Oct 11

Written by: The Commish
10/11/2010 7:50 PM 

I've written about Joel Young's Ford Model T flathead four -powered Bonneville racer before but something always felt missing, or not quite right in my perception of the sport, at least from a personal standpoint.  

That's because I'd never been to the famous salt flats in Utah, let alone during one of the events when wheeled vehicles of all shapes, pedigrees and sizes were pushing their respective class speed envelopes.  I can relate to the drags, NASCAR, the Indy 500, short tracks paved and dirt and even F1, thanks to at least a little real-world experience, but Bonneville was still on my bucket list.

So when Joel invited me to join he, his wife Donna and crew chief Tom Brawner on their trip to the SCTA World Finals, where they would attempt to set another, different class record with the Matrix Machine streamliner, my response was, "what do I bring, where do I have to be and when?"

The answer was A) "three days worth of clothes, plenty of sunscreen and a fat wallet", B) meet at Joel's house, about 20 minutes from me in Phoenix, at 4:00 AM on Tuesday, October 6th, and C) our goal was being in Wendover, Utah by 6:00 PM local time so we could drop off the trailer and set up the pit before 'Bonneville Speedway' closed at 7:00 PM.

Yes.  There's actually a state road sign that says Bonneville Speedway on the way to the salt flats.

Our trip was uneventful other than a flat tire on the trailer just this side of Hoover Dam.  When we got to the salt flats we found where Free Spirit Racing, another Arizona -based Bonneville team, was pitted and we parked the trailer alongside them before pulling out a huge canvas tarp that would act as a clean 'floor' if we had to work on the car.

That was fun to watch; the drilling of long screws through washers through the outside edges of a thick, unfolded, formerly-a-billboard sheet of canvas directly into the salt.  This not only provided a salt-free work surface; it also acted like a big diaper to catch and prevent any errant fluids from leaking into the surface.

Note:  The salt flats have obviously been around for eons and just as obviously they are in danger of disappearing thanks to the unintended consequences of nearby mining operations.   I've never seen an area frequented by we the great unwashed so clean of trash; no waste paper or wrappers, no cigarette butts or aluminum cans or anything.  Everyone has a great respect for the salt and many are working hard to halt the environmental damage and preserve Bonneville racing for generations beyond ours.  It shows, too.

The car:  Originally built in the early seventies and raced as the Thermo King Special, Sanderson Ford's Matrix Machine Special has been completely rebuilt and brought up to proper safety specs.  Now powered by an extensively modified flathead four-banger that began life in 1927 under the hood of a Ford Model T the old school, non-computer-designed streamliner set a new alcohol class record of 160.116 in 2009, the first time Joel raced what he, Brawner and the rest of his team had built.  This past August he upped the record again, to 201.700 mph, so he could join the famous, highly regarded 200 MPH Club.

For the World Finals in October Joel decided to go for the V4F/BGS record for gasoline -powered cars.  The old standard was 138.219 and after a few hours on the dyno in early September, under the watchful eye of Bob Ream from Image Injection in Glendale, AZ, optimism was high they could set the mark a whole lot higher.

So Wednesday morning found us back at the flats long before sunrise and by the time the welcome remarks, invocation and driver's meeting were over we were already in line for tech inspection and ready to make our first qualifying run.



Here's the process:  You take your car and have it inspected and then, if you pass muster, you get to make a run down the salt.  If your speed is over the existing record for your class, thus qualifying you for a new record, you can impound the car so you can make a back up run, usually in the opposite direction, the next day.  If the average speed of the two runs is faster than the old record your name replaces the old one in the Southern California Timing Assocaition (SCTA) record book.

And if the speed is over 200 mph you become a lifelong member of a fairly exclusive club that includes drivers with names like Arfons, Breedlove, Campbell, Gabelich, Garlits, Moss, Thompson and Unser.  Plus, you get two red hats; one for permanent display on a wall or mantle or in a trophy case and the other to proudly wear in the pits, at the blackjack table, when shopping or driving or watching tv, etc.

Just like his twice the century mark brethren, Joel wears his 200 MPH Club hat constantly because a red hat truly is one of Bonneville's most desirable, historic badges of honor.

