So, this blog from Bonneville is dedicated to the little details found on the Salt.  Devil's in the details right?  Here's proof. First is this License plate on a beautiful yellow hot rod pickup.  "Bean Bandit" car club from San Diego. Here you see the CRX from Hondata sporting a thermal wrapped exhaust and the bracing for undercar sheeting to smooth airflow and provide suction to the road as this CRX with K20A naturally aspirated power runs 190's. Here the same CRX sports roof vanes for stability at 200mph in a car that probably had a top speed of 115mph. I saw this painted on "For Sale" sign and chuckled out loud.  It says "4 Sale, low mileage! one careful owner!".  Ya right!  This was on the removable skin of a racecar. "Bonneville or Bust"!  That is one of the motto's for both racers and spectators alike.  It should read Bonneville AND Bust.  The veterans say you go to Bonneville to break something.  It's either a Record or your racecar. ...

Bonneville Salt Flats: Welcome Home Bonnie! I think its only fitting that the first pic from Speedweek 2009 that we post is of our fearless leader, pikesan.  I'll let pikesan post most of the pics of his car "Bonnie" and her homecoming to the Salt Flats but, I took this cool rolling shot Saturday morning and wanted to share it with you all.  This was taken about 30 seconds after Bonnie and pikesan (suffering from a sever case of Salt Fever) made it onto the Salt for the first time.  What a cool moment! I switched to shutter priority mode on the D90 and started snapping pics while trying to drive (luckily the entry road is super wide). This shot inspires me to build my own roadster.  Well, that's it for now.  The MyRideisMe.com crew that made it out to the Salt (we missed you Swanee) for Speedweek 2009 will be sharing stories and a sizeable photo gallery.  It was also the first time pikesan, GreaseGirl and Hechtspeed met in person.  We had a great time and can't wait to share our experiences! Ok, this pic is just too good (imho)...

Bonneville Salt Flats Perfect Pusher: As part of the crew at MyRideisMe.com leaves for the Salt today and I leave tomorrow, we can almost taste it, the Salt that is.  Here's a quick picture of one of the many push vehicles you'll see at Bonneville.  But, granted, this is not your typical pusher.  Most of the time you'll see trucks and big sedans giving their racecars a push start.  This blown Caddy Coupe takes the Push Vehicle to a whole new level and is definitely showing off, and everyone loved it!  This hot rod gets its pushing duties done in style. 1 more day and a wake up until we get out on the white stuff.  Can't wait.  Did I say I was...

The crew at MyRideisMe.com is getting very anxious to get to the Salt.  The Salt Fever has infected us and the only cure is to get our Salt fix.  Speedweek officially begins Thursday August 6th.  Racers can set up in the pit area and begin tech inspections.  We'll be bringing you readers great stories and photos from the event.  I thought I'd post this pic from last year at Speedweek.  A gorgeous belly tank lakester waiting in line to make a top speed blast down the salt.  Can't...

Speedweek begins this week (7 days and counting).  For this Internet Barn Find, we go across the pond to scope out a Steam Powered Streamliner.  Check out  British Steam Car Challenge website.  Take a few minutes and read up on this beauty of a racecar. The record for a steam powered land vehicle stands at 127.659 MPH according to this site.  The crazy part is this record was set in 1906.  It's about time this record gets beaten, don't you think?  Another tid bit of information from the steam car's website is the unofficial (not recognized by FIA) steam powered record is 145.607 MPH set in 1985, and that is the record the British Team is shooting for. Check out this youtube video linked from their site too.  Sounds crazy!!! [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkpdSeb2ya4&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]...

If I were to tell you about a drag car that made about 1100 horsepower, weighed 2,550 lbs with driver and has run a best of 9.0 seconds at 170.97 mph in the quarter, would you think of a Honda Civic?    That's exactly what we have here.  This Civic hatchback is owned and built by Chris Miller from NRG Tech out of New York.  It started its automotive life as a commuter car getting high 30's mpg as all Civic's do. When you get right down to it, the Honda Civic can be compared to cars in the hot rod world like the Ford Falcon, Chevy Nova II or even 30's Ford Coupe.  What, "am I crazy" you ask?!  Yes I am, Car Crazy, but just follow me on this path for a minute.  Consider 30's Fords came with 4 cylinders and were the average Joe's vehicle (as average as a 1930's car owner was since they likely had more money than average...).  30's Fords are now seen with every V8 imaginable, go 200+ on Salt Flats, sub 10 seconds on the 1320 and now even the race track/autocross...

