

Yeah, that had to be pretty rare for it to snow. In that area.

[00:07:30.910] - Big Rich Klein

Exactly.

[00:07:32.570] - Les Figeroa

Yeah, very uncommon.

[00:07:34.840] - Big Rich Klein

So then what other activities did you do as a kid or family?

[00:07:42.160] - Les Figeroa

Yeah, so back then we went camping a lot. Camping, fishing. And we never really had a four-wheel drive, but I can remember seeing signs back in the woods that would be posted on trees, four-wheel drive only. And my dad would drive down a lot of those roads anyway. And there were times we had issues getting out. And I can remember just loading the back of the truck up with a river rock just for weight in the back to get out. But we did lots of camping, lots of drought fishing, mainly. We would fish the rock wall in the Bay Area, saltwater fishing. But that's what we did, other than bicycling and bicycle, motocross and skateboards, the normal kids stuff.

[00:08:25.640] - Big Rich Klein

Right. And as a student So you did high school up in the mountains, but you did your early years down in the Bay Area, Alameda. What student were you?

[00:08:40.380] - Les Figeroa

Yeah, so I was one of those students that would get by in school with a B average without having to study hard. And hindsight probably wasn't a good idea, but I didn't really study real hard. I took the hard classes and passed best, and it could have been better academically. And then when we moved up to the mountains, I was ahead of the schooling up there. So my junior and senior year, I went to a small high school of about 385 people. And a lot of the classes that were offered at those levels, I had already taken. So it wasn't a breeze by any means, but I didn't apply myself too hard because I'd already been through all that. And it worked out good. I didn't go to college after that. I did take some college courses at a junior college, but I did not go to college after that. But I played sports. Base, baseball, football. I did some track. I did pole vaulting when I was young. And then when we moved up to the mountains, I followed up with playing football and baseball. Did a lot of snow skiing, and that was our winter activity.

[00:10:00.200] - Les Figeroa

And in the summertime, we just tried to ride dirt bikes in the mountains.

[00:10:04.210] - Big Rich Klein

And when you say you moved up to the mountains, what town did you move up to?

[00:10:09.180] - Les Figeroa

We moved up to an area up above Sonora, more in the Twain Hart, Long Barn, area, about 5,000 feet of elevation. Small populations, lots of small towns connected by Highway 108. And really a fun place and really a very unique place. I'd like to go back and visit more. A lot of activities to do up there.

[00:10:32.400] - Big Rich Klein

So did you ski then more like at Bear Valley?

[00:10:37.820] - Les Figeroa

No, I skied more at the Dodge Ridge area.

[00:10:40.350] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. Dodge Ridge. All right.

[00:10:41.800] - Les Figeroa

Yeah. Dodge Ridge. I had season passes up there. Even worked up there right out of school. Really enjoyed that. At that time, we'd work up there and you'd get discounts. But the biggest thing was you'd get a season pass for extremely cheap. And so it enables you to ski and make money as well.

[00:11:02.810] - Big Rich Klein

Right. Awesome. That's pretty cool. And then how did you get into... Well, let's do this. What was the first car that you had when you became a licensed driver?

[00:11:18.300] - Les Figeroa

First car I had, I adopt... I always wanted the Falcon, first of all. Always wanted that car. Unfortunately, parents went through a divorce around '73. My dad drove that car for about a year. And back then, that Falcon would run mid '12, which in the early '70s, that was extremely quick, and mainly due to the lightness of the car itself. He had built a 289, and it still had a four-speed in it. So he drove that around for a year. And that's a car I always wanted, but I didn't get that. My first car was actually a 1971 Ford Maverick six-cylinder, three on the And before I graduated, my dad took it and pulled the engine and transmission out of it, put a four-speed in it, and a little hypo 289. And I got the scatter shield and clutch out of the Falcon and the headers. And it was a fun car. It would run like... I raced it at Fremont once, only once, and it would go 14 O's, which was mainly due to the rear-end gearing. But my first car was a '71 Ford Maverick.

[00:12:31.640] - Big Rich Klein

And I have to ask, because every Ford Maverick I think I can remember was green.

[00:12:38.160] - Les Figeroa

No, mine was. It looked white, but it was actually the lightest blue color you've ever seen, which everybody thought it was white.

[00:12:45.300] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. Do you know what I mean by the green Mavericks?

[00:12:50.910] - Les Figeroa

Oh, yeah. Yeah, very, very common.

[00:12:53.810] - Big Rich Klein

Right.

[00:12:55.370] - Les Figeroa

And so- It was a lightweight car also.

[00:12:57.380] - Big Rich Klein

So when did you graduate high school? What year was that?

[00:13:00.870] - Les Figeroa

Yes, I graduated in 1982 in the town of Tawalami, California, which was a very popular logging town back in the day. So logging was huge. But I lived about 25 miles away, so it was always best to take the school bus. And that was a common thing back then. In the wintertime, the bus drivers would chain up the busses and go through the snow and pick you up. And and unchain and get you to school. And I graduated in 1982.

