Speed Week 2011 - Bonneville Salt Flats Summary Being out on the Bonneville Salt Flats for Speedweek is an amazing experience like none other. I always return with way too many pictures then I can post to the web and way too many thoughts than I can convey in my stories. So here it finally is - Grease Girl’s Speedweek Summary and Salt Flat Favorites for 2011! Record Breaking Summary This 63rd Speedweek saw 160 records broken - 93 for cars and 67 for bikes. 21 new members gained entry into the 200 MPH Club, 6 of those being the 300 MPH Chapter. Any of you less familiar with land speed racing may be surprised to find out the entire point of the sport is breaking a record! You aren’t racing against another opponent on the course or anything like that – you’re going in a straight line trying to go as fast as possible and break the record in the particular class racing in (The class takes into account engine size, fuel used, and the cars body design.) Favorite Experience Walking around the pits for someone who is...

Bonneville Salt Flats Streamliner Special thaks to Spectre Performance for extended 2011 Bonneville Speed Week coverage If you're following the racing from Bonneville Speed Week, you probably saw the "Maro Special" featured as one of the Baddest Race Cars of Bonneville. Owner Bobby Moore made the baddest list twice when details of his World's Fastest Corvette hit the web. So if you need details about this nitro- burning all-wheel drive streamliner, be my guest and hit the links above. This story's about the quest for 400 mph. Bobby's quick to point out the many people who helped and continue to help make the Maro Special, a concept started back in 1999, a reality. One key to running 400 is safety and the Bonneville Salt Flats master of Safety is Lee Kennedy. Lee's listed as the "Car Technical Co-chair" on the SCTA website, but for this race car he's been the mile by mile co-pilot of reaching 400 safely. For previous salt attacks including Speed Week, running fast wasn't possible. As Bobby said, "Before getting up in the morning, I'd have to start thinking about turning left." In other words,...

1940s Chevy Coupe - West Coast Style Deep in the Heart of Texas Richard Donham, better known to his friends and around the traditional customs scene as “Burl” is a true to heart Californian that somehow was misplaced into the hot and humid metropolis of Houston, Texas. His roots and style are deeply seeded in skating and surfing; evident by the number of boards that line his garage and patio. A long-time member and treasurer of the Los Cochinos Car Club of Houston, TX he’s happy to extend some Texas hospitality in the form of some fresh gulf shrimp chased with an ice-cold Tecate with a lime and salted rim; something yours truly is on the hook for on the next visit to Houston. Always up for a cruise night or cruise by the boardwalk and beach in Kemah, a suburb of Houston, we hopped in this pristine custom with Burl and headed straight towards the beach. With Houston’s long history in the oil and gas industry, there's no shortage of high-end euros, Maserati’s, Porsches, etc. lining the streets. But take one Gambino Kustoms built, traditionally styled 1940 Chevy...

Speed Week 2011 Results - Bonneville Salt Flats As Sunday was ending out on the Bonneville Salt Flats, lurking black clouds were rolling in and lightening was breaking all around. People were packing up their pit areas very well and getting off the salt. Was there going to be a storm? Would it halt Speedweek 2011?!? There was a storm! The rain poured down not long after the racing area closed up at 7pm. Luckily though, it didn't continue for long. Early the next morning as we drove out at the crack of dawn to see what Monday held in store - this is what we found. Out at the starting line however, the salt appeared like it might be all right. Cars and crews were lined up for record-confirming runs. (Not sure what it takes to set a record at Speedweek? Read more about it by clicking here!) Everyone waited around while officials made sure everything was in order for the fast times of land speed racing. After awhile a number of the crews were lead for a drive down the track to check out conditions for themselves....

