Lyle Forsgren

During the mid-50s, Lyle Forsgren was a teenage race fan, traveling with friends to races around Washington State as a college student to help out any way he could, frequently being employed to lay communication lines between corners. By the end of the Long Straights period, he had succeeded in knocking off no less than the legendary Harry Eyerly from his perch as King of Class H Modified. Lyle was a born mechanic and fabricator, and after a racing start in a Morris Minor, MGTD and a Fiat-Abarth, he began construction on the first Forsgrini special. This car quickly made a name for itself in 1961 in small modified events and then soundly beat Eyerly and his famed Eyerly Crosley Special in the last race of the 1961 season. Lyle went on to build several more Forsgrinis in the 60s, up to and including F5000 cars. In his later years he lived in the Midwest, retired from a highly successful career as a racer and builder of snowmobiles.