Bonneville Speed Week 2011 Baddest Race Cars #5

The Fastest Car in the World – 300mph Sports Car

Does this long red something-or-other get your heart racing? It should!!

The long, slick nose see here cuts through the air with ease at a record shattering 305.596 mph. With the graceful design and three-large top speed, this 1971 Triumph GT-6 easily earns honors as Bonneville Speed Week 2011 Baddest Race Cars #5.

Feel slighted that, “This isn’t the fastest car in the world!?” Well, what is then?

Consider, for a second, this sleek, not-so-little Triumph flat out WHOOPED the Enzo Ferrari running in the same class. The Enzo, owned by RSL Racing Richard Losee, had the record from last year at a, seemingly soft (gulp), 237.871 mph. This year the Enzo crew, with their hired helicopter not far behind, topped out at less than two-bills…

Ripping the record previously held by an Enzo Ferrari, easily one of the fastest cars in the world, by about 65 mph… that’s hot enough, but truth is, the Triumph was ON FIRE on the record backup run! More on that in a bit, let’s learn about this car.

So what is it?

Look closely and you’ll see a 1971 Triumph GT-6. The SCTA class the Triumph and Ferrari compete in is C/BFMS. If you’re like me and still learning the classes, that’s a C engine (306-372 cu. in) in a Blown-Fuel-Modified-Sports car. Got it?

So your typical small block wrapped in a not so typical body.  From cowl back, the body’s all Triumph GT-6, but sports a clean 5 inch (totally legal) top chop. Looking the other direction it gets really interesting… Stretching to a total wheelbase and class max of 130 inches, the hood’s an aerodynamic masterpiece penned by Jim Cooke. Fab work went to Nicomia of Arizona. Nicomia’s a design and fabrication shop capable of, so it seams, a killer museum exhibit or a custom kitchen, or this race car nose! How’s that for diversification?

With all the go-fast on this car, it’s still just a “Grocery Getter” This is a photo taken through the stock back glass of the Triumph pasted on as a sticker.

Sticking with the body, I asked about wind tunnel testing. Owner/Driver Keith Copeland and crew chief Mark Hansen plan on booking time with my buddy David Salazar over at A2 Wind Tunnel. If you’re curious about wind drag and how it relates to horsepower, click the link. Being the curious engineer, I then followed up with, “Then how’d you set the length and angle of the rear wing? And how’d you choose the height of the wicker?” Mark licked one finger and held it up feeling the slightest breeze… “Like this”. So, I guess there’s some aero tuning opportunities!?

The interior of the Triumph is all business. (Click to enlarge all pictures)

The engine isn’t the NASCAR ready small block you might expect. When I asked, the team downplayed it somewhat… it’s a Brodix block and heads coming in around the middle of the C-class at 360 cubes. Twin turbos and an ice-charged intercooler raise the pressure just a little… The team does a phenomenal job of packing everything under the hood thanks to a custom made low profile intake manifold with Moran Motorsports electronic fuel injectors.

Surprise!

Something you might not have guessed from the front end design? This car’s a front wheel drive. As common as that is for modern cars, that’s nearly unheard of in racing, including Bonneville. MyRideisMe.com previously learned about FWD hot rods when we featured Bonner’s Bad Berkley, the current record holder in AA and A class /BGMS. That’s the same body spec as the Triumph, but running on race gas and bigger engines.

Salt built up in the front wheel opening where the power’s put down. The racing surface is packed pretty well, but off the track its sticky…

So I had to ask Keith and Mark about choosing to power the front wheels. Keith explained that for car-like classes of sports car and coupe, you can run either, FWD or rear wheel drive, it doesn’t matter. You just can’t have ALL wheel driver. Keith continued:

“I choose to go front wheel drive because I spun the back tires in 2008 and that did not work out very well.  We did some calculations and thinking about the handling and thought front wheel drive would work. Bonner Denton had also shown a car could go fast with front wheel drive.  When Mendeola was able to provide a nice trans axle package it cemented our decision. You might see more front wheel drive in the future!”

Mark added some easy to follow thoughts… “The car’s like a dart. The power and weight push the car at speed and the rear stabilizes everything. Rear wheel drive cars are like throwing the dart too… backwards.” I think these guys are right and there’ll be more super fast cars running FWD in years to come.

