Bonneville Speedweek

hi my name is Chi Mikaelson welcome to life in the fast lane we are at Wendover Utah and we're actually out in the Bonneville Salt Flats for over 50 years they've been racers have come out here from all over the world to set land speed records this is no different we have over 300 cars and motorcycles out here there'll be motorcycles running over 200 miles an hour cars running over 300 miles an hour if you have a need for speed you enjoy this show sit back and watch life in the fast lane hi I'm Steve DiMartino from Lexington Kentucky we built this brand new car we started out in November and went to the junkyard and bought a Honda s2000 package with the transmission the computer the ignition switch the gas tank just everything we would need including the wiring harness they disassembled everything nice for us we bought a book and figured out that this was going to be the engine for this G gas lakester we started out by building the tubes the same shape as the tank on a big table and then laid him in there and put two bars down on the bottom and started adding the shape of the tank the skeleton of the frame then we've set the engine and and me in there to figure out where they would have to go and we talked to Joe tinned me and got a quick change rear or winters small one and Dan made a driveshaft out of the original driveshaft and just a regular u joint type of coupling we had a few things go wrong during the building we changed front ends twice and actually added four inches to the car at one time right towards the end and this is our first trip here and we've made I guess six passes now and we're on the long course going for the 200 mile an hour Club and what's your top speed right now 184 184 we still got a thousand rpms to go and I'm at a stock motor stock motor anyway what's the way to this vehicle about 1600 with me in it we wanted it heavier but we couldn't get the weight anywhere and I notice I used an aircraft type wing tank yeah it's filming b57 kambera well I'll tell you what I've been wandering around this is it's a pretty cool looking car you get though the workmanship is great thanks we had a good team all right good luck thank you yeah my name is Ron Jolliffe I live in Hailey Idaho and I've been racing cars one type or another for forty five years since I was 15 and we're racing this parts of a Street Roadster double H Street register here at Bonneville and we hold the record in the double-a Street register class of 238 0.568 miles per hour and we're gonna go faster than that at about a half hour it's a pretty cool looking I ride that's my favorite one yeah I'll be cubic digit that 503 and what's the weight car weighs 4,000 pounds with me in it and it's got about 800 pounds of LED ballast a real heavy frame help get some traction I see that we're getting pushed up here thank you sir thank you hi my name is Randy Travis my father's Jim Travis we acquired this car in 99 this car was built by Bill Burke in 1960 and a Ford Falcon 6-cylinder built by Bill strap and went the 205 mile an hour I got bill Burke in the club Bill's truck took his motor Mickey Thompson put his motor in with a Pontiac Tempest four-cylinder bill Burke went 260 miles an hour in 1961 bill sold the car to Mickey Mickey change the fiberglass body to aluminum body and the car has to run in 30 years we acquired the car from Danny Thompson in 1999 my dad stretched the frame to acquire to accommodate a couple different motors right now we're running an ardent flathead in 99 we had a Jimmy 6-cylinder in the car first run went 225 and then it backed that record up with a 270 217 miles per hour now we've got Danny Thompson driving the car Danny Thompson came in here on Saturday chasing a record by the redhead at 220 mile an hour Danny went 227 miles an hour he came back on Sunday Danny went 240 mile an hour so we got Danny Thompson in the club the 20 mile an hour Club at 234 mile an hour and then for the last two days I've taken four runs I've managed to get four licenses I now have my a license at 200 mile an hour I'm gonna send the car back to Danny he's gonna see if we