Dennis Kegel - From Porsche to Indys

Dennis headed the race team of Kegel Enterprises in some of the finest road races around the world. They raced the IMSA GT series at Brainerd, Mn; Riverside, CA; the 12 hours of Sebring, Fl; Elkhart Lake, WI; Lime Rock, CT; Mid-Ohio, OH; among others. Much knowledge was gained traveling around the world competing in many races including Fuji 1000 Japan; MoSport Canada; Ring Ricardo Mexico, and the 24 Hour of LeMans in France.

A variety of cars were produced by Dennis. He did extensive metal work on a 2 liter Chevron sports racer, built in England, for a race in Watkins Glen, NY.

He made trips to Japan to oversee a Toyota Celica he designed to IMSA specs for Toyota. The car was then shipped by airplane and delivered to Kegel Enterprises. The car was accompanied by 14 Japanese mechanics to help complete the project and do final prep for the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Christmas of one year was spent in France in the home of Jean Rondeau, the designer of the French Rondeau race car while the two worked on re-design of a Rondeau to make it IMSA legal. It was raced at Daytona.

But, his true love was, and is Porsche. He made many trips to Germany to the Porsche factory. One trip was by invitation, and he had three days of meetings with the Porche engineers and management, where they asked him questions about his designs. Dennis was quite honored to have met with Frau Behr, the Director of Porsche racing.

There are only two 24 hour endurance races in the world, and Kegel Enterprises competed in both - LeMans in France, and Daytona, Florida. His last two years in racing were culminated by back to back wins at the grueling Daytona 24 hour race, with two completely different Porsche cars he designed and fabricated. In the last race, his car set 14 records, of which 7 still stand today.

From Sports Digest, April 1981 (by Karl Garrity) "Beginning with the hollow shell of a gutted Porsche, Kegel began to work his magic. Designing a unique and exceptionally sturdy roll cage configuration, Kegel employed the engine and inverted transmission as integral stress members. He designed and manufactured custom shocks, wheel hubs and incorporated trick features like the ingenious windshield defroster that worked off the cooling system. For optimum handling, an internal adjustable front sway bar was installed. To save time in the pits, should bodywork need repair, the Porsche was treated to a unique quick release front end. It was by design that the 911 went the entire Daytona distance on one set of specially fabricated brakes, while the competition was forced to pit for new pads. No stone was left unturned in search of a competitive edge."

As quoted from the Pennzoil ad as it ran in the March 1981 issues of Auto Week "The real story at the 20th Annual Daytona 24 hour was the outstanding performance of the Koll/Kline/McFarlin" (the drivers) "GTU Porsche. Through the night and into a gleaming Florida Sunrise, one by one, the trio picked off the competition. At the finish, the Kegel Porsche was First in GTU, 68 miles ahead of the class's next competitor, and only 2 positions away from winning it all. That's right, an outstanding Third Overall!!" ("Their Oil? Pennzoil, naturally.")

Want to make your Indy run like a Porsche - without touching the motor? Try lightening the suspension. Dennis uses his expertise in design and production of lightweight parts for those of us who can appreciate the removal of a few pounds of weight when trying to pull out a "stuck" sled. The difference in the handling and maneuverability in a sled is fantastic. Thus far, Dennis has taken 70# off his Arctic Cat ZR.580, and also off his two Polaris machines.

Dennis and Northern Lites^TM use the finest materials and technology. He has brought new technology to the snowmobile industry. Northern Lites^TM manufactures parts built completely of 4130 and 4140 chromolly, aircraft quality aluminum, and/or Titanium. Generally, each part will be 1/2 the weight, and equal to, or usually stronger, than stock. From his race car background he is utilizing the rotary forging method for strengthening many of the tubes in their product line. Rotary forging is a hammering process that actually compacts the molecules, and makes the tubing stronger.. During this hammering process, Dennis's engineering specs are followed to produce a tubing that is "butted". This tube then is actually thicker at the ends where the stresses are, and where the brackets are welded. When constructing roll cages and chassis for the race cars, Dennis would always have the parts stress relieved and heat treated. He is using that process now for every part that is heat treatable manufactured by Northern Lites^TM . This multi-procedure process gives us "Veri-wall Concept Tubing^TM"

Each part is personally inspected and TIG welded by Dennis. The excellence and quality of his work is evident. Built by a craftsman who takes pride in his product.

The Mountain Handlebar^TM, origionated by Dennis, was designed for sidehilling and hi-marking. In keeping with the moniker of Leaders in Technology, Dennis has introduced a new space age material. NL² is the newest material being used for Mountain Handlebars^TM. "Northern Lites Lite", is an exotic material produced at a foundry to Dennis' specs. NL² is 10% lighter than aluminum, but as strong as the chromolly Mountain Handlebars^TM, and a half pound lighter than the stock handlebar! After welding they are sent out for proprietory stress relief and heat treatment. These NL² Mountain Handlebars^TM are finished in a newly developed two color anodize. Aurora Borealis, a graphics and marketing firm, has developed this unique anodizing process. The finish for Arctic Cat is called "Sun Spots", and is a violet background with lime green spots. The finish for Polaris is "Solar Flares" and is a beautiful violet, with turquoise blue flares.

Dennis has just completed calibrations on the chassis table for production of round-tube frame snowmobile chassis. He smiles as he looks at it "not as big as the one at my race shop in San Diego, and it doesn't auto-rotate, but it is just as straight and true."

With his engineering background Dennis is constantly visualizing new ideas and procedures. His latest project, which will be available for this snow season, is the first major advancement in braking, since the introduction of the disk brake to snowmobiling.

Utilizing all the engineering and research done on NL², he has designed a brake rotor for snowmobiles. The weight savings is phenomenal. NL² is 66% lighter than steel. Saves 1 1/2 pounds - and best yet, it is rotating weight! The material has been used for braking on Porsches and Sprint cars. In fact, there has been over 3,000,000 miles of fleet testing on this product.

Features of the NL² rotor , besides the incredible weight savings, are that it won't rust, has less vibration, reduced brake noise, doesn't fade when wet, is not susceptible to hot cracking, has a higher coefficient of friction, all giving you a safer, smoother and faster stop.

The braking package saves over 2 pounds and includes an NL² brake rotor; a Hard Anodized (to resist corrosion) hub, machined of ultra strong 7075 aluminum, with lightening holes, along with a set of  brake pads of a special material that has outlasted Kevlar 2 to 1. The hub is secured to the rotor using Titanium bolts and Flexloc nuts that are sequentially torqued.

Watch for advanced technology and new products from Northern Lites, Inc. - Leaders in Technology.

For More Information Contact:

Northern Lites, Inc.
1000 Fourth Avenue W.N., Columbia Falls, MT 59912
Tel: 406-253-7055
info@nlites.com