Salt Flats Speed Shop: Traditional Hot Rod Builder

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Salt Flats Speed Shop in Orem, Utah is run by Chris Davenport, a metal fabrication and finishing craftsman and hot rod builder who is dedicated to building 1930’s traditional hot rods.  Chris has been in business officially for about 2 years now and is attracting more and more customers as the word gets out about his affordable, high quality craftsmanship.

“Need a Chop, a roof insert, fender, or a quarter panel? Well you’ve come to the right place. We’ll fix all your cars issues, and have it looking as good in “bare metal” as it did when it was made.”

Chris (in the white shirt) showing us around his shop in Orem.  This is a customers 3 window coupe with suicide doors.  We dropped in on Chris Thanksgiving week.  He willingly took an hour or more to give us the full shop tour.  He explained all his tools, showed us all his projects and talked shop.  I could tell Chris is passionate about hot rods!

I had emailed Chris letting him know that a friend and I wanted to drop in and check out his shop.  My friend, Gary, has a 1928 Model A Pickup of his own and found Salt Flats Speed Shop on the Jalopy Journal forums, which is where I originally spotted Chris’ handy work as well.

I checked out Chris’ website saltflatsspeedshop.com and was amazed at the craftsmanship and skill involved in the metal repair and custom fabrication I saw in his projects page.

Chris is building his own Salt Flats Speed Shop 1932 Model A Tudor Sedan to show off what he can do.  Please take a few minutes to see his detailed H.A.M.B. ‘32 Tudor build thread.  My favorite project at the shop was Chris’ ’32 Tudor.  If you’re subscribed to the build thread like me, you’ll know that he’s planning on taking the car to Speedweek 2010 and actually racing on the Salt.  Chris has period correct frame and body modifications underway, including a 4.5″ to 5.5″ chop top (amount of chop not totally decided), a ‘32 pickup grille, schroeder steering box, ‘40 Ford steelies with dirtrack Firestones and a hot 8 BA Flathead V8 with a race cam, Edelbrock heads, an Offy 2 carb intake setup and 5 speed behind it (hey, might as well take advantage of modern tech’ for better mpg and driveability).

To build an old school hot rod, you gotta have old school metal working tools.  Let’s take a peek at Salt Flats Speed Shop’s tools of the trade shall we…

Here are just some of the metal working tools used to perform any number of repairs or fabrication.  Close up of an English Wheel (used to put a crown in a door skin or roof insert), standard millin/drilling station and a Lenox Nibbler (Louvers, shrinking and shearing and beads).

I liked this shelf hanging on the wall full of rolling dies in many shapes and sizes.  Chris said he can replicate any body line from the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s with his equipment.

Chris is doing some restoration and repair (R&R ha ha) on a friends Porsche project.  Cool rotissiere stand!  Chris made that too!  Obviously!

Here’s a look from one end of the shop to the other to get a look at some of the project cars.  You’ve got the 32 Tudor, a 3 window coupe, the Porsche, the aluminum 1940 Willy’s (that’s right, aluminum) and another 3 window coupe.  So cool!  Lots of bare metal in this shop!

I believe most of these are spoken for, but that is a nice collection of Model A Pickup cabs ready to be turned into hot rods.

This last picture is cool.  A closeup of the die set on that Lenox Nibbler that will do wonders with a flat sheet of steel.

So there you have a quick glance at Salt Flats Speed Shop.  Check out their website and 32 Tudor build thread.  I hope to bring more of the ‘32 Tudor to MyRideisMe.com in 2010.

Go and visit  theSalt Flats Speed Shop Website

Hechtspeed

Larry’s Old Volks Home Land Speed Racing H/BAGC Record Holding Ghia

I arrived at the Salt for World Finals 2009 right as the sun peaked over the mountains.  What a beautiful sight.  I pulled up to the start line where there were race cars and bikes waiting to make their record return runs.  The first car I walked up to was this bright yellow VW Karmann Ghia owned by Larry Monreal from San Bernardino.  I asked the gentleman standing next to the car if he was Larry, and he responnded that no, he was Jim, Larry’s friend and driver.  As with any Bonneville Salt Flats land speed race car and team, there is always a big, long and interesting story.   No long  stories today, but I do want to share some details I learned by spending a few minutes with Jim that I hope will display what dedicated hot rodders and land speed racers these guys are.

