Endless Summer

Drag Racing In England With Master Tuner Roland Leong

- Elana Scherr

ROLAND LEONG WAS bored. Bored and cold, despite it being unusually warm for July in England. He was huddled down in his seat on the Thames River tour boat, his personalized racing jacket pulled tight over a bright blue shirt that read, “Hawaii: Where my story begins.” While our fellow tourists marveled at the Tower of London, Leong stayed buried in his phone. I looked over his shoulder to see what could possibly be more interesting than Big Ben and the shining panels of the London Shard.

“Head gasket? Blower pressure? EGT?” Leong’s text read.

When you’ve spent more than 50 years tuning drag racing cars to faster than 300 mph, perhaps the pace of history feels like just a drag. Leong didn’t want to see the sights; he wanted to go racing.