[00:13:34.620] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. I was in '76, so I'm a little bit older than you are.

[00:13:39.340] - Les Figeroa

Oh, yeah. There you go.

[00:13:40.800] - Big Rich Klein

And I lived after college. I moved to, I worked in San Francisco for a short time, and then about eight months or so, and then moved up to Placerville. And that's what I really call home, is Placerville.

[00:13:56.110] - Les Figeroa

So Placerville, one of my favorite elevations Cousins. After high school, spent about a year in that Sonora, Twain Hart area. My mom had relatives, cousins that opened up a business in South Lake Tahoe. And So at 19, I moved to South Lake Tahoe and worked for their business for about a year and a half. And it would take digital photos at that time. And on a three-axis mill, it actually would you'll see little holes in acrylic, and you put a background up against it, and it looked like the photo in acrylic. And you got to remember, this was still in the early mid-1980s, so technology wasn't even close to what it was today.

[00:14:44.640] - Big Rich Klein

Correct. Correct. Yeah, I was a commercial photographer back then, and I decided to get out of the photography business when everything started going digital and everybody was getting away from film, and I just didn't want to reinvest. I had so much money tied up in film at that point. I was disgusted because it made everybody that had a digital camera became an instant photographer because you could manipulate everything.

[00:15:16.480] - Les Figeroa

Oh, yeah. On my mom's side of the family, I think that my mom's side of the family actually kept Kodak in business for many decades. Nice. They took so many photos. And, yeah, that It was a different time when everything went digital. It just, boy, it changed everything, didn't it?

[00:15:34.350] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, it did. It did for me. But that's okay. I like where I'm at now.

[00:15:40.030] - Les Figeroa

Sure. That's right.

[00:15:41.140] - Big Rich Klein

So then you're working in Tahoe. That's after high school. You're still skiing, I suppose. What work were you doing up there?

[00:15:53.140] - Les Figeroa

Yeah. So when I worked, it was called Tahoe's Incredible Machine, and it was a franchise. I had them in Hawaii, in Pier and places like that. And I still continued to ski. So Tahoe being a very seasonal place for work, as you can imagine, I would take on a second job in the winter, work at the ski rental places, because you could work half day and then go ski half day. So I skied a lot at heavenly Valley. I lived in Lake Tahoe for 16 years. Oh, wow. And enjoyed a lot skiing. Shortly thereafter, I was at Caesars Tahoe. I was a valet attendant, which those are some great years. That was last for about two years. And really enjoyed that position. Mission, got to enjoy a lot of the Tahoe life, daytime activity as well as the nighttime activity.

[00:16:52.530] - Big Rich Klein

Cool. And how did the racing career come about?

[00:16:59.790] - Les Figeroa

Yeah, Yeah, well, very interesting. I started thinking about life and thought, I really should consider doing something that would be more beneficial in my future. I did have a friend A close friend and roommate, and his family-owned a new construction plumbing company. So what I did is I kept my position in the house in Lake Tahoe, which was a rental house, and relocated down to Roseville. And I did some plumbing, new construction plumbing. From there, I was always interested in the racing. From there, I also had a position part-time and then the full-time at a speed shop called Super Shops. After a couple of years in the plumbing and just a few months at Super Shops, I really decided to move back to Lake Tahoe. Super Shops offered me a position at Mallory Ignition, which was located in Carson City, Nevada, which was down the east side, northeast side of Lake Tahoe. So knowing that I always love drag racing, I took on that position making minimum wage, which at the time was about four dollars and twenty five cents an hour. And I started commuting down the hill working at Mallory Ignition, and I was fortunate enough to get a position in what was called the MAG Room, which stood for Magnetos.

[00:18:29.000] - Les Figeroa

And at that time, Mallory was the only ignition company building Magnetos for Topfuel, Topfuel funny car, alcohol, funny car, alcohol dragsters. And so I was there for about three months And I had the opportunity to fill in going to the races for another employee who got sick and couldn't make it. And that was in 1988. And from 1988 till the end of 1996, I I only missed six events in that whole time frame.

[00:19:03.250] - Big Rich Klein

Wow. That's really good.

[00:19:06.100] - Les Figeroa

Yeah. I was traveling on the road, traveling from the West Coast, starting at Pomona, California, all the way to Gainesville, Florida, up north, Washington State, Indianapolis. I mean, just the whole NHRA series. I loved it. Learned lots of things from the top people. I didn't start at the And on the bottom, I just was thrown into the top. And after the first year for Mallory, they built a purpose-built 18-wheeler that had all of the test equipment for ignitions, parts washers, CD EV ignition testing, electric fuel pump flow bench, magneto recharging. And they asked me if I wanted to be the one to drive it around the country. So at that time, I think I was about 22, 23. Just an amazing position. I was still making very little money, but the experience was well worth it. A couple of years into that, I decided I, too, wanted to race, even though I had only done it briefly at a Wednesday night, Friday night local level. I just wanted to do that. And at that time, Mallory did not want to lose me from traveling. So they offered to carry my race car in the 18-wheeler.