I chatted with Jim Bradshaw for like 10 minutes.  Something you’ll experience when you attend a land speed event at the Salt Flats is the people.  It’s almost sounding cliche attending my 4th event, but the people are the heart of this amateur racing sport.  Jim and I talked about the Ghia you see here, as well as what we do for a living, about the salt conditions and weather, Larry Monreal’s long history, etc.  Land speed racers are real people, they are passionate about what they’re doing and enjoy talking about it with you. 

 

Larry Monreal has been coming out to the Salt since 1947 according to Jim.   Jim Bradshaw is Larry’s “5th” son and friend.  Jim grew up as Larry’s youngest son’s friend and was given the chance to drive. This Ghia is obviously not Larry’s first car, Larry has raced bikes, a belly tank lakester, another Ghia and even the family sedan.  Larry’s other Ghia over the years racing on the Salt became too rusty to race.  It was sold to a gentleman from across the pond and was appropriately restored. 

 

This yellow Ghia, as you can see from the Bonneville stickers on the fender, has been coming out since at least 2002.  There’s also an El Mirage decal or two.  Larry is 82 years old now and lives for this stuff says Jim.  Larry has a degenerative eye condition and has had some surgeries already.  His eyesight is such that he can’t drive anymore.  But Larry spends the off season prepping the car and getting ready to run. 

 

 

Larry has owned a big VW wrecking yard for years and thus, has all he needs to piece together a race car.  He uses a turbocharged 1497 cc watercooled destroked Rabbit/Golf inline 4 cylinder and runs in the H/BAGC class (H = 1.01-1.50 Liter, B = Blown, A = altered, G = gas, C = coupe).  Larry set the record for the H/BAGC class at Speedweek 2009 and blew his own record out of the water today (10/10/2009) with a two run average of 164.158 MPH.  Congratulations!  The car is a 1968 or ‘69 according to Jim, runs AEM ecu tuning, has a ram air box in the rear quarter window to a water to air intercooler with an icebox.  Up front sits an MG radiator, a VW 5 speed transmission connected to a vw aircooled transaxle via a homemade adapter plate Larry had cast, using a wood plate he made himself.  Wow! 

Jim gives a big thanks to Jon Romero and Mike Mangelli who tune the AEM system for them.  Jim says the car was running crazy fast with the latest tune.  Way to go on the new record guys!  The next goal for Larry in his long career in landspeed racing at Bonneville is to go 175 MPH.  

Thanks Jim for taking time out to talk salt!  Congrats on your new record, good luck with your future salt endeavors and tell Larry thanks as well!

Hechtspeed

Arizona Model T Streamliner Destroys a Record!

I was thrilled to find Tom Brawner of Scottsdale as a member at MyRideisMe.com.  Not only does Tom have a killer 1956 Chevy with perfect looking Real Rodder wheels with the Dow 7 coating, but he’s also got pictures of the the Corsair 3 T land speed racing streamliner powered by a turbocharge 4 cylinder!

Tom crew’s on the Corsair owned by Joel Young of Phoenix, Arizona.  He set a new world speed record for 4 cylinder flathead engine under 220 cubic inches with a speed of 130 mph. An amazing feat considering he was running on a 99.448 mph record set in 2004. Even more amazing, due to problems with the transmission shifter this record was set using only 1st and 2nd gear!

With the shifter problem resolved Corsair 3T bumped its previous record to 166 mph on its third run and backed it up the next day with a run of 154 mph for an average of 160mph. The slower speed on the forth run was due to a bad start and slick track.

