Keeping the Flame Alive and Other Stories from the Kettle Moraine Eagles’ Nest

Vintage racing, like many other sports, has its big names / Hall of Famers / Golden Jacket-owning titans of their respective realm. The stories of driving legends like Stirling Moss and the immaculate car collections of Bruce Canepa are the stuff of legends. But what about the small teams and individuals keeping historic masterpieces alive? Modern day pioneers and legends exist in our present world of vintage racing making history of their own by preserving the stories of yesteryear.

While sitting down with Jacques Dresang of the Kettle Moraine Preservation and Restoration (KMPR) team, Vintage Motorsport had a chance to hear from someone who dedicates more time, effort, and energy into the passion than most in an effort to continuously further this addiction we all share that is vintage racing.

The story of how KMPR came to be a massive eagle’s nest began on July 27, 1975. Jacques’ father Rick owned and operated a workshop in downtown Plymouth, Wisconsin, and as a tremendous fan of racing would keep his shop open when races were taking place at Elkhart Lake. As fate would have it, in pulled Dan Gurney’s All American Racers team transporter clad in Jorgensen Steel sponsorship and a cooked wheel bearing in hand. The team was in need and Dresang Sr. was pleased to lend out his shop. The All American Racers crew showed their thanks with a $300 tip and a life connection that would continue to grow. The Dresang workshop, meanwhile, grew in stature as a friendly haven for Road America-bound race teams in need.

For son Jacques, the love of racing was instantaneous. Karting started at the at age 11, collecting a wide array of regional and national wins in the Midwest. The success continued for Jacques into 2002 when he continued to rack up wins on his way to winning the World Karting Association’s Horstman Piston Valve championship and Most Improved Driver. Jaques would also finish first in the Midwest Sprint Series making for an incredibly successful year of karting.

Photo: Kettle Moraine Preservation and Restoration

Up next was a first foray into SCCA Spec Miata, and during that time, Dresang teamed up with and become racing confidants with Steve Welk and Mike Argestinger, both experienced drivers with storied racing pasts. Unfortunately, during this time Jacques’ race pace would continue to develop but could not compete with the exponentially increasing costs. Rather than call it quits from motorsports, the pivot was made from carving his own name into motorsports history by remembering those who paved the way before.

Photo: Kettle Moraine Preservation and Restoration

In 2004, researching and maintaining racing records of the past became Dresang's major focus. KMRP searched far and wide for cars with interesting stories to tell that were desperate for restoration and preservation. Over the years, he has turned research into an art with help from the likes of Paul Jay - a man whose experience with Offenhauser engines and fabrication skills would serve the KMRP team well in its effort to restore and preserve All American Racing items.

While baseball might have a secret home in a cornfield in Iowa, tucked in the forested shadows of Road America sits KMPR where AAR Eagles fly and Eldens skitter about, all in the same space. The name of the game is in the name itself, Preservation and Restoration. But while many of us have, or are, restorers and preservers of one or more vintage cars, KMRP takes this art to a level that would leave any titan of the vintage racing world impressed.

Highlighting what KMPR is preserving, the current gallery includes:

• 1972 All American Racers Indy Eagle No. 7209 – Originally campaigned by Gerhardt Racing with Jim Malloy taking driving responsibilities during the 1972 Indy 500.
• 1972 All American Racers Indy Eagle No. 7225 – Mark Donohue’s final IndyCar in its iconic Sunoco blue and yellow paint scheme.
• 1973 Grant King Racers Kingfish No. 1 – The near carbon copy of AAR’s 1972 IndyCar product which was rather skillfully copied by the notorious Mr. King who, by that time, had made a name for himself taking significant amounts of inspiration from other notable race car manufacturers.
• 1973 Elden PH10B 140/1 – Driven by KMPR stalwart, wheelman, and all-around gentleman, the late Michael Argestinger. Pictured below in its mid-restoration and current state being driven by Jacques Dresang.

Acquiring this impressive stable of cars is the result of decades of research and assistance from first-generation keepers of racing history. Decades of effort and passion allowed the KMPR team to forge its dedication to maintaining the ethical representation of each car, whether it was driven by Donohue or Argestinger.

Photo: Richard Zimmerman

KMPR sees the work it does as not just to maintain the physical being of the cars, but the stories of those involved in the entire process of the existence of the cars. While partaking in a sport that is so full of history and passion, Dresang described the chance and ability to help people take a step back in time and not just forget who we are, but when we are.

Special care is given to keep in mind what the original goal was with each car. The cars are restored to race condition. Though each has the pedigree to be center stage in any museum, the fact that they are race cars is never lost.

A perfect example of this detail and process is shown in the recently completed restoration of the previously mentioned 1973 Elden PH10B 140/1. The car came to KMPR as a frame devoid of many of the important aspects that make a race car go. But in typical KMPR spirit, none of that stopped the crusade that Dresang and mechanical magician Jay had set out on. Starting in 2019, two years of breakneck research and work to not only find the parts of the obscure English Formula Ford, but the extensive history tied to the car would be completed in 2021 when the car would makes its shakedown run at Road America.

Photo: Kettle Moraine Preservation and Restoration

In only two years the bare frame was returned to full Mike Argestinger glory.

In the time that Jacques graciously took to talk, I was left with the impression that legends of vintage racing are not stories of the past, but continue on only if we as vintage racing enthusiasts breathe life into them.

What other sport offers such a concentration of physical and auditory stimulation while simultaneously recounting history with each event? Be it AAR Eagles soaring, or someone driving a Triumph Spitfire named “Dave”, it’s history that deserves to be remembered.

NOTE: Follow “Jacques N. Dresang” on Facebook — there you’ll find all the details of his 2019-2021 Argetsinger Elden restoration — and check out his “Kent-ish” Formula Ford history podcasts on Podbean.