[00:20:32.200] - Les Figeroa

And so all the events that I was able to work at, I was also able to race at. And just an unbelievable opportunity. And with the rules that they had then, I was able to race the NHRA national events that were televised with a letter of intent that I would support the sportsmen races at the same time. And so my cars in the early years were sponsored by Super Shops. They were the popular yellow-painted vehicles. They had them in several classes. I just happened to be one of the fortunate people to get to do that.

[00:21:10.320] - Big Rich Klein

Wow, that's pretty good. That's being at the right place and right place, right time, all that, it sounds like.

[00:21:21.970] - Les Figeroa

Yeah. And it was funny because the people on the West Coast thought I was an East Coast racer. The people on the East Coast I was a West Coast racer, and I never told anybody that I was new. I just had a new friend from being out there, and I studied the sport, and I studied what you were supposed to do, and tried to study what you weren't supposed to do. I was honestly very fortunate to have early success. And I won a lot of races right off the bat, and I got a lot of write-ups, and nobody had known at that time time that I was new to the sport. They just assumed that I had been racing many, many years like everybody else. So it was funny. It was my secret.

[00:22:09.440] - Big Rich Klein

Nice. And were you still in the Maverick at that point?

[00:22:13.730] - Les Figeroa

I'm sorry. Say it again.

[00:22:14.880] - Big Rich Klein

Were you still in the Maverick?

[00:22:17.630] - Les Figeroa

No, no, no, no. So the first car that I had purchased as a real race car was actually a 1968 RSSS Camaro that came from New Jersey. And And it went from the dealership, originally in 1968, right to a race car shop. And it was built for Pro Stock in 1969. So this group of about three guys had the car. It wasn't completed in time for Pro Stock, which was a new class back then. And so the car went into what they called modified production, which turned into NHRA Competition Eliminator. And it was raced all the way from 1969 '99 until the mid-summer, September '91, and I purchased it. And I'm looking at a picture of it right now on the wall. And it was just a first-class race car, small block-powered, full-chassis car. It looked all-stock factory, but the only thing that was original metal was the roof and the rear quarters. Everything was duplicated in fiber glass, but it was duplicated off original parts. So it still looked like an individual pieced car. A great race car. Raced out for two years before I went into the rear engine Dragster race cars.

[00:23:40.010] - Big Rich Klein

Wow. Okay. And was that like What we used to call a shaker body?

[00:23:48.410] - Les Figeroa

No, it was a little bit different. They had opening and closing doors, lift off hood, lift off front-end if you wanted. In the sportsman classes, at the NHRA level, you could race It was a 1090 index class, a 990 index class, or a 890 index class. And they are all driver's classes because it was on a fixed index. So really, the person with the most money that could get there the quickest wasn't the winner because you had to compete on an index. So leaving the starting line as close to perfect as possible and getting to the other end and beating your opponent and getting there first without breaking So making out and running under the index was the name of the game. So very precision at both ends. And your car had to repeat at that time within a hundredth of two of a perfect run to win. So it's still like that today. And it's even more competitive today because of all the electronics that are available and the quality of builds and components that are available. So, yeah, it's still highly contested categories.

[00:25:01.200] - Big Rich Klein

Okay, and then you said you went into rear engine dragsters.

[00:25:06.990] - Les Figeroa

Yeah, so it was at the end of 1992, I thought that's where I needed to be. It didn't really change a whole lot. I probably, in hindsight, should have kept a Camaro, but I went into the dragsters and that competed on an 890 Index. And I would race an HOA at the events that we were at. And when it was time for all the other employees to fly home, I was still in my 20s. They gave me and my buddy Mike Phillips the opportunity to either go home, and then we would have to work at Mallory Ignition every day, or they allowed us to take this brand new 18-wheeler that they put an elevator lift gate on the back just to haul the dragster. They would allow us to go attend any other race events that we wanted to Everything was paid for. I had to pay my own entry fees, but all of our hotels and fuel expense and food was all paid for. And we would go to the IHRA events, Super Chevy events, and other bracket drag racing events. And keep in mind, we were still promoting the company, and we were the only 18-wheeler to be able to travel around and do that.

[00:26:24.830] - Les Figeroa

It was just very unique and very special.

[00:26:27.790] - Big Rich Klein

That sounds like a sweet gig.

[00:26:30.040] - Les Figeroa

Yes, it was just incredible. We ended up once... We left Seattle, Washington, and decided to go to Hamburg, New York for a non-race event, and ended up stopping at Mount Rushmore because we thought that would be unique, not knowing it was the 50th anniversary of Harley Davidson. So we had a lot of unique experiences on the road, some I can't talk about. Right.

[00:27:01.500] - Big Rich Klein

I think statute of limitations might be up now.

[00:27:05.520] - Les Figeroa

Yeah, yeah, well, let's hope so.

[00:27:10.320] - Big Rich Klein

I think we all have some of those situations somewhere in our closet. Oh, yeah.