Building the car and race videos on the next page:

Speedweek Summary & Salt Flat Favorites

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 63^rd 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 on their path of learning about mechanics is akin to a physics student being able to go back in time and spend a week with Albert Einstein. The veterans are out there, putting their skills to the test. Ingenuity reigns, as cars try set ups and find solutions that may have never been done before. Every stop in the pits is an opportunity to learn something new.

Each year I’m there it gets harder to resist begging a team to entrust me with turning a wrench on their race car. And each year I’m there I resolve to one day build and bring a car of my own. Even though I haven’t reached that level of knowledge yet, I’m never disappointed by the willingness of salt folk to take time out and explain something new to me – sending me off with much more knowledge than I came with!

Favorite People

Its fun to see someone I love and who loves cars just as much as I do get to experience the salt flats for the very first time, so on the top of this list, is my boyfriend. He’d never been to Bonneville and he totally fell in love with it.

It was also a huge treat to return and catch up with friends made in previous years. The crews of: Norris Anderson’s #898, Old Stud Racing, Slippery Stude, and more. Then of course I’m always humbled to check in with the fabulous women in the 200 mph club such as Betty Burkland and Alison Dean-Volk. (I still haven’t forgotten about writing stories about these amazing ladies!)

Not only old friends were seen, but new friends were made. Specifically Skip and The Hudson Boys, Greg and his record breaking Salt 2 Salt Studebaker, and the whole team at Speed by Spectre.

Favorite Picture

While everyone was fretting that a storm over the salt would ruin chances of racing, to see the clouds roll in at the end of the day was a beautiful sight. Thunder boomed and lightening flashed over the floating mountain. The storm hit in force but luckily went by quickly. Rolling onto the salt the next morning looked like a real lake for a moment, but soon the water parted and dry salt appeared. In the process, I snapped this picture which is so perfect it almost looks like a painting.

Favorite Hot Rods

Being at Bonneville brings many more cars to look at then just those that are racing. It’s a rolling car show all week really, as roadsters and hot rods cruise the few miles between the pits and the starting line. I couldn’t seem to just pick one…so here’s a few on the top of the list.

This very cool old skool bellytanker didn’t appear to be racing – it was hanging out in front of the Monster booth (they give out free drinks!) Already in love with bellytankers, the nice blue color, moon discs, and cute little body of this one made wish I could tuck it under my arm and give it a hug!

This Hudson is in lieu of any Studebaker’s in this favorites list…I’ve already covered the Studebaker’s pretty thoroughly in my Speed Seeking Studebaker’s series! This Hudson Hornet still runs its Straight-8 and is just a really neat car!

I already shared one picture of this gold beauty. But everytime I look at it I smile, all that gold rolling over all that white. What looks to be a near show-quality car speeding down the salt tells me that people are still willing to actually *drive* their cars!

I couldn’t help sharing this one again as well. With a lot of obvious thought put into it – from the little sculpted rat on the radiator cover, to the small “hairs” sticking out of the tail. This rat rod isn’t an excuse to get away with shoddy workmanship, this one is just pure giggle-worthy.

Favorite Thought

Or maybe I should call it a dream. I’m not going to be able to continue just attending Speedweek as a Spectator. I want to build a race car. I want to drive down that flat expanse of salt and see how fast I can go. Maybe not next year…but eventually.

What about you? What’s your favorite salt flat thought or sighting?

 

Chasing 400 mph – One Mile at a Time

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, there was a slight steering glitch… Thanks to Charlie Timmons, Gary Cooper, and the entire Hanna family of craftsmen in Wichita, the mustard rocket’s running “Straight as an arrow” with a new steering design.

So now, with Bobby and the team’s focus on going faster, let’s see what it takes to run some of the fastest speeds at Bonneville Speed Week.

The Plan as laid out by Lee Kennedy:

1. Run to the 2 1/4 mile – pull chutes
2. Run to 3 miles – pull chutes
3. Run to 4 miles – pull chutes
4. Open it up and run all the way through to the 5 mile
5. Set a record… that’s always the plan at Speed Week!
6. Rinse and repeat

Saturday Morning – Run #1: Starting out, Bobby ran nearly flawlessly to the 2 1/4 mile marker simply known on the salt as “The quarter”. During that run, Bobby cruised to 263 mph – the fastest the car had ever traveled and he was only half way down the track. So far so GREAT!!

