(DURKA DURKA PHOTO)
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When off-road racing legend Larry "L.R." Roeseler crawls out from beneath the used-up white pre-runner he's working on, the
first thing crossing your mind is not that you're looking at a guy who has mastered the art of off-road racing longer than
anyone else around.
Nope, the first thing that greets you is his (from what I have been told) panty-melting smile; that grin that nothing except
a crappy performance or time spent strategically pondering his next winning strategy seems to diminish.
And, these days, Roeseler is smiling more than ever. Like that pesky kitty that always comes around at suppertime despite
being dropped, kicked and run over, Roeseler has made yet another astonishing career recovery. It is hard to imagine a more
likeable champion, a guy who has arguably won for more different teams on or in more different vehicles than anyone else in
the sport.
THE RIGHT STUFF: Roger Norman Racing possesses the tools and talent to win races. Currently sharing space with Wide Open in
Irvine, California, the team plans to move to a new facility in San Diego in 2009. (BOYD JAYNES)
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Like he has so many times in his exemplary career, L.R. has once again rubbed a little magic onto a Trophy Truck effort already
on the upswing in 2008. His new ride, one he took to a fine fifth-place class finish with team owner Roger Norman at the 2008
Best in the Desert's TSCO Vegas to Reno race, already sits in pieces behind him. Unbeknownst to him at the time of this interview,
that same vehicle would soon carry the Roeseler/Norman combination to an overall victory at the recent SCORE Primm 300.
Roeseler projects a persona much larger than his somewhat diminutive physical presence. His body, honed by decades of logging
thousands of miles through the desert on two wheels and four, belies the fact that he is now 51 years old.
If this were horse racing, the stallion known as L.R. would already have been put to pasture, put on parade or just put down.
But this, thankfully, is off-road racing, and guys that should be in their easy chair can still operate at the top of their
game. Such is the case with Roeseler, as a champion with all those wins and all that experience has can reshape his career
yet again, and, in the process, may discover his new team represents much more than another paycheck.
Just a couple of months in, for Roeseler this new venture already feels like home, and he proves it by helping Norman earn
the team's first SCORE Trophy Truck win at the Primm 300; ample proof that LR and his new team are just getting started on
a road that could lead to bigger and better things.