The SCTA officials are about as nice and laid back and colorful as they were as portrayed in The World's Fastest Indian, the 2005 movie about Kiwi motorcycle racer Burt Munro as played by Sir Anthony Hopkins -- who most more easily remember as the actor who played Hannibal Lector.  The techs went all over the car to make sure it was up to spec safety-wise, all the while having to listen to curious racers and onlookers who couldn't help but comment about how clean and sanitary and well engineered this particular streamliner appeared.

And how familiar it looked.

Those kinds of remarks have been made every time Joel, Brawner and the rest of the volunteer crew have taken the Matrix Machine Special to Bonneville.  The car, which was one of the more heavily sponsor-promoted streamliners of the seventies, was repainted to match its original red, white and blue livery so it definitely rings some bells amongst the old timers, or at least the true followers.  The car always shows up in pristine, ultra clean condition and could just as easily be ready for a museum as a racetrack. The craftsmanship and creativity as evidenced by this rejuvenated 1973 Corsair III are Penske -reminiscent; the attention to detail and perfection of construction is more than impressive.

This car, despite its aged background, simply reeks of first class engineering, fabrication and preparation.

Example:  Most LSR cars are pushed or pulled around the salt flats on their own four wheels, or at the very least on two of them.  Joel Young's streamliner is dollied around, suspended under a cradle with large wheels on either side of the race car, components which originally served to transport logs and telephone poles at job sites.  Points on the chassis attach to hand operated hoists that lift the entire car all the way off the ground so it can be pushed, towed or winched.  The entire dolly setup fits inside the trailer Young hauls behind his truck.

Almost as many spectators were taking pics and talking about the dolly as they were of the car.

Back to Wednesday.  After passing inspection the car was dollied to the official fuel tanker where it took about 3 gallons (at more than nine bucks per) and then the tank was sealed.  We got in line and when our turn came we got in Joel's F250 and pushed the Matrix Machine Special to about 45 mph before the streamliner quickly pulled away.  We saw him enter the one mile marker and then the car got smaller and smaller before finally disappearing from view.

When we finally got to where Joel had turned out he asked about the speed and we told him we heard on the radio he went through the mile four trap at 188, a speed about 50 mph faster than the old record.  That news started everyone wondering if he could go 200 again.  Then we packed the chute, hoisted the car up on the dolly and drove back to pick up the official timing slip.

This slip is very important, mind you.  If you run fast enough and qualify to make a second, potentially record-setting run you have to turn that timing slip in to the official when you take the car to impound.  If you don't have that slip you didn't make a run.

Note:  These Bonneville guys are sticklers for rules, almost as much as the OCD golf people.  A missing signature, transposed letters or numbers or the most insignificant error on some paperwork can make a record average disappear the same way a blown engine, balky transmission or 'moment' (a near-losing-control-at-speed event) can.

And that timing is slip is so important that when you go to the timing tower and yell your car number up to the officials they put the small slip on a clothespin and lower it down by string.

How's that for high tech?

After seeing the speeds in print Tom and Joel talked about upping the boost and adjusting the rev limiter and then making another run that same afternoon.  But the weather was iffy as it had been raining on and off for days; clear weather wasn't in the forecast until Friday and the skies were becoming darker by the hour.  They wisely decided to accept the run, impound the car and try to go faster Thursday morning and take whatever record they could set.

Side note:  Brawner and many other salt war veterans like to say a thousand things have to go exactly right for one good run at Bonneville but it only takes one thing gone wrong to screw everything up.

For instance, the Phoenix -based Free Spirit Racing team has one cool lakester powered by a turbocharged Renault 'Gordini' V6 that once propelled a Le Mans sportscar.  But neither owner/builder/driver Bud Free, his wife/crew chief Dawn (who graciously let me charge my computer off their generator) nor all the king's men could find the problem that was keeping the car from accelerating after the first mile.

 

They eventually found the problem, an electrical glitch, but it was too little too late for the 2010 season.  

And the non-productive trip was the more typical Bonneville experience; one that despite the frustration and time and energy investment that seemingly was all for naught remained a positive because the team was doing exactly what it wanted.