[00:27:15.970] - Les Figeroa

So in between all that, one of the other fortunate things I was able to do, like I said, in nine years, I missed six events, and I think five were all six of those events. I actually worked at the Indy 500 for the month of May for Mallory Ignition.

[00:27:32.640] - Big Rich Klein

Oh, that's cool.

[00:27:33.520] - Les Figeroa

And so I would go in there. Mallory had a garage there at the Indy 500. Gosh, I don't even know when it started. They were building ignitions for the Indy 500 cars from the beginning. And so I'd be there for the whole month of May. And they weren't doing too much at that time because it was all going to EFI and they had fuel management systems within the ignitions. But I would still do a lot of testing of ignitions, do a lot of sprint car magnetos and things like that. So that was a very unique experience as well.

[00:28:10.800] - Big Rich Klein

What was it like at Indy during that speed week?

[00:28:17.480] - Les Figeroa

It was awesome, but like I said, I'd be there for the whole month. And we stayed at the Speedway Motel, which is no longer there now at the brickyard. And two doors And down was Mario Andretti's room. Next to him was Jeff Andretti's room. And it was very close-knit. Once you were in at that level, it was one big, huge family. Really cool. So you'd show up at the Speedway. We had all rear back entrance into the garages, and you'd hang out there for the day. And afterwards, you were going to dinner with the people that you met, and I mean, I have just really unique stories with Mario Andretti and Aldo, his twin, and Jeff Andretti's grandfather, which they called Red. I don't even know his real name. And then in the mornings, you'd go down to the hotel lobby. They had a restaurant and all these round tables. And it was the who's who of IndyCar racing. And everybody was friends. And you would have breakfast there, and you would have dinner there most of the time. And they would all heckle each other from table to table. And I'll tell you what, there were times I would take the long route away and not go by Mario Andretti's room just because his door was always open.

[00:29:42.810] - Les Figeroa

He always had lots of fruit and alcohol, and you couldn't pass by his room without stopping because he would make you stop. And it was just it was really fun and very unique, and I always looked forward to that.

[00:29:56.260] - Big Rich Klein

That's awesome. These are great stories.

[00:30:00.380] - Les Figeroa

Yeah, fun times. I mean, one time we were there for the US National, which was a drag race event, the largest drag race event for NHRA, and it takes place over Labor Day weekend. And I wanted to show some people that were involved with Mallory at the time, where our garage was at the Indy 500. So we had a Lincoln town car. And you got to remember, it was a long time ago. And so as I'm going over to the garage area, they made us take a detour because I think they were redoing... You drive under these tunnels and you'd pop up on the infield. Well, I think they were resurfacing it. So they made us drive, we were the only car, across the track. And as I'm driving across the track between turns two and three, I thought to myself, I probably won't ever have an opportunity like this again. So I made a hard right and we took off making laps around the Indy 500.

[00:31:00.390] - Big Rich Klein

And nobody stopped you?

[00:31:03.120] - Les Figeroa

By the time I got to the... Pardon?

[00:31:05.170] - Big Rich Klein

Did anybody try to stop you?

[00:31:07.730] - Les Figeroa

They did. Okay. By the time, we only went about 70 miles an hour, and all I wanted to do was drive across the start finish line because it's about a three to four foot wide strip of the original bricks. Right. Which was the reason why they called it the brickyard. And so we went across the start finish line. About that time, there was two security trucks with all their lights on, trying to stop us. And all I could think of was the trouble I was going to get in. And at that time, we were stuck on ground at the speed of my down. I did not stop. I dove into the infield I have five other people in the car. It's a big Lincoln. And these white trucks are following us with their lights on, trying to stop us. And I knew the area pretty well. And so as I exited, and I forget which street it was. I think it was 16th Street because those tunnels were still open. I happened to pick the opposite tunnel that another car went through. When I popped up on the other side, there was nobody in front of me.

[00:32:15.920] - Les Figeroa

So we were able to leave without getting caught. But then I was worried about getting caught when we went back because I didn't know if they wrote down our license plates. So I proceeded to go to the shopping mall that was down the road And I removed the license plates off the car so that when we went back, they wouldn't know which car it was. Later on in the weekend, when the general manager flew in, he rented a minivan and I switched cars with him. And later on that weekend, he got pulled over for no license plates. And when he opened up the glove box to get the registration and the rental agreement out, the license plate was inside. And later on, he said he mumbled to himself something about my name and knew that it was attached to what was going on. And needless to say, I never got in trouble, never got caught for that. But it was a fun experience.

[00:33:08.310] - Big Rich Klein

That is awesome. So you got to drive on the brickyard. That's awesome.

[00:33:13.190] - Les Figeroa

Oh, yeah.

[00:33:14.650] - Big Rich Klein

That's really cool.

[00:33:16.120] - Les Figeroa

Yeah, good times.

[00:33:17.730] - Big Rich Klein

So then that was one of the five or six events you didn't make in over that time period?