Bonneville Speed Week 2011 Pictures from the Salt Flats If you're looking at this car and wondering... "What is that!??" then welcome to (said in your biggest fanfare voice) "Continuing coverage of Bonneville Speed Week!" You're looking at a future "Baddest Hot Rods of Speed Week" in the 71 Triumph GT6 decked out, maybe ironically, in red. It just so happens that this bad Triumph is also the "Fastest Sports Car in the World." In a white gloved smack in the face to the Ferarri team and their Enzo and on-site helicopter, the Black Salt Racing team piloted by Keith Copeland made this front wheel drive, small block Chevy powered, C/BFMS (blown fuel modified sports car) throw down a 305.597 mph record on the salt flats. Wow! Know what else? On the back-up run, Keith was on fire at nearly 300 miles per hour! Much more on this beautiful hot rod disguised as a sports car, very soon. It may be no contest for the "Best Push Truck of Speed Week" trophy when you see the cool Nomad above. The Bean Bandits always bring out fast cars and have...

Hot Rod Art by Tom Fritz at Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance (Click picture for full size) "What D'Ya Reckon She'll Do?" - Oil on canvas, 41" x 27" Catch Hot Rod Artist and overall cool-guy at the upcoming Pebble Beach car show. Tom Fritz art has been featured several times here at MyRideisMe.com for a simple reason: Tom's paintings inspire! Tom captures the coolest hot rods and vintage motorcycles in vivid colors, but what you'll remember is the emotion seen in every painting. You'll wonder, what's that guy thinking? It's my pleasure to see Tom all over SoCal and at Barrett Jackson in Arizona, and it will be yours too at Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. The show runs from August 17-21 with the Automotive Fine Arts Society (AFAS) Exhibition on Sunday, August 21. Here's Tom prepping you for the show and his new paintings: Two globs of oil are scooped up and shmushed onto the sheet of glass I use as a palette. A couple quick swirls and the color is pretty close to what I'm looking for. A little modification with a previously mixed color satisfies my eyeball,...

Speed Week 2011 Results - Bonneville Salt Flats Out at Bonneville Salt Flats there's been racing all weekend as Speed Week 2011 is well underway. The days are flying by during Speed Week 2011 as land speed racers race all types of vehicles down the Bonneville Salt Flats. Streamliners make up some of the wildest (but fastest) record breakers of the bunch. Cars that have more of a stock body (or modified like this one) are common as well. This 1953 Studebaker is one of my favorites - but then again I'm a little partial since I drive a Studebaker myself. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SYV3jB6j-0[/youtube] Seeing these cars is one thing - hearing them is another. In case you've never experienced Bonneville Speedweek for yourself, check out this video. It gives you a sample of starting line take-offs - the Studebaker, a streamliner, and a motorcycle. One of my favorite kind of racers are belly tankers, like this one. This belly tanker is especially unique in that the driver is fully enclosed. The driver nearly lays down inside and looks down past their feet and out the clear part you see at...

Round Two goes to the Salt 2011 Bonneville Speed Week sponsored by Spectre Performance My last post about the Spectre Performance "SpeedLiner" detailed THE PLAN. Everyone knew bringing 5 motors and trying to break 5 records was a stretch. Nobody'd argue that, but the team is motivated and prepared right down to the spare quick change rear axle they'd need after yesterday. Then "the salt" announced it's plan. The Cadillac bullet shown above sits sadly alone. Supplied by the Cad Company and owner-Cadillac-genius Courtney Hines out of New Mexico, the 434 cube heavy hitter had tons of potential coming off the dyno, but announced a "chirp chirp chirp" sound when cranking that said... "I'm done here." See what happened in Day 1 Results - click here. By the time I got done shooting the record certification runs for Sunday morning (guys looking to backup the runs made Saturday) Steve Schmalz and the extremely hard working crew from Performance Fabrication had the motor out and the new one ready to go back in. With the complexity of a setup like this, be impressed. Every trick, injected, electronic, data-logging gizmo availble's...