Saturday Afternoon Run #2: Lee Kennedy cleared Bobby for a run to the 3 mile. Again, nearly perfect, straight running to a 309.097 mph at “the three”. After taking the timing slip to head starter Jim Jensen and updating his log book with the SCTA folks, Bobby was now issued his “Unlimited” license. All the hard work was finally paying off. Bobby was especially excited for engine builder and good friend. Bob Creitz. Creitz was ill and unfortunately stuck back home in Oklahoma. A phone call said, “We did it!” and they heard, “That put a smile on that gentleman’s face.”  Bobby and the team were excited, but keeping it cool in the pits… To me, it felt like a pitcher working on a no-hitter.

Salt in your Wounds or Kind Hand of Fate?

From there, things didn’t go so smoothly. On the 4 mile pass, the shaft that turned the fuel pump and oil pump failed. No fuel no fire, so Bobby coasted to a halt and didn’t advance on the weekend’s mile by mile progressions. The breakage, at first seemed like a mighty blow to the seemingly strong run of fortune the team had been enjoying… and believe it or not, their luck actually had continued.

With time on their hands waiting for a new and improved pump shaft from RCD Engineering in California, the crew tore down the motor and found this:

Look closely (click to zoom) at the piston on the far right. That’s a crack big enough to see through, yet the it didn’t break! Demonstrating that Bobby’s livin-right, the crew found 6 of the 8 rods were cracked. 6 of 8! A failure by any one of the rods would have windowed the motor (and probably the body and maybe worse…) and would have not only ended the race week, but could have pulled the chute for the rest of the race year.

Pushing forward, the over-nighted shaft arrived and a trip down the 80 to Salt Lake netted some Melanie Troxel funny car used connecting rods, a thinner head gasket and some advice from racer Mike Strausberg who helped the team soften the air shifts on his bullet-proof transmission.

For Run #5, the hot rod reassembled and ready, but with a slightly different tune up, Bobby was again cleared to run to the four mile and did speeding to 304.539 mph.

Next up, run #6, the “Run for the Roses” where Lee lit the green light for 4 1/2 miles. Bobby raced to a 316.513 mph at 4 1/2 and had an exit speed at the 5 mile at 343.835, his top speed, of the race and ever. 343 at the end of the 5 mile meant Bobby was more than just a little late lifting, but he said, “The run seemed rather soft and I did not see the mph on the dash…” A likely story. (Will video later reveal a WHOOOOO HOOOOOO coming from the driver’s helmet?)

Turns out the last 1 1/2 miles, his fastest ever I’ll remind you, were run on only 4 cylinders.  They were on it again if they could get all-holes-lit!

Finally, run #7, running 218 at the 3 mile, it happened… another ahh… stroke of luck??

This time, in the words of Bob Creitz, “The blower belt succeeded to escape” leaving the twisted mess you see above. 2011 Bonneville Speed Week had come to a close.

Bobby summed up Speed Week this way:

“We enjoyed several highs and a few lows when parts would break and chutes would fail, but Lee Kennedy said that next time, I am cleared for a 4 3/4 run under power before I’m allowed the “FULL PULL” thru the 5.  The car handles beautifully and is actually easier to drive than the #344 high horsepower/short wheel base Corvette but you need to stay way ahead of the streamliner as things tend to happen at jump-to-light speed.  This Speed Week, the on site crew included: Charlie & Linda Timmons, Gary Cooper, John Rasmussen, Rudy Heaton, Jeff Moore, Harold Tuttle, Chuck Looney, Gail Chestnut, Pat Sullivan, Terry & Sherry Geerdes, Peggy Vaught, John Horton, Karen Falconer and George.  We had Tom Hanna and Bob Creitz in ready reserve for emergency’s as they were just a ring away.  Tom has spent many years getting us to this point and without his tireless efforts, dedication, and sacrifices, we would still be cruising in the 200 mph range. During the speed trials, Tom & Betty Burkland and Rex Svoboda gave us parachute packing lessons as those veterans could see that we were in our sophomore year and needed some real guidance before we made a costly mistake at the 8 1/2 mile pond of wet mud & misery. Several other senior salts also helped out with our effort but in the fog of racing, I missed their non de plums.”