[00:33:25.110] - Les Figeroa

Yeah. So when I would miss the Drag Race event, That was a month of May. Usually it was like a Bristol, Bristol, Tennessee race. And I forget other ones were in May. It would probably only be a couple. But I would be working the Indy 500 at that time. And so I was on the road. There was one time in nine months. Like I said, I went home four times in nine months. And it was just an opportunity to travel and see the country and just race. I was racing 30 to 35 weeks a year.

[00:33:58.570] - Big Rich Klein

And I take it you were single at that point?

[00:34:01.670] - Les Figeroa

I was single. I did not get married to my current wife, Sue, until '07. Okay. So I started traveling in '88 and did not get married till '07.

[00:34:13.300] - Big Rich Klein

So late bloomer as far as marriage goes?

[00:34:16.810] - Les Figeroa

I don't know. It fit my time schedule, actually.

[00:34:20.540] - Big Rich Klein

Perfect. That's perfect. So then, how did you end up in off road?

[00:34:28.400] - Les Figeroa

Well, I ended up in off road. I always liked four wheeling. So when I lived in Lake Tahoe, we'd go on the Rubicon trail and lots of cool trails around the Tahoe area. And we would do it in the snow. We would do it in the summer. It was just a lot of fun. And I always enjoyed it. At one time, I had a 74 Blazer, and it had a big block 427 Corvette engine in it, and had lots of fun with that. But through Drag Racing, I was able to have a good relationship with Lucas Oil. And we would Our company that we have now is named Fig Speed. And Fig Speed would represent Lucas Oil at the national events on the West Coast for them. So we established this relationship. At that time, I was living in Lake Havasu, and Rick Mooney Ham was living in Lake Havasu. And we did a lot of rock crawling and desert four wheeling there. And when King of the Hammers started, it was almost like how When I got involved in drag racing, I saw it, I liked it. Kind of wanted to do it. Bought a car.

[00:35:37.310] - Les Figeroa

This would have been 2010, no, 2009. I wanted to get involved in the off road because it was getting difficult for me to continue drag racing because all the big events that were good to drag race at, I was having to work at. And so it limited me to what I I really liked. So by getting involved in off-roading, the time schedules didn't conflict. And so I was able to secure a mild sponsorship of Lucas Oil, and then I got involved Initially, I just got involved in racing King of the Hammers in 2010. And once again, had no idea, didn't know, just got, that's where I started. Kind of like starting in drag racing. Nobody knew I hadn't done it before. So that's what got me involved, is just lack of conflict of scheduling. And I was able to go off road racing without it interfering.

[00:36:41.620] - Big Rich Klein

And the first car you raced, was that one of Monieham's cars?

[00:36:46.310] - Les Figeroa

No, I bought one out of Colorado, and I forget the name of the company, actually, the chassis. I forget the name of it, but I went out there, bought it, and had a LS in It's pretty standard at the time for what it was. I had these big king air shocks that were... I guess it didn't produce a whole lot of them, but it had those shocks on there. And then I had Rick Mooneyham. He was real close to our shop. So he updated and did the things that he thought it needed. And my co- driver, when I first started, was Joe Thompson from the UFO Chassis. So Joe Thompson and I raced K I had a KOH for four years.

[00:37:32.590] - Big Rich Klein

I didn't realize that. And they had a great time. Okay.

[00:37:35.570] - Les Figeroa

Yeah. And Joe, after that first year, Joe would take care of the car and make all the changes. And obviously, because of what he does now, he had just great ideas. And after two years of that, we decided to build a new car, and Joe got started on a new chassis. And we ended up racing that first car again, a third year, because we couldn't get the other car done. And after I was done with that, I sold that car to Gomez Brothers. And they had not off-road raced yet. They came out, knew I had the car for sale. They did not know Joe Thompson. They bought that car. And then Joe Thompson, shortly thereafter, I introduced them to each other and just shared phone numbers. Joe Thompson started helping out with them, and then one thing led to another. And here we are. And one King of the Hammers three years in a row. And Joe Thompson cars. They're just really kick a butt.

[00:38:34.090] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, absolutely. I was at the first race that the Gomez's did helping. I'm really good friends with Bob Roghi. Oh, yeah. We ended up down there outside of Albuquerque for the first race that they did. That was a combined race with the Desert Racing Association down there and Dave Cole. And so it was quite the interesting event down there. And those guys are fun to hang out with.

[00:39:07.550] - Les Figeroa

Oh, yeah. They're a wild group. And when they bought that car, two of the brothers, I think JP and Raul, I guess it was, came out with Bob Roghe. And we went out and tested the car and they immediately bought it. And, yeah, I'm sure that was the car that they were racing that back then.

[00:39:26.360] - Big Rich Klein

Right. It must have been. Yeah, I remember when talking to Bob, he He was like, Yeah, these guys, they want to go out and go trophy truck racing. And I said, and he goes, And I told him, They need to get started with something a little more obtainable. And so we'll get them into the ultra four racing or what then, King of the Hammers. So that style. And now look at they're racing both.