If you're not aware of hotrodding in Japan, its actually pretty big.  Check out one of Japan's own, the early Toyota Crown that Mooneyes Japan has done up in a cool hot rod style.  Browse around their website, there's some cool stuff to see. Got an in on foreign countries doin' the hot rod thing up right?  Drop us a line in the comments section below so we can check it out!    ...

    ...that's right, 17 Days until Speedweek 2009 at the Bonneville International Speedway , "Worlds Fastest Speedway" in western Utah!  MyRideisMe.com will be at the salt in force.  This will be my third salt'venture.  I'll be accompanied by the MyRideisMe crew, pikesan, GreaseGirl and Swanee.  We've already got some stories lined up and plan to grab more.  What would you like to see from the salt?  Drop a comment below and let us know and we'll hunt it down!      ...

The 2nd Annual Billetproof Washington Washout was even more impressive than last year. MyRideisMe.com member Michael Nantz gives us the scoop and pictures of his favorite rides: "There were spectators hovering around every car. The weather was some of the best you could hope for at any car show and there were some big vendors this year; the guys from SoCal Speed Shop in Sacramento made the trek up to Washington and were busy in their booth all day. For the first day of this 2 day car show there were 650+ cars of all styles. There was the "standard" rat rods (which is a term I can't stand but will say it anyway) to the traditional rods to some very rare and old customs. At the show on day 1 the first car I came across was the 1930 Model A from Top Ten Hot Rods which was my favorite car of the show with its 1957 392 Hemi with Enderle fuel injection force fed by matching, twin 1957 McCulloch superchargers modified to run without clutches to feed about 20lbs of boost, EACH… to the 7:1 Hemi. All that runs through a Chrysler 4...

Leave a comment below... Why should you win? That's all there is to it! Want to add a little "Frank Bullitt" style to your late model Mustang?  AmericanMuscle has just the accessory for you!  The slick looking aluminum Bullitt gas cap is the first modification you need before you start jumping your 'stang on the streets of San Fran' a la Steve McQueen. MyRideisMe.com provides the installation guide of a Bullitt gas cap on a 1994 Dark Green Mustang GT (McQueen would dig it!).  The Mustang you see here might look subtle but it packs a punch at the dragstrip, with its horseman banging the gears to a best of 12.85 @ 106mph on 8" slicks and stock motor and cam.  This Bullitt gas cap will let those Camaros know this is no ordinary pony. Follow along as we take you through the installation.  It's very straight forward and can be done by a novice with simple hand tools in about 30-45 minutes. Step 1: Open the box and make sure everything is accounted for and in good shape (nuts, studs, lock nuts, washers, magnets, cap and ring).  AmericanMuscle is pretty good about getting you a good...

Back for 2009 with Don Shumacher Racing, Ron Capps is in his fifth full season with Shoe's team driving the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T for the 2nd time and of course, his crew chief is long time friend, Ed “Ace” McCulloch. Born in San Luis Obispo Capps has always been a So-Cal guy and now lives with his wife and their daughter and son in Carlsbad, CA. With a B.S. in Software Engineering from Santa Clara college, Capps joined the NHRA super-team of Don Schumacher Racing, in 2005 to drive the Brut-sponsored Dodge Charger Funny Car. With Schumacher, he's won eight national events and finshed 2nd in 2005, 3rd in 2006, and 4th in 2007. He's hoping to turn that trend around for 2009 Capps joined DSR after driving for longtime friend and team owner Don Prudhomme. DSR is only the second Funny Car team for whom he’s driven since entering the nitro classes in 1995. Since 1995 Capps has collected 25 wins in 54 final rounds, in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. He's been close, but has never won it all after claiming that crown,...

    The Bountiful, Utah "Coats For Kids" Car Show was just another example of small town USA and the car nuts that make up this great hobby/pastime.  Personally, I think its crucial that towns big and small keep hotrodding alive and passing the automotive genes onto the next generation by supporting and putting on car shows and cruise-ins like this one in downtown Bountiful, Utah.          Looking over these pictures again, I thought about how events like this create a sense of community and make family memories for years to come.  Nothing more american, or human, than a good car show with your friends and family.    Here are some of my favorite pictures I took while hanging with my family.  How else can you teach your kid to hang his arm out the window like a true hotrodder than by owning a '32 roadster?  How else will he know what a 4bbl carbed big block V8 sounds like unless he can stand next to it and feel the ground shake!  Shoot me an email at hechtspeed@myrideisme.com and I'll post up your "small town USA" car show pics and...