Jensen was so well respected by peers that his endorsement of the Sprint Car revival in Lincoln was crucial to its success. Some Nebraska dignitaries shied away from the Limited idea until Lonnie Jensen showed them this was a Sprint Car event with worth. When he was first approached with the idea an enthusiastic Jensen acquired a Hank Henry built car and almost seemed shoulders above everyone else in that first year. Following the championship season he sold the Henry car to Ray Lipsey but kept his Jim Sasse built engine.

In 1982 Lonnie first ran his characteristic Stapp to a well-earned third place in the final point tally. 1983 was much of the same with him finding success in his Stapp taking him to the runner-up spot. One more time in 1984 Jensen would make a run at the championship...but would fall short losing the title in the final race of the season. He began 1984 in the Stapp, but early into the season he replaced Rex Hendrickson in the Paul Phundt Coffman Electric Special. The team set-out in a Freddie Kain Race Car powered by a Wayne House engine, but in a rare Lonnie Jensen situation of destroying the first car, had to go back to the Nance Hendrickson raced.

1985 started off with Jensen looking for the same results in the Coffman Electric Special. Fickle Paul Phundt felt Lonnie wasn't the easiest way to a championship and unseated him for Dean Chadd with less-than-a-handful of shows left on the schedule. Jensen returned to his Stapp to finish out the year. Lonnie returned for the final two years of the track's existence in a Gambler and a Sasse engine. The wins stopped sadly, and Lonnie won his final Midwest Speedway feature in 1985. Yet Jensen kept racing for another ten years and ended his storied career in 2000 racing for Don Droud.