[00:39:54.530] - Les Figeroa

Yeah, now they're racing all the above and plenty of equipment and a really stout team and just great cars. And they give it their all. They play as hard as they... As much as they like to have fun, they play hard both ways. And they really earned it and did a great job.

[00:40:13.140] - Big Rich Klein

Absolutely. And so when you were wheeling back there, you set up in the area of the Rubicon in Tahoe. Did you ever do Barrett Lake Trail?

[00:40:26.290] - Les Figeroa

No, I never did. We just did what was really extremely close. I probably didn't even know about that trail. I didn't even know about what was called the Ford Ice Trail either. Rubicon was iconic, and it was right in our backyard. We'd go in backwards or we'd go down Highway 50 and go in Icehouse Road, or we would drop in through Wrights Lake. That was another popular way we'd go in that way. And we'd go over Strawberry and end up over at Capul's Lake and do couple of days with camping and swimming and fishing. And what was cool back then was nothing ever broke. We never really broke anything. So I don't know what we would have done if we would have broke parts out on the trail, but always a good time.

[00:41:14.680] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, I can remember that as well. Back then, I was driving a '86 Chevy One-Done shortbed. So I get it.

[00:41:22.900] - Les Figeroa

Yeah.

[00:41:24.700] - Big Rich Klein

That's pretty cool. So then are you still drag racing?

[00:41:32.420] - Les Figeroa

Yeah, I still drag raced all the way through... Well, not right now, as far as drag racing goes, I try to do it. I have a dragster, that Falcon that I was talking about that my dad bought in early years. I have it almost complete, and it probably take me another week to finish it. And then I just... Fortunately, being in Las Vegas in the Henderson area, the drag strip is only half an hour away. So I just do it now for fun and enjoyment. I still travel to lots of events, but I'm not racing like I used to. So what I did all those years working for Mallory is I would go to the events and other guys would fly in and I would race and we would service all the race cars. And when they would allow me and my partner, Mike Phillips, to go to these other events in between, we saw a need for somebody to support the Sportsman Racer. So I always thought when I would leave Mallory, that I would try to create a program, that I would be doing the same thing for multiple companies, going to those events to support the Sportsman Races with products and technical services.

[00:42:51.370] - Les Figeroa

So at the end of '96, I had the opportunity to drive a top alcohol dragster for a gentleman named Jerry Derry And at that time, he had been close to the family that owned In-N-Out Burger. So he was getting that sponsorship for the first time In-N-Out Burger had sponsored anything. So I was going to stay in the industry with Mallory for that opportunity because that would allow me to race that class. After we went testing and everything went pretty well, I got kicked out for one of the Pedagon brothers, who they're My family is synonymous with drag racing that has been since the '60s.

[00:43:33.750] - Big Rich Klein

Absolutely.

[00:43:34.400] - Les Figeroa

The only thing is, nobody ever told me I was kicked out. I had to read it in National Dragster myself. So when that happened, I decided to actually start the business that I have now. At that time, it was called Figourela Motorsports because I couldn't come up with a name. And I put together a trailer program and enlisted the top companies who I knew the owners of within our industry. And my plan was represent them at the sportsman events and bring their products and services to those events to support the sportsman racers. Because honestly, at that time, they were the only ones buying parts at the Drag Strip because the pros had lots of sponsorships, and a lot of the companies didn't charge either the racers or full price for those. So it really wasn't a huge money maker for them at the time. So I had that idea I put that together, and I was still drag racing and traveling the country all over at that time. I would cross the United States three or four times a year. And it worked out pretty well. I later changed the name to Fig Speed, one word.

[00:44:47.490] - Les Figeroa

And now I just stick to the West Coast event because there's plenty of events for us to attend, and we still provide that service. I attend about 18 events a year, Most of it all drag race events, but about three or four off-road events. In 2023, that was the first time we went to Trail Hero as a vendor. Really liked it. Great atmosphere. And living where we live, all of these events are close. So it's really been fantastic.

[00:45:23.280] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, Trail Hero. I have to give kudos for my son for building that event up to what it has He's done an outstanding job with that.

[00:45:35.250] - Les Figeroa

Yeah, and I share our experiences with all of our vendors. Unfortunately, a lot of the owners of these companies are either the companies are selling because the original owners are aging out, if you will. And so I'm doing my best to keep the new blood, if you will, within the industry up to date. So I try to do small reports after these events because they have no idea. They've never been to those events, and a lot of them have never been to any of the events. They just happen to be in the positions that they're at. One of the good events that I attended that I shared with was a Bonneville. Bonneville events in August. I've only been there a couple of times, but just a great experience if you're into motor sports as a whole. It doesn't matter if you're into sprint cars, drag racing, rock crawling, And whatever you're into. That Bonneville is just very unique and it has something for everyone.

[00:46:38.020] - Big Rich Klein

I'd like to make it to Bonneville someday. That's always been something that's intrigued me. And I hope to do that. I hope to get out there for their speed week and watch some of the racing out there.

