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:...

NorCal Hot Rods and Custom Car Show Pictures Midnight Mass #8 This year I thought I would go against what I was hearing about Midnight Mass and experience it for myself. For some reason Midnight Mass was getting a bad wrap for the past couple of years. Yeah, there has been some drama inside the Poor Boys car club but really, what club doesn't have a little drama here and there. Mostly when rumors are spread it just makes it 10x worse by the time it reaches it's final destination. This year marks number 8 for Midnight Mass and it was held at Gibson Ranch out in Sacramento, CA. Generally, this show is held from 5:00pm till midnight, hence Midnight Mass. Calendar-wise it's also held at the end of July. So if you are not familiar with Sacramento, especially at the end of July, I would like to give you a heads up for future summer shows out in this area... bring a ton of sun screen and enough water to fill a 50 gallon drum! Simply... it's hot. Which is pretty smart thinking by the Poor Boys CC...

Heartbreaker 1964 Pontiac GTO Drag Racer While at Toyota's Irwindale Speedway recently for Amateur Drag night, I came upon this beautiful 1964 Pontiac GTO. Although running in the professional class, this car is built from scratch by its owner, Dennis Jewell. With brand new paint job, this 64' Pontiac is breaking more hearts then ever. But the good part is, there's plenty of substance behind the polish. This GTO is powered by a 604 cid motor pushing out 1100 HP at 7,500 rpm! Aspirated with two 1050 Dominators, it's fastest run has been the 1/4 mile in 8.3 seconds @ 163 mph. I love this cool exhaust exit at the front fender.... and good looking hold-down for its Optima Yellow Top battery in the trunk. Even more, I love that Dennis has built this beauty himself - along with good friend Jimmy Branham's support. For more info, contact: Dennis Jewell (818)...

Toyota's Irwindale Speedway Heats up on Thursday Nights! Speed Fever is a serious thing. Once I caught on, it was only a matter of time before I got interested in drag racing. First I hot rodded my Studebaker. Then I began attending Speed Week each year. Eventually I learned to do a burnout. Why not drag race!? Although it's not time for my own Studebaker to get on the dragstrip just yet, I'm sure it's day will come. First I've got to learn a thing or two about drag racing - and what better way to go to do that than ride along with a pal who's been racing his 1955 Chevy Gasser for years!? When my buddy Stan first invited me to go along with him to the Irwindale Raceway, I didn't realize we were going to actually drive his racing gasser TO the races. But yep, he built this car to drive and there'll be no trailer for him. (Read more about his Chevy here.) Thursday nights at Irwindale is a run-what-ya-brung amateur night with some professional class racers around also. It isn't a nostaglic-class night, anyone...