INNOVATION
SPOTLIGHT
LEAD SLED LEA
LEVELS UP HER
POWERGLIDE
B
ringing a driver and their car back
from a devastating crash is not some-
thing everyone can do. The new name
of Lea Ochs’ iconic Ford Fairmont wag-
on — Lead Sled Resurrection — says
it all. After her original car wrecked
on the wall at a 2017 Redemption No
Prep series event, she and husband Gary Ochs
decided not only to keep racing, but to go big-
ger and better in every way. Her new car was
built from scratch with help from some of the
top names in drag racing, including one who
happened to be trackside the day of the crash:
custom transmission builder Wendell Dunaway of
Mr. Wendell’s Motorsports.
Wendell is one of the busiest guys in the busi-
ness. Famed for Powerglide and 400 builds in
some of the world’s fastest cars and his work with
Street Outlaws celebrities like Monza, Domina-
tor and Chuck Seitsinger, he’s equally as proud
to build for bracket racers on tight budgets.
Transforming Lea’s old Powerglide into a sleek,
high-horsepower titan that would have her back
on any surface, at any venue, was right up his
alley. Wendell was following Lea’s success on
social media long before he met her in person.
“She works so hard at everything she does, there
was no doubt in my mind that Lea was an up-and-
comer,” Wendell said. “Here she was investing in
a new build and a big new engine with twice the
horsepower…and there’s that saying you hear so
many transmission specialists complain about:
‘The budget stops at the flywheel.’ You also need
to think about upgrading the transmission and
work with a reputable builder to get that match-
ing piece of the puzzle. I wanted to be part of
her program.”
Like any good builder, Wendell has a deep re-
spect for his customers and typically never talks
in detail about their specific setup. Lea is proud
of her custom build, though, and makes no bones
about the fact that she wants the world to know
she is a serious — and capable — competitor.
“We don’t want to just be No Prep people,” Lea
said. “Our goal was to make the Lead Sled better
than the last one, every single piece of the car, and
show off what we can do: Ultra Street, Limited
275, Small Tire, Outlaw Street, True Street, Drag
Week. The Powerglide’s perfect because of the
flexibility it gives us, and — thanks to Wendell —
I’ve got the best of the best. I don’t have to think
about the transmission or worry about it at all.”
While some racers have made the switch to the
400, especially since the No Prep scene exploded,
Wendell emphasized that the Powerglide’s effi-
cient design, customizable performance and un-
100 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
The Lead Sled Resurrection’s cutting-edge Powerglide gets two big thumbs up from driver Lea Ochs
and custom transmission builder Wendell Dunaway of Mr. Wendell’s Motorsports fame.
The Sonnax Edge: Lea’s Custom Powerglide Build
Learn more about Mr. Wendell’s approach to revamping Lea’s transmission at www.sonnax.com/lead-sled-lea.
1.58 Extreme Planetary Assembly: Lower-ratio gear set track-proven to 3,000HP gets the power to the ground.
Advanced manufacturing and precision engineering guarantee maximum durability from every component.
Ring Gear Stabilizer: Reduces stress on gear teeth when staging and prevents vibration so the planetary runs
true for less friction and drag.
Extreme Strength Output Shaft & Ringless Input Shaft: Guides power safely through the transmission thanks
to innovative design and ultra-high-strength materials to stop spline twist and breakage.
Smart-Tech® 10-Clutch Drum: The original 10-clutch drum system invented by Sonnax packed with a larger piston
for 35% more clutch holding power, essential for keeping the gears applied in a high-power vehicle.
Smart-Tech® Ratio-Style Servo: Revolutionary servo keeps the clutch applied in even the most extreme
applications to guard against band failure, broken shafts and staging issues.
rivaled consistency makes it ideal for drag racing.
“High-horsepower cars and heavy cars…peo-
ple have a tendency to want to put a 400 in it,”
Wendell said. “I argue with them all the time:
I’ve got Powerglides in mud trucks, in monster
trucks where the wheels are 1,100 pounds apiece,
and you’re telling me a Powerglide can’t handle
your 3,500-pound car? Plus, the cost to build a
Powerglide is significantly less than what it would
cost to build the 400 and get the same consistency.”
Lea’s old transmission had only one significant
upgrade: the Sonnax 1.58 planetary gear set. She
switched to this unique ratio from a 1.80 several
years before and was happy to keep it with Wen-
dell’s blessing.
“You can always feel when you pick up horse-
power,” Lea said. “We picked up like two tenths
just swapping the build with the 1.58 because the
shift is quicker and easier to handle, much less vi-
olent. The lower ratio has been like night and day.”
“She’s running a small-block, LSX motor that
Gary built, so the 1.58 is perfect,” Wendell said.
“It’s predominantly used in classes that allow ni-
trous, turbos and prochargers. You need to slow
that driveshaft speed down to allow the car to
work, and the 1.58 ratio does that, then all of a
sudden you’re putting more power to the launch
than you normally would with the other gear ra-
tios that are out there.”
The 1.58 gear set really put Sonnax on the map
with the Powerglide about eight years ago, Wen-
dell said. The company had decades of experience
developing innovative repairs for transmissions
and torque converters, and it took that same ap-
proach to Powerglide upgrades: Go after the root
cause of the problem. In drag racing, the problem
is POWER. Just like Lea, nobody is making less of
it, and old-school Powerglide builds can’t handle
modern engine output. Today, the 1.58 gear set is
only one among dozens of Sonnax upgrades that
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