[00:46:52.550] - Les Figeroa

Yeah, you need to put it on your list because the salt, it's not in great shape and they're not going to be able to to continue that forever because it deteriorates. And so if you ever get that opportunity, you're going to make sure and put it on your list.

[00:47:09.110] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, get it done soon. Right.

[00:47:11.120] - Les Figeroa

That's right.

[00:47:13.210] - Big Rich Klein

So what's in the future? Still going to continue doing the programs you have, or is there something else in the wind that you want to try?

[00:47:21.430] - Les Figeroa

Yeah, I really enjoy. We have a brick and mortar speed shop here in Henderson, and we've been here about 15 years. And I really Part of this that keeps me going is I truly enjoy helping racers and non-racers alike within our industry. I've been fortunate to have a condensed education that I don't know if I've ever would have been able to have had I not been in the position that I was, the learning curve on all the different products. And I ended up... I raced the hammers type events four years and had to stop that because it was conflicting with all the events I had to do for other companies as well. But recently, my buddy Jack Sadler and I purchased a 4500 car. We raced the Lake Havasu event in 2023. Really liked it. We were underpowered. Great car, really good car, but it had an original V6 in it. So we've since yanked All that out, bought a high horsepower, 415-inch LS engine for it. And we were entered in King of the Hammers this year. And ironically, with my shoulder surgery, he always tries to beat me out on things. So what he decided to do was hurt his shoulder three weeks before I hurt mine.

[00:48:48.510] - Les Figeroa

So he, too, had to have shoulder surgery. So we were unable to make it. But we plan on... So for the future, we plan on hitting some of the desert races whenever we can, because there's a lot of Here locally, we'll take it to Trail Hero and just have a good time with it and then work in the afternoon, in the evening. We'll race Lake Havasu again, and hopefully we'll be in good shape for King of the Hammers for 2025. Live, but we just want to stick with the same program we got going and just add some more off-road events. I truly enjoy it. And it's a good group of people. It's a great group of people. Love being around the whole program And that's what we're going to add for the near future.

[00:49:33.670] - Big Rich Klein

Excellent. Let's talk about your wife. You said you met her in the... What?

[00:49:43.700] - Les Figeroa

Yeah, I met my wife in Lake Havasu. When I was in Lake Tahoe with this business, it wasn't really a business I could do successfully in that location, with the wintertime conditions and all that. So I'd happen to go on a short vacation in March to Lake Havasu, never knowing what that was about. Going there, everybody's garage was bigger than their house. It was very affordable. The motor sports, whether it be street rods, hot rods, dirt bikes, sand cars, boats, it's huge. Lake Havasu is regarded as the highest level of motor sports in the country. It has the most hot rods per capita than anywhere in the country. And I saw it once there and I thought, oh, my gosh, this is where I need to be. So I went back, found a lot to purchase, to build a house on. It was extremely affordable at that time, but I had to get a loan. So I got set up, went into this bank and met this loan officer. Her name was Sue. And I thought, oh, my gosh, this beautiful person, great person personality. And I didn't know anything about her. But anyway, so I met her, got my loan.

[00:51:07.350] - Les Figeroa

About two years later, with no contact, after living there, interest rates dropped down pretty far This would have been probably around 2002, I guess. And when the interest rates dropped around five and three quarter, I decided to refinance. So I went back into that same bank. And lo and behold, Sue was still there, and one thing led to another. And we've been inseparable since then. We started dating in probably around 2001, 2002. We got married in 2007. And 2010, we relocated to Henderson, Nevada, and everything is going great. She's a wonderful person. She actually works for our business and all of the paperwork. And she does have an office here, but she works mainly from home.

[00:52:01.860] - Big Rich Klein

Very good. Very cool. Excellent. She says that she likes the racing, and she does.

[00:52:10.880] - Les Figeroa

But I don't know if she likes it as much as me. And honestly, I don't know if there is anybody that likes all this as much as me, but she puts up with it. And I'm very thankful for that.

[00:52:21.130] - Big Rich Klein

Well, that's important. I mean, supporting each other with whatever each partner wants to do is great. What are her interests?

[00:52:32.480] - Les Figeroa

Her interests are, I have two step-sons, Ryan and Randy, and obviously family with her. And we now have two grandchildren, Russell and Rory. Our one son, Randy, he lives here locally in the Las Vegas area, Henderson. And Ryan, he lives in Southern California. He's actually a director. Commercials, just a lot of different things. Video, stuff for bands and commercials and just lots of good things. But her focus is really family, grandkids. We have a golden doodle dog that just doesn't leave her side for anything. And so she's pretty full with that and just enjoying life and family.

[00:53:26.420] - Big Rich Klein

And she likes to rec wheel?

[00:53:29.280] - Les Figeroa

She does. As long as, quote, I don't go on any darn goat trails. She doesn't like to go up sides of mountains on goat trails. She just likes to rec a rational wheel.