The photo above was taken on the salt and features from left to right,  Brad Taylor – crew member, Joel Young – driver and owner, Tom Brawner – crew member,  and Dennis Cling – crew member.

Here’s some powertrain details: 196 cu. in. Ford T flathead

Engine modifications? Special crank, rods, pistons and aluminum head. Turbo charged

Transmission: Jack Knight 2 speed trans axle with overdrive attachment for 4 forward speeds.

Class details: V4F/BFS, Vintage four cylinder flathead under 220 cu in. Blown fuel streamliner.

History of the car: The car was run as the Thermo King Diesel in the 70s, then the car was totally rebuilt to conform to current rules, but was repainted with the original Thermo King paint scheme.

For more pictures and a bunch of build pics of this really slick looking streamliner, check out Hawk’s custom garage here at MyRideisMe.com.

Thanks for the info Tom! I can’t believe with only 20 or so square miles to cover, I didn’t even see you out on the salt! All land speed racers are all welcome at MyRideisMe.com a community for car lovers of all kinds. 1300+ members can’t be wrong so why not sign up today by entering your member name and email, that’s it!

Bonneville Speed Week’s Friendliest BBQ

When you’re on the salt, you’re either preparing to race or racing. The atmosphere is  more cooperative than you’re likely to find at any other kind of racing, but you’re still busy. Unpack, tech, race, hopefully impound (that means you have the potential to set a record!) then back in the early morning for a record run.  If you’re successful backing up your record, you go back to tech for a final inspection. If not, back to the pits to make a few tweaks to the car, then back in line to start over again.

Jon Amo, the founder of Landracing.com found that the land speed racers, especially the ones who are connected through the internet forum and chat, need a place to catch up with old and new friends and hear who’s running what and how fast.  That was the birth of “Salt Talks”. It’s a social gathering held on Sunday evening of 2009 Speed Week after the day’s racing was done.

About 6 years ago at around 5:30 PM, not long before Salt Talks were to kick off, Amo was walking around at the well known, “Bend in the Road” asking for a charcoal grill when Nancy and Jon Wennerberg heard.  Nancy said, “You need some women to run it!” So for a couple years after that, Nancy and Jon ran the Salt Talks, a BBQ, social and raffle with tons of great prizes.  Then, about a year-and-a-half after that, Jon, better known as “Seldom Seen Slim” bought Landracing.com and kept up the tradition of Salt Talks which has grown to, “A picnic for about 300 of our friends!” as Jon puts it. This was the 10 year anniversary.

So pull up a chair, a freshly made hamburger, hot dog or the specialty pasties. Pasties are a meat pie made of coarse ground beef, cubed or thin sliced potato, maybe some other veggie filler, onion, and seasoning.  This mixture is wrapped in a pie-crust-like dough and baked ’til the meat is cooked. Pasties are a staple of Salt Talks.

Slim promises, “We’re not going to have a lie detector test here… so you can tell us how fast you used to be, or how fast you would’ve done if you hadn’t broke.” He continued, “One year, for someone’s birthday, a $10,000 computer controlled fireworks show happened immediately after Salt Talks.  So you never know what’s gonna happen!”

Special thanks to Slim and Nancy and the other great folks at the landracing.com discussion forum for their hospitality and education on my first trip to Speed Week. I hope to see all of you again next year.

So you know, Nancy’s the real deal! She was in impound (remember, that’s a good thing!) with her production bike waiting to make her record run during Salt Talks. She set a record the next day at just under 200 mph. She ran 199.355 to qualify for the record, then 198.48 mph to back it up. The record she got is 198.909, upping the previous one of 196.604. (Somebody send me a picture!)

For an insane number of great shots from Speed Week 2009 race cars, show cars and the race bikes too (and tons more from years gone by!) check out photographer, “Ray the Rat’s” pictures here.

The 61st Bonneville Speed Week…but My First Visit

This contributed by my Dad, Greg Martin, who I was lucky enough to spend speed week with!

