Dennis Warner, who was a cylinder head and manifold development manager at Sonny’s Racing Engines in Lynchburg, Va., for the last seven years, passed away Tuesday. He was 70.

“I met (Dennis) about 25 years ago in the Pro Stock pits at an NHRA race,” renowned engine builder Sonny Leonard said. “After that we would talk periodically. He was born in Canada, and Kenny Koretsky and Joe Lepone, who were running NHRA Pro Stock at the time, moved him from Canada to the (United) States. He worked with them about five or six years but he really wanted to go South. So, he moved down to the Charlotte (N.C.) area and got on with a (NASCAR) Cup Series team because they needed someone in the cylinder head department.”

Leonard, however, kept in touch with Warner, who he knew loved drag racing.

“One day I called him because I needed another cylinder head guy because we were really busy,” Leonard said. “He said he knew one good guy that might want the job. Then about three days later he called me back and said he would like to take that job and I told him I would be glad to have him.”

Leonard praised Warner’s ability.

“He was an extremely dedicated person and every time he would come into work he would have a big smile every morning,” Leonard said. “He was with me about two years and we did a little cylinder head development with Hendrick Motorsports, and that was a big achievement. He did all types of cylinder heads from Pro Stock, Truck pull, to the Cup Series.”

According to Leonard, Warner’s health started deteriorating about a year ago.

“Last summer he started getting sick,” Leonard said. “He was like a heath nut and he took good care of himself. His lungs were a problem and he didn’t smoke or drink. He would work for me 1 to 2 days and then he just was not able to work anymore. His daughter called me a couple of days ago and she told me her dad loved to work for me and he said when he died, he wanted to be buried with a Sonny’s Racing T-shirt on. When she told me that I had cold chills. He was such a good person and it was an honor to me that he wanted to be buried in that shirt.”

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