[00:53:40.320] - Big Rich Klein

I get that. When we were doing Dirt Riot, I'd take Billy, my wife, out onto the race courses, typically after the races, and to pick up all the markers and everything like that. And she did a lot of off-roading from the passenger seat. But one time I got her in when we were Texas at one of the race courses. I said, Hey, why don't you drive the race course? And she was like, Okay. So she jumped in the driver's seat. We were at what was the start line, and it You went about 50 feet, and then you made a hard left and down a pretty good ledge that had a big crack line in the middle of it. And she drove off that thing, and it mean... She didn't have She didn't know what to fear. When the drivers all looked at that start line, especially the sportsmen classes, they were like, Oh, man, that's a pretty good drop off going down into this quarry bottom. And she just drove off that like a champ, not knowing that she should have been worried a little bit. I was a little concerned because she was going a fairly good clip.

[00:54:55.910] - Big Rich Klein

And then we started across the floor of the of the quarry. And it was just all big rock flat ground. But there was all these bowling ball size rock that had been moved around. And it was pretty clear down the middle. But She got to near the end of the quarry where you go back out into the trees, and I had her stop and I said, Okay, first of all, we're just driving the race course. We're not racing the race course. And you don't have to hit all the rocks. Right. And she goes, What do you mean? I was hitting the rocks?

[00:55:35.340] - Les Figeroa

Yeah, that's funny.

[00:55:37.080] - Big Rich Klein

I love her dearly, but she was looking like... I don't know where she was looking. And I said, You got to concentrate what's in front of you. And if you hit those rocks all the time, eventually something's going to break. So you can go a little left, a little right, work your way over and around the rocks instead of just right over the top of them. And she drove the race course, the rest of the race course, and did really well.

[00:56:04.340] - Les Figeroa

That's awesome.

[00:56:05.650] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, once she slowed down.

[00:56:08.880] - Les Figeroa

I started taking my wife, Sue, to the drag races here. She would travel with me sometimes and fly in, but when I would take her to some of the races, she would comment on how easy it looked. And I had some fast dragsters. Myself and John Spahr, his family-owned B&M at the time. His dad was a founder of the B&M in the '50s, and then they sold it no fine. But we were the only two cars that had superchargers in the country because we were wanting to promote the B&M superchargers. So I continued with that. And now, lo and behold, it's extremely popular. But my wife would make comment on how easy it looked. And I said, if it's so easy, maybe you should try it. And so she goes, well, maybe I should. So I built her a brand new dragster, a limited power, had a small block on alcohol. It would run high seven second, low eight flat quarter mile. And I got a little tested and all built for it, and we went up to Vegas. And her burnouts were perfect. And she could run the eighth mile perfect, but she would run faster mile an hour in the eighth than she would in the quarter.

[00:57:21.310] - Les Figeroa

She did not like holding the throttle down all the way through the quarter mile. So that didn't last too long. So then this one time, we were, so I got rid of that car and the people that we knew. And we were on the Rubicon trail once, and we were just starting to go into Little Sluce. And I had a built Jeep, and I was probably towards the back. And so I went up to spot some people through it and got tied up, as you do, leading through all that and a little bit beyond. And when I went back to get the Jeep, she had actually hopped in it and people spotted her through there. And she really didn't have any off-road experience. But with the spotter, she was able to drive right through it and really liked it. And so from then on, we would do some of the easier trails, if you will, in the Lake Havasu area. She would drive once a while. Really liked it, but she got out of it after that.

[00:58:20.520] - Big Rich Klein

Very good. Awesome.

[00:58:22.060] - Les Figeroa

But not knowing what to expect. They don't know anybody. They just do it.

[00:58:25.660] - Big Rich Klein

Right. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Well, Les, I want to say thank you so much for spending the time and talking about your life and your activities and your passion. I can really tell you have that passion for racing, whether it's pavement or off road. And it's great to hear that. That passion is why most of us continue to do this.

[00:58:54.630] - Les Figeroa

Absolutely, May. I thank you for the opportunity. And if you're ever out there at the races and you a white JK with a big Fig Speed logo on the side. Make sure you stop by and say hello.

[00:59:05.950] - Big Rich Klein

Absolutely. And my next time through Vegas, maybe I'll even stop through in Henderson and say hello if you're there.

[00:59:12.930] - Les Figeroa

Oh, please do.

[00:59:14.380] - Big Rich Klein

All right. Les, thank you so much. And I'll let you know before this episode is going to air.

[00:59:20.860] - Les Figeroa

That sounds great. Thanks again. I'll see you at the event.

[00:59:23.510] - Big Rich Klein

All right. Take care. Bye-bye. All right. Take care.

[00:59:25.870] - Les Figeroa

Bye-bye.

[00:59:26.840] - Big Rich Klein

Well, that's another episode of Conversations with Big Rich. I'd like to thank you all for listening. If you could do us a favor and leave us a review on any podcast service that you happen to be listening on, or send us an email or a text message or a Facebook message, and let me know any ideas that you have or if there's anybody that you have that you think would be a great guest, please forward the contact information to me so that we can try to get them on. And always remember, live life to the fullest. Enjoying life is a must. Follow dreams and live life with all the gusto you can. Thank you.