I’ve never seen such a group as these speed freak, salt flat hot rodders. I do believe they would all agree with Mark Twain’s adage, “Let us so live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.”

My first impression after riding my bicycle down the three-mile-long pits was that maybe I had stumbled upon a movie set for yet another Mad Max movie. I fully expected to see Mel (Max Rockatansky) Gibson or Tina (Aunty Entity) Turner come screaming down the pits followed by a cackle of hyenaish groupies. Oh, well it must have been the immediate effects of the blazing reflections off the salt – the old timers told me to make sure you put plenty of sunblock on the bottom of my chin and nose.

I was amazed by the diversity of cars and syckles that ranged from the do it yourself bring what ya got to the high-tech, hyper-slick long blown fuel streamliners with a million secrets beneath their perfect skin.

The best spot to see the action is definitely the starting line. Bonneville has three courses: a three mile for rookies and those not expected to exceed 175 mph top speed. The five mile is a must if you are going to attempt to gain entry into the prestigious 200 Mile Per Hour Club. And if you are driving something nasty enough to really get scootin’ they have an eight mile course that runs along the mile long spectator area, the pits and beyond. They say that if you make a wrong turn at the end of your run on the middle track you can get lost because you are surrounded by nothing but an ocean salt and there is no way to gain a sense of direction.

So, the best spot to see the action is the starting line (did I say that already), cause you cannot get any closer to a car going down the track than about a quarter of a mile away at the end of the pits.

A lot of cars are geared so high that even with well over 500 foot pounds of torque it is not enough to start rolling down the track without a push. Once they get going fast enough to put their foot in it, screamin’ is the only word I can come up with to describe the feeling of watching a mobile invention that may go over 400 miles per hour away from you.

I did run into one grump but everyone else I meet at Speed Week seemed happy to be there and anxious to get to know you.

With no salt under my finger nails yet, I was drawn-in more by non-technical aspects of this sport. Like the fun you can have naming your car and team when you don’t have some big sponsor paying all the bills. The result is entries like the So What Speed Shop, Larry Old Volks Home, Low Sodium, Fine Art Racing, Never Paid For Racing, Loose Screw Racing, Saltbiscuit and of course Old Men Can Fly 2.

I did notice a lot of gang activity which was surprising – you had The Fat Boyz, The Barbee Boys and Fuzzy Logic for California, the Prairie Drifters and the Salt Dogs from Wisconsin, from Washington it was the Hudson Boys and the Nobody’s. Then there were the loners like Seldom Seen Slim, The Avanti Kid, Evil Tweety, Bone Evil and cousins Bonneville Bob and Bonneville Bobber.

And so my two days at the 61st Bonneville Speed Week were far too short of a week and more fun than most of the things I’ve done in two days. It did get me think’n though –that Nissan Versa I’ve been dreaming about with 24s and a chopped top – suppose it turned into my entry in next year’s Speed Week. I’ve always thought I would call it the “Dinky Donk” but perhaps I would have to call it “Ain’t Nobody’s Business”. After all, if you don’t have the right name it won’t go as fast.

We’re anxious to hear your impressions from Bonneville too. Feel free to leave a comment.

Salt Flat Favorites

One great thing about attending Speedweek at Bonneville Salt Flats is that there’s something for everyone. You get to watch all sorts of vehicles leaving from the same starting line, all seeking to break the record of whatever class they’re in. And just like in the “good ol’ days” of hot rodding – the only thing anyone really cares about is going fast! But until I get to sit behind the wheel and drive down the salt at record breaking speeds, I’ve gotta pay attention to some of the other details that just might not have anything to do with speed!
So here it is…Grease Girl’s picks for Salt Flat Favorites 2009.

Best Way to Get Around. This isn’t a mini-sized hotwheel! This is a monster-truck sized red wagon!

Best Body Type. Call me partial, but I can’t help but have a little pride when the most common body type ya see at Bonneville is nearly as old as Speedweek and happens to be almost identical to my own daily driver! That’s right, Studebaker Coupe’s were aerodynamic when first made and they just keep on breaking records…even in 2009!

