World of Speed 2000 Commentary
September 24th - Racing is not over until you get home safely. Not only did it snow in Wendover but Team Amo, and also Team Elves who were racing at Bonneville World of Speed event are stuck in Rock Springs, WY because of the going on 2 day closure of I-80 going East. Other teams that might be involved in this delay are Keith Turk with the So-Al Special, and John Beckett that are headed east.
September 22nd - The fastest barstool was at 42 mph. a crazy competitor had a mono-cycle and produced speeds of 54 mph with a Chaparrel motor, quite the scene it was.. Very cold temps in the morning, stopping by the announcing both with Ron Christenson announcing the meet on 1610 am, was all bundled up like waiting for the snow storm to come. The mountains in the background that give Bonneville great scenery had snow covered tips. Most of the day was a little breezy and very cool. Entries were making pass after pass with no waiting line. John Beckett who was having some problems with the nitrous system abandon the fuel class and went back to the gas class where they were just a few mph off running a best of 228 mph. Keith Turk finally got thru his nitrous blues and made a pass at 216 mph, then again going with a bigger nitrous setup made a pass at 228 and loosing a valve just a little off the record of 230 mph in the D/FALT class, that ended the week for Keith. Just a few vehicles left running after the end of the day 3 in impound, and only 1 new entry into the 200 mph club. The day ended with some rain sprinkles, windy, and very cold temps.
September 21st - The story on Gene Burkland car is the chutes were fine, brakes were fine, the riser was ripped from the car when chutes deployed. The braking system was fine. The brake pieces found on the course were from John Beckett's previous run which shattered the rear rotors. Mechanically the car is fine. They ended up around the 10-11 mile which damaged the body of the car, They ended up in very soft salt which sank the car and filled up the rear of the car with mud. They were out until almost 10 pm getting the car out with the support of about 50 people. These are un-repairable items at this event and they could not back up the run. They however claimed the fastest 2 1/4 mile speed in the history of Bonneville wheel driven vehicle. Keith Turk still working with nitrous problem on his vehicle. Skip Higginbotham had problems with his steering mechanism and dropped the car on its side at a low rate of speed. Joe Amo on his return run blew a rod which blew threw the lower case of the motor and had a small fire on the bike after the run, a very quick USFRA crew was there to help put it out. James Owen was trying to get their new ZX12R in the production 1350cc class over 190 mph, they have been in the area of 185-186 mph. There was a mono-cycle with a Chaparrel (spelling?) motor that ran very neat. Don't have a speed available. The 130 and 150 mph club cars went seemed like about a dozen entries in those. The bar stools were also running. Gail Tesinsky was running her licensing passes with their newly acquired 53 Stude, ran by Gene Burkland years ago. Jim Burkdoll ran 201 with their entry. Tom Bryant has been having problems with the Tom Thumb Special.
September 20th - Could you imagine 450 mph? Well today the Burklands went 450 mph terminal speed. Average through the mile was 438.815 mph qualifying them for the wheel driven land speed record of 427 mph held by Don Vesco and the Turbinator. Burklands did have some problems with the chutes breaking from the vehicle and a reported braking system problem. Other racing news is the salt is rock hard, better than speedweek, excellent temps.
Beckett and Timney went 231 mph and qualified for a record but during the run they shattered the rear rotors, shredding the rear tires. Danny Boy went 342 mph on their own record of 332 mph. Skip Higginbotham had premature chute deployment and did not make a full pass. E-Z Hook streamliner also had chute problems on a 210 mph pass. Team Amo qualified with their ZX-10 sporting ZX12R body work with a run of 198 mph, on a 191 record. John Rains made a "coasting thru the mile with a speed of 280 mph," they broke a intercooler ending their week. Keith Turk was working out the bugs with his nitrous system on the "Girly Camaro." Tanis Hammond made a qualifying run of 286 mph.
This meet has been great so far and can only get better, stay tuned. Sorry no pics, or results tonight, will be getting them out to you starting tomorrow.
September 19th - Got to the salt early morning. WOW very hard salt crunches at the feet walking on it in the pits, after a part day on the salt, it did not collect on the vehicle. You would not have known it was on the salt. Skip Higginbotham arrived with his very long liner. E-Z Hook streamliner made an appearance and will be testing the parachute design on the liner. Burkland's streamliner showed up mid afternoon, we are all anxiously awaiting a great run from this team. About 30 entries that we had seen so far as of mid afternoon. Meet some motor heads from Holland that came to see the event. Will report more tomorrow after first day of racing. As for the pictures currently on the site, be patient I forgot my power adapter at home, so I'm running on limited battery power, my lovely wife will be 1 day airing the adapter to me tomorrow. Other notable entries is John Beckett, Tom Bryant, Danny Boy and lots of others.