You can see what I’ve been saying all along… the Bonneville Salt Flats have the friendliest racing in the world, but no doubt, it ain’t easy.

As I make friends with more racers and get to know great people like the Maro Special racing crew, I couldn’t be more excited for the next attempt at 400 (Or is it 450?) and my next trip to Bonneville.

Let Bobby and the crew know you’re pulling for them in a comment below.

Before finishing this story, Bobby Moore informed me that, “We’d lost a good man” on August 29, 2011. Bob Crietz succumbed to a 2 year battle with cancer. God Speed Bob!

To learn a little more about Bob Crietz, check out this story about the Creitz and Donovan AA/FD at Cacklefest.com.

Record Breaking Runs – Speedweek 2011

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. Returning with with reports of dry salt and low winds out at mile marker 5, time trials soon began.

First a motorcycle was off and then it was Norris Anderson and his already record-breaking Studebaker Pickup #898. On down the line the cars went.

Not everyone was able to confirm their records, but there certainly were plenty of high speeds and a number of record-setting results! Watch the video above to see and hear this in action!

The 1941 Ford known as the “Flying ’41″ # 2345 comes out of Gladstone, Oregon and is powered by a 525″ Chrysler Hemi V-8. Owned and driven by Tom Mersereau, it was up against a record of 179.490 mph in it’s AA/CBGC class. (AA indicates motor size and CBGC stands for Classic Blown Gas Coupe). The Flying ’41 completely blew the record out of the water with a result of 222.501! Good job guys!

The orange 1969 Dodge Charger known as the “Daytona Charger” #1001 is owned and driven by Lee Sicilio of Ft.Worth Texas. It runs with a 498″ Chrysler V-8 and was up to break a previous record in it’s A/CPRO class (Classic PROduction) of 239.904 mph. The Daytona Charger set the record with a result of 242.011.

Also setting a record that morning was this good looking 1968 Plymouth Baracuda #6969. With a 528″ Chrysler Hemi V-8 powering it in the AA/BGC class it set a record at 241.592 mph.

As soon as the people of the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) get to it, the results will be posted on their website at www.scta-bni.org. Until then, I snapped a couple of shots of the record setting results for Sunday and Monday of Speedweek.

More Speedweek 2011 at Bonneville Salt Flats

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 a great time. See that guy in the red shirt? Well… to start the Ardun head flathead with a trick, vintage Hilborn injection system, you need to squirt some fuel right into the injectors. These things are made to run wide open, so they’re not the easiest to start… The engine fired up, but I guess a little fuel might have spilled over. THEN CAUGHT FIRE! Rather than panic, my cool friend asked for some water and calmly poured it onto the top of motor, careful not to get any into the motor. Fire went out, engine started up and away they went!

Got a spare engine? Shaen Magan of Bass Lake, CA came to Bonneville Speed Week to break his own record of 218.681 mph in a E/BSTR. That’s a street roadster, so it’s got to have headlights and rear fenders among other rules. When you see this car assembled, it looks like way too much motor for such a small car, but they’re doing something right! I caught this shot in the middle of an engine change.

From here, I just want to share a few shots of the cars I liked. The 1941 Ford Coupe runs in AA/CBGC which is an unlimited engine displacement “Classic” coupe. This good old ford destroyed the existing record of 179.490 mph and went 222.501 mph. Congratulations to Tom Mersereau on becoming a new member of the 200 MPH Club!

The Renck and Roberts, C/GR, gas roadster is out of Pueblo, CO. I met Bob Hull from the team and he was already a fan of MyRideisMe.com. Thanks Bob! Bob was also driving a trick 27 Ford Roadster over at the Nugget Car Show. Watch for a feature on that one soon. (I love catching starter Jim Jensen with his hands up signaling it’s time to go!)

Dig this long, lean Arias Hemi equipped lakester owned by Blanchard – Bacik and York. The lakester class is an old and very competitive class with a current record of 334.219 mph!

Saving the best for last… this is my buddy Jeamie cruising the 932 B/STR up to the starting line. The “My 3 Sons” racing team consists of Dan, Jeff, Jeamie and Dan Strachan from Moville, Iowa. The car was built so the whole family could have fun racing. They built a beautiful car and except for a small mishap with the jack, they were having a blast making runs around 150.

I still have more photos to edit and upload. Anything you’re looking for, leave a comment and let us know!

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