Best Build Story. I couldn’t decide whether to make this Best Looking or Best Build Story…but when ya find out the story behind this 1952 Buick I think you’ll agree I made the right choice!

Best Vantage Point. Behind the drivers seat is where I wanna be! Until I get the chance to be inside a vehicle – I’ll stick around Mile 0 (a.k.a. the starting line). From here you get the noise and excitement of lift off! Not to mention getting the chance to talk with crew and drivers of the race vehicles waiting in line for their turn!

Best Portable Cooler. It gets hot out on the salt so its always wise to keep your cool drinks right with ya. What better way then on the back of your own homemade tricycle?!

Best Dad. Yep…this is mine. He came to Speedweek with me (and he wrote about it too!) I loved how many families take part in Speedweek together.

Best 2-Wheeled Invention. I’ve never seen any other motorcycle come close to the beauty found in Akira Tsukagawa’s 1946 1350cc Harley Davidson. If it weren’t breaking speeds over 100mph I’d say it would serve good purpose in a gallery…West Coast Choppers eat your socks.

Best Push Car. Most vehicles need a push from the starting line because their gears won’t engage until they’ve got some speed. I loved that this crew kept the push vehicle old skool! Not to mention the sweet paint job.

Best Shiny Object. Although the Hot Rod Trophy is nice and shiny – I had to go with “Saltflyer” for this category. A 1989 Benham Lakester powered by a 565″ Chevy V-8. And just imagine what it would be like to be practically laying on your back in the nose of this Lakester, driving down that lane o’salt…I’d call that Best Thrill Ride!

Best Team Motto. Ya couldn’t sum it up better than this…Friends – Family – Fun…that’s what Speedweek is all about!

What about you? What’s your Speedweek favorites? Leave a comment below and let us all know!

Bonneville Veteran Dies at Speed Week

With all the excitement about Bonneville Speed Week, before I post my first blog and pictures, I want to show my respect following the tragic death of a great family man and land speed racer, Barry Bryant.

Unfortunately, I only knew of Barry Bryant of Anderson, California by his race car.  I told some friends about a sinister looking, long and bad, silver and black competition coupe that stood out as one of my favorites on the salt.  After describing the car as best I could, I learned it was the Bryant family’s “Tom Thumb Special”

Late in the afternoon of 8/9/2009, Barry Bryant crashed near the 5 mile marker on the long course at Bonneville traveling close to 200 mph.

MyRideisMe.com would like to express our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Barry Bryant.

If you knew Barry, please leave a comment.

Speedweek 2009-Bonnie’s Homecoming

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) not to post now.  This black car just pops against the bright fresh Salt.

Hechtspeed

Bonneville Bound – My Traveling Buddy’s go 250mph!

Traveling along sucks. That’s why I’m glad to have a traveling buddy for the long drive from Phoenix to Wendover, Utah for Speedweek on the Bonneville Satlt Flats.  I’m towing my 1927 roadster, so I can’t drive that fast so I fit right in with my 250mph partners on the road, “Bonnieville Bob” and his son Rocky.

Their B/GMR modified roadster is a stretched 1927 roadster that’s been as fast as 251 mph at Bonneville and that’s just 4 mph off the record.

Much more to come on these guys since I’ll be shooting lots of pictures of all the race cars and picking Bob and Rocky’s speed-brain for all they’re worth!

Look for us on the salt!  And if you know Bob, say hi right here by leaving a comment.

Volk Bros’ 1929 Salt Flats Record Roadster

If you found this story at MyRideisMe.com, you already know that Bonneville International Speedway and Salt Flats Land Speed Racing have quite a history. That history is filled with amazing pioneers in hot rodding, racing, and humans just plain going fast! The previous story from the Salt Flat Racing category: Salt Flats Car Show, the Bonneville Salt Flats are seriously the mecca for hot rodders and custom car nuts. This 1929 roadster typifies; race car and family history of Salt Flat and Land Speed Racing you’re sure to find with every trip to the Salt.

