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:...

Bonneville Salt Flat Racing Vintage Studebakers Speed Week 2011 is quickly approaching! And you know what that means...Salt Fever! It's reminded me that I still have many Speed Seeking Studebakers to add to the series I started after last year's Speed Week. In fact, there's 11 more racing Studebakers I have to bring ya. Rounding out a total of 14 Studebaker racers on the Salt Flats I caught last year (and I'm sure I missed a few!) If you missed #1-4, begin here - All Speed Seeking Studebakers. To start with is this wicked 1953 Studebaker Coupe owned by Bob Drury and Old Stud Racing running in the A/cF ALT category with top speeds of 225 mph. Also a '53 is this more highly modified body, #974. With an extreme chop and a hood scoop to match the roof height it's an extreme looking Studebaker salt flats racer! In 2008 this Stude set the class record at 249.945 mph. Another highly modified and chopped coupe is this #749. They're not ALL '53 Coupes. There's always a good showing of Avanti's also..of course! Speaking of Avanti's, keep an eye out for...

Bonneville Salt Flats Streamliner Well it's gonna be! Right now, it's a lesson in patience. Take a look at the "Maro Special" a dedicated Bonneville Salt Flats streamliner race car if there ever was one. Like most race cars on the "Great White Dyno" aka Bonneville, this one's got a great story and Bobby Moore is the perfect gentleman to tell the story. Just like with the World's Fastest Corvette owned by Bobby, going fast takes time. Bobby Moore was 15 when he built his first car, a 1933 fenderless Plymouth five window coupe that he found in a field. He's always enjoyed the thrill of speed and the many friends made during his racing career. So naturally, in 1996, Bobby was drawn to Bonneville as driver of the Hoyle-Dickenson-Moore A/FL (A size engine'd lakester). Then later in '96 he bought the old 219mph Doc Jefferey's A/GT Corvette. The team campaigned the car in 1997 where Bobby got alot of seat time and learned many humbling lessons at Bonneville. With the hardest speed lessons learned, in '98, he joined the 200mph Club with a record of 234.162 in A/GMS...

Auto Meter STACK for Bonneville Salt Flats Racing From the analog data of "Old School" and to accuracy, speed and ease of digital data logging. That's the simple goal here. From there, the Volk Brothers Racing 1929 Model A roadster is looking to use the data at the race track to modify or update the engine setup to ultimately go fast and break a record. Then, the reality of salt flats racing steps in... Photo courtesy of SCTA website Backing up a step, Auto Meter Gauges, Volk Brothers Racing and MyRideisMe.com teamed up for Speed Week 2010 and World of Speed for some high speed runs down the Bonneville Salt Flats.  Our salt infested friends, the Volk family, run a Ford roadster with a fuel injected big block Chevy engine. They compete in the B/GR (373ci-449ci engine/Racing Gas, Roadster) class at Bonneville during Bonneville Speed Week and the Utah Salt Flats Racing Associations World of Speed. "...all while trying to keep a 200 mph rolling brick on a straight line for 5 miles." The Volk family salt flat racing pedigree includes (what seems like) 200 mph club membership for...

Bonneville Salt Flats Race Car Say hello to the "World's Fastest Corvette" Maybe you're wondering how I make the "Baddest Race Cars" list? Could be any number of things, but a sure formula is SPEED!  Be the fastest in your class, or classes and maybe world's fastest - You're a lock! In other words, go out there and set a record.  Add to that a welcoming smile and a generously given chat with up-and-comer MyRideisMe.com and you're just starting to see why Oklahoma's Bobby Moore and his Moore Boys Corvette is certainly one of the BADDEST! (Other hot rods from Oklahoma) With a helping hand from crew member and friend Rudy Heaton Bobby's patiently waiting inside for a run. Bobby's story about how he started racing isn't that different from others stricken with salt fever! Racing started at Bonneville in 1996 with a trip to the salt as the driver of the Hoyle-Dickenson-Moore A/FL (that means, "A" class engine, running fuel, lakester style body). That's all it took... From there, Bobby bought bought the 219 mph Doc Jefferey's A/GT Corvette. The following year, the Moore Boys Team made several...

Bonneville Salt Flat Racing Vintage Studebaker The moment my Studebaker and I drove out on to the salt this year during 2010 Speed Week, what was the first thing I did? Look for other Studebakers of course! And what was the first one I found but Gord Driedger's Blue Beauty. This 1953 Studebaker Coupe looks like she was born on the salt! In fact, this was her first time there - as well as Gord's! People end up on the salt from every corner of the earth it seems, and with all sorts of fascinating stories about how they got there. For Gord, his timely meeting with Blue Beauty happened while on vacation... in Napa of all places. Sitting on the patio, basking in the California sun, enjoying Napa wine, when suddenly Gord and his Wife's peace was disturbed by the loud sound of a racing engine. With salt flat racing on his bucket list, Gord went a-searchin'. The search led him to a neighboring garage. Not to the Studebaker, but to the guy who would put him in touch with #653. As it turns out, Blue Beauty was...