Round One goes to the Salt 2011 Bonneville Speed Week sponsored by Spectre Performance   My last post about the Spectre Performance "SpeedLiner" detailed THE PLAN. Everyone knew bringing 5 motors and trying to break 5 records was a stretch, but the team was motivated and prepared. Then "the salt" announced it's plan.   Things started well. The streamliner, still naked of it's lettering and B/BGS class was loaded on the trailer, first thing in the golden salt morning. In the 300 mph lane of the long course behind George Poteet's "Speed Demon" streamliner and the mustard rocket called the "Maro Special" (also a 2010 Baddest Hot Rod at Bonneville), SpeedLiner patiently waited it's turn.   Spectre crew chief Steve Schmalz tugs on driver Kenny Hoover's belts   The bell rings... the Spectre bullet is pushed down track until the 434 cubic inch Caddy motor drops into gear and starts making power. Like MMA, the first round lasted about five minutes.   What everyone hoped was a malfunction with the air shifter turned out to be this: What you're seeing is the shredded remains of a quick-change gear set....

Bonneville Salt Flats -Speedweek 2011 I wasn’t sure I’d be able to come to Bonneville this year. Studie didn’t get to come with me, but by 3pm Thursday afternoon my boyfriend Ethan and I were headed out of So Cal. By 9pm we were zooming across the empty desert underneath a full moon. By 3am we’d passed through Wendover and found an empty space at “The Bend”(the aptly named bend in the road just before getting to the Bonneville Salt Flats.) Early the next morning the sun woke us up to the sight of an amazing sunrise out over the salt flats – it was time for Speedweek 2011 to begin. Although the racing doesn’t begin until Saturday of Speedweek, Friday is full of activity as salt fever builds toward its breaking point…exploding as each participant racer zooms away from the starting line. Here’s some of the things I found going on in the pits as I wandered around on Friday… As racers arrive they register and begin lining up cars to get through tech inspection. This year has seen a number of safety changes – from head restraint...

2011 Bonneville Speed Week - What Could Go Wrong? 2011 Bonneville Speed Week sponsored by Spectre Performance Cruising onto the salt for the first time this year at just past 6AM, I'm greeted with this stunning sunrise. My new friends from Spectre have some big, BIG goals, but with a start to the morning like this, I'm thinking, "What could go wrong?" Then, standing in the media line chatting with the Hot Rod Magazine crew, I can just hear a racer explaining, "... and then it spit this out right onto the salt!" I turn around to see him proudly holding what's left of a twisted exhaust valve. Ahhhh... it's like a hot Krispy Kreme doughnut in my still warm coffee. This 1969 Plymouth Barracuda owned by Paul Ogden of Redding, CA looks fabulous in the still low sun. Similar to the 69 Cuda from George Poteet and the Rad Rides by Troy crew, this AA/BGC features an unlimited size motor and retains it's factory shape. Things are looking up! I'm ready for a fabulous day on the salt. It's not too hot, there's some clouds adding variety to...

Bonneville Salt Flats -Breaking Records 2011 Bonneville Speed Week sponsored by Spectre Performance Any time a land speed racer says what they're "planning" to do, they better be smiling! As a warm up for the record breaking session this year at Bonneville, I stole 15 minutes with Amir Rosenbaum, the founder of Spectre Performance and driver of the "SpeedLiner" race car shown above. He was smiling... The plan is to break five records! Record #1 - B/BGS: When the SpeedLiner hits the starting line of the long course on Saturday, stuffed inside the long lean frame rails will be a 434 cubic inch Cadillac motor. For those of you keeping score at home, that's a B-class motor  at 373-439 cubic inches. They're gunning for the B/BGS record of 337.197 mphcurrently held by Vesco Racing's D. Spangler. Record #2 - A/BGS: If things go well, (isn't the "if" redundant!!) the B-class record's in reach because SpeedLiner already holds the A/BGS record at 356.645 mph. A-class allows 440-500 cubic inches, so they're working a plan they already know fairly well. (there's that word plan again!) Record #3 - AA/BGS: One word:...