The owner Larry Volk, together with his family of Land Speed Racers have their own Salt Flats racing history. The Volk Family was kind enough to loan me their racing scrapbook full of newspaper clippings and photos so I could scan a few to share that rich history here at MyRideisMe.com. The recent pics you see were snapped this last Saturday at a church parking lot of all places. Hey, it is Utah you know. :) Larry Volk is the current President of the 200 MPH Club. Not only is he the President, but he’s also a member. Ha ha! And so are his 2 sons Dallas and Patrick and yes, even his daughter, Allison (aka “Hollywood”).

We asked Dallas to fill us in on the Volk Bros’ racing history and while doing so, found out some nifty info about not only the car and the Volk Bros’ racing team, but Land Speed Racing. Let’s get to it shall we then?

MyRideisMe: How did your dad get into Salt Flat Racing?
Dallas Volk: Dad drag raced and helped with some sprint cars in the late 50’s and early 60’s. He and one of his buddies Dave Skidmore decided they wanted to try the Salt Flats thing and built a ‘32 highboy roadster. They ran out at the Salt with that car for a few years reaching speeds in the 180 MPH range. This car’s been in the family for 30 years.

Tell us about the racing history of #59.
Dallas Volk: In the late 60’s Dad built the first #59, a modified 1927 T roadster (modified roadsters can run a custom built aerodynamic nose and can have a belly pan under the entire car). He ran that car for about a decade setting a record in 1975 at 207 MPH for E/MR. The record was set using a 240 cid Dodge, injected, with about 80% nitro in the tank. This record made him the first Utah’n in the Bonneville 200 MPH club (to gain entrance into the Bonneville 200 MPH club you have to break an existing record over 200 MPH by averaging 2 consecutive runs over the record), and the record stood for over 20 years. That car set one other record for C/MR with a 354 cid injected Chrysler Hemi at 239 MPH.

In 1978 dad sold the modified so we could build the second #59, a highboy roadster which is a more conventional looking car using the stock grill shell, be a certain height, and can only use a step pan in the drivers compartment, everything else has to be open. We built the car from scratch using a tube frame and a fiberglass 1929 Ford model A body. The car first saw the Salt in 1979 and we are still running it today. The car has set several records. F/FR at 167mph, C/BGR at 219mph, A/FR at 234mph and A/GR at 236mph.

MyRideisMe: You mentioned it has sort of become a “test pilot training” car…How many drivers have gone 200 mph in this car?

Dallas Volk: During the 30 years the car has been competing on the Salt Flats there have been around 40 people (that’s more than new driver per year) that have driven the car, around 25 of those have been over 200 MPH. We let people that have helped us over the years take a few passes in it just to get the feel. Sometimes we can’t afford to put a motor together so someone will step up with a motor of theirs and try to set a record. There’s also a friend of ours with a streamliner running over 370 MPH. They have different people driving the car and they’ll sometimes do their licensing passes up to 250 MPH in our car because it is difficult and more expensive to make lower speed passes in the ‘liner. We’ve had several people run over 300 MPH and even 400 MPH tell us that it takes more driving skill to run over 200 MPH in the roadster than it does to run over 300 MPH in a streamliner. I believe the equation would be: High HP + short wheelbase + brick like aero package = Big pucker factor to the tenth power.

MyRideisMe: What engine/drivetrain setups has it had?
Dallas Volk: This car has run blown and injected fuel Hemi’s 300, 354 and 392 cid, blown fuel and gas small block Chevy’s 305 cid, making 1100 HP (responsible for the fastest speed the car has ever achieved 252 mph) and a 350 cid that set the C/BGR record at 219 mph. For transmissions we’ve run a turbo 350 and 400, a T10, an air shifted Lenco (really cool, just push the button and hold on) and we’re currently running a Muncie 4 speed. For a rear end we run a 9″ Ford with 2.76 or 2.50 gear, depending on if we have enough HP to pull the 2.50.