These guys are real racers.

With the Matrix Machine Special in impound word came that engine management/fuel injection expert Bob Ream had arrived and was on his way to hook his laptop into the car and raise the rev limiter from 5000 to 5600 rpm for Thursday's run.  Joel and Tom raised the boost, we cleaned as much salt from the car as possible, wiped it down, put the car cover on and went back to the pits.

Note:  Check out this pic of the blown flathead Ford -powered lakester next to us in impound.  It broke its own record and while the car was sano and fast and well built I couldn't keep from thinking how much it reminded me of Professor Fate's Hannibal Twin 8 from the movie The Great Race.



Then the wind came, just after lunch, with gusts so strong they sent hats that covered mostly bald heads and almost anything else that wasn't tied down flying across the salt toward the mountains to the east.  

So the race course was closed until Thursday and everyone who was hoping to make a qualifying run on Day 1 was SOL.  The only day's chore that remained was drinking cold beverages at the hotel bar while discussing, with cold beverages in hand, what might be wrong with Bud's race car.

The drinks were great but we made no progress.  Shocking, eh?

Thursday morning brought perfect conditions for Joel's record run.  The winds had helped dry the still-wet-in-places salt, all the cars that made successful qualifying runs on Wednesday would race first and about half of those cars weren't ready to run when the course opened.

That put us near the front of the line.  We went through the same routine as the day before, pushed Joel off, met him six miles down the course, attached the car to the dolly and drove back to get the time slip -- we never heard any speeds on the radio --so we could (hopefully) drive straight to tech so the engine's bore and stroke could be measured.

When Joel released the clothespin and looked at his time slip provided by timing & scoring he knew another record was his.  The final, Thursday run was 206.662, faster than he'd gone on alcohol in August, for an average speed of 197.356 mph.



We took the car to tech, Tom and Joel removed the head and we all watched the SCTA reps confirm the engine's legality.  Then an entry was made in the car's logbook, Joel got a few more handshakes and attaboys and the Matrix Machine Special was the new, official V4F/BGS record holder.

And later that afternoon the heavens opened and the track had to close until Friday morning, when we would all be heading back home to Phoenix, our mission accomplished.

On the way home Tom Brawner asked me what I thought of my first visit to Bonneville.  I told him it far exceeded my expectations, not only because of the wide variety of cars and classes (everything from roadsters, lakesters, motorcycles and streamliners to a Buick straight-8 powered Jaguar sedan, a stone-stock appearing Mitsubishi Mighty Max pickup truck with a parachute mounted to its trailer hitch and an old Saab powered by a four-cylinder motorcycle engine) but mainly from how friendly and close all the competitors seemed to be.

One couldn't walk by a pit without someone saying hello, asking if you wanted a beer or soda pop, inquiring as to whether or not your car was running okay and if you needed anything.  Asking where you were from, is this your first time here, how do you like it, and especially, "If you think this is cool you've got to come back for SpeedWeeks."

Tom and Joel explained that's how it is when there's no money involved.  Everyone at Bonneville races for their name in a record book -- and nothing more.  Every racer is on a level playing field, limited only by his or her own resources, imagination and yes, funding too; but no one is under the influence of a sport that has sadly morphed into commerce, complete with all the negative mojo that sort of thing brings.

Racing at Bonneville is the farthest thing from spec racing there is.  And the closet thing to how racing was back in the early fifties. 

They also shared that their success was highly unusual.  Rarely does a team unload, run once, run again and then go home with a speed record.  They said they got lucky again, just like they did when the newly refurbished streamliner made its first speed runs in August 2009 and then again last month at SpeedWeeks 2010.

Remember the old cliche, "Luck is what happens when opportunity meets preparation?"  

That's the real story of my first visit to Bonneville.  I had the great opportunity to hook up with one of the most prepared race teams I've ever seen, competing in one of the friendliest, professional arenas I've ever had the pleasure to visit.  Nothing broke or failed on their car, they set another new record, we're already talking about what kind of challenge they want to meet next August and I am no longer a salt flats virgin.

Lucky me!

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