Land Speed Racing History at the Bonneville Salt Flats [Malcolm Campbell's Bluebird, Land Speed Record setting car, circa 1927. Photo courtesy of the Florida Photographic Collection at http://ibistro.dos.state.fl] I think ever since engines were invented, men across the globe were seeing how fast they could get them to go. Eventually this became known as land speed racing. It was in 1898 that the first documented attempt for land speed racing was recorded. The man was the Conte de Chasseloup, the street was a long road outside of Paris, and the whooping speed that set the record was 39.24 mph! Since then we’ve been seeing how fast any sort of engine-powered, wheeled contraption would go…from empty roads, to Florida beaches, to Australian dry lakes, and of course… to salt flats in Utah. Why would so much effort be put into seeing how fast you can go? Quite apart from such factors as national prestige and technical advancement that are bound up inseparably with this Land Speed Record, there is satisfaction in knowing that you have driven faster than any other human being without any possible question of dispute. [p.13, The...

Bonneville Salt Flat Racing Studebakers I've already covered the two record-taking Studebakers for this 2010 Speed Week in previous articles of this Speed Seeking Studebakers series (#1 1953 Studebaker Coupe & #2 1949 Studebaker Pickup). So before looking at more racing Studes, I wanted to show you some of the fine Studebakers that spectators were driving around on the salt! To begin with, is Bob Weaver's 1953 Studebaker Coupe. I'm not sure color has as much to do with speed as the aerodynamics body of the Studebaker coupe - but in this case yellow=fast! My 5-year-old nephew exclaimed "Yellow cars are the fastest" while wandering around Gene Winfield's shop a couple of months ago, and in this case I'd say he's right! It isn't just the yellow color and aerodynamic body that's making this Studebaker go fast. This special Stude has a Chrysler Hemi powerplant! I was amazed at how snugly it fit in the engine compartment. This hot rod sure looks just as pretty under the hood as above it! Any Studebaker-fan knows that us Studebaker owners are a quirky bunch of folk! So I wasn't overly surprised...

Bonneville Salt Flats Race Truck I met Pete and his son (the driver) at Speed Week 2010, but we had been talking through email the last couple months.  I was cruising through the pits at the Bonneville Salt Flats on day 1 when I saw Pete and his Comanche heading to the Tech Inspection area to check in.  I followed behind them and then went over to say hi.  Before we get into the Jeep's performance at Speed Week, first, let's see what it took Pete to get there. In Pete's own words: "At this point I have more time than money. The Bonneville truck was to be a budget build but that didn't quite work out...  I consider myself to be a good mechanic and a reasonable engineer.  I have worked on my cars my whole life  and was a mechanic in the Army.  All of that said, I had never built a race car. I had re-built engines, but never built a race engine.   So what made me think I could build a record setting race truck?  Maybe it was more balls than brains.  And why a Jeep?   That question I know...

Bonneville Salt Flat Racing Vintage Studebakers Heading up the line of this year’s Speed Seeking Studes, is #4594. It may not be the prettiest out there, but what it’s got going for it is a Studebaker engine and multiple record-holdings!  Greg Meyer's from Minnesota brought his Salt2Salt Racing's 1953 Studebaker Coupe powered by a 182cid V8 Studebaker engine, putting it in the F/CGALT class. I think it was the only non-Avanti to have Stude power rolling it down the line! The engine class being F, means it’s got to be somewhere between 123-183 c.i.d (cubic inch displacement.) In order to get this engine’s c.i.d. down to 182 the Studebaker V8 was destroked, pushing it into the “F” class by just a hair! Although Greg reports they encountered a few problems and there's still more to do to get this particular engine running at its top speed, they were still able to set 2 records in their class by the end of the week. First with Greg driving in the F/CGALT catagory at 131.593. Then with partner-in-crime, Bob Waitz driving in the F/CFALT catagory (wounded engine and all) at 113.998mph! Good job Salt2Salt...

Bonneville Salt Flats Race Car At the Bonneville Salt Flats, fast is fast, that's one thing that can't be disputed and it's what separates land speed racing from other automotive events... the lack of subjectivity! It's funny that there aren't really any awards at Bonneville Speed Week save for the "Hot Rod" trophy for the fastest race car of the week from any class. And did you know that there's no money? You have to buy your jacket if you get into the 200mph club!  These guys do it for the pure pursuit of speed and that's why this 200mph Flathead powered streamliner is one of the Baddest Race cars of the 2010 Bonneville Speed Week! I already told you about this streamliner in another story called: Arizona Model T Streamliner Destroys a Record! But that was 2009! Tom Brawner of Scottsdale, a MyRideisMe.com member, crew member (and driver now, right Tom??) and fellow hot rodder with a too cool 1956 Chevy told me about this streamliner called the "Matrix Machine". The record set last year started at under 100mph in 2004, then went to 160 last year and...

Bonneville Salt Flats Race Car What's the baddest race car at Bonneville Speed Week 2010? If you asked 100 people, you might get 90 different answers. (Where does he come up with that crap?) Who cares what you think, it's my website, so I'm posting what I think are the baddest rides on the salt. From there, lets discuss... this is an interactive magazine, not some glued together pile of pages sittin' in your bathroom! Interact and leave a comment below.   First up: The Fiat Simca of George Fields of Newark, TX Bonneville Speed Week Race Class: E/BFCC   That long enough for you? I found out from Tom Burkland (more about him later) tuner and friend to George that the competition coupe rules allow for some slight modifications to the stock body... the SCTA rulebook states: "Production coupe or sedan body unaltered in width or contour." But what they don't say is, from the cowl back.  From the cowl forward, anything goes! The car can be as long as you like as long as the engine only has a 50% setback. Contrast this modern day racer to...