MyRideisMe: What’s the fastest its gone before?
Dallas Volk: 252 mph on a 242 record but we kicked a rod through the oilpan and that kept us from making a return run for the record.

MyRideisMe: So, you’re in the 200 MPH Club, what is it like to do 200mph+ 1929 roadster?
Dallas Volk: Driving on the Salt is like driving on concrete with a fine layer of sand over the top of it. You have to really ease into the throttle and lay off when the tires break loose. Controlling the car at 200+ mph overtakes all your senses. It seems like you are holding your breath for 5 miles. All steering adjustments are very minute. As I try to look about 1/4 mile down the track and make my adjustments to hit that spot. I find myself talking to the car, you know like “come on baby lets move right just a little” or “ease back this way for me”. The worst thing you can do is over correct or get the back of the car oscillating left and right. That’s when cars go around and it happens fast. Unlike any other kind of racing there is nothing to stop you when the car tumbles. I was at the scene of a crash that happened at 360 MPH. We found the cockpit of the car 1 3/4 miles from the initial impact. The guy escaped with massive bruising and a broken toe.

MyRideisMe: Have you had any hairy moments on Salt yourself?
Dallas Volk: Yes, quite a few! The one that stands out the most happened while running about 225 mph. The clutch pack from the turbo 350 trans we were running grenaded and blew the trans casing into about ten thousand pieces. When it happened it lifted the whole car about 6 inches in the air, putting hundreds of holes in the body, frame, step pan, computer, and my foot. I wanted out of that run so bad I unhooked the harness and was driving about 125 mph sitting on top of the roll cage, steering with my feet. It was also the first event my soon-to-be wife attended and when she pulled up riding in the push truck all she saw was me sitting in the ambulance and a trail of red transmission fluid on the white salt which she naturally assumed was blood. :) It took a while to convince her I was sane enough to be a good husband after that.

MyRideisMe: Glad you made it back safely and that your wife stuck with you after that. :) So, why do you go back year after year? Do they put something in the Salt?
Dallas Volk: The Salt Flats is the last of the true amateur racing venues. No bigtime sponsors, most folks built their car in their garage on a limited budget. The people that race out there are the greatest, they take the time to talk to the spectators, they’ll loan parts to people they’re competing against and will help in any way they can. You won’t find that in any of the big money auto sports like NHRA or NASCAR. Also it is a family affair and the one time of the year the whole family will get together. A family that races together stays together.

MyRideisMe: What is it that brings people from around the world to the “white stuff”?
Dallas Volk: If you’re a true gearhead it’s the Mecca of Speed. It’s the birthplace of hotrodding. Where else can you go and see a classic roadster or coupe, an open motorcycle, or even an Opel go over 200 MPH? Then wait a few minutes an see a WWII P-38 belly tank with wheels, a streamlined motorcycle go over 300 MPH, then wait a few minutes and watch a home-built streamliner do over 400 MPH. When you go out there your standing on the same ground where Mickey Thompson, Craig Breedlove, Gary Gabelich, Art Arfons, Malcolm Campbell, Ab Jenkins and many others made history. The bigger question for me is what’s keeping people from coming to the “white stuff”?

MyRideisMe: Anything else you we should know?

Dallas Volk: Myself, my brother, and my sister are all in the Bonneville 200 MPH club. And just for reference more people have climbed Mt. Everest than have achieved membership into this club.

Well, there you have it rodders! The Volk Bros #59 roadster and race team/family. When (not “if”) you make it out to the Salt Flats this year, stop by the 200 MPH Club booth/#59 pits and say hello. Be careful though, you may be given a wrench to help out or even the drivers suit. Where do I sign up? See you out on the “white stuff”! I know MyRideisMe.com will be there this year for Speed Week 2009!

If you like this story, please tell a friend! Or, you can join MyRideisMe.com and share your own stories from the Salt.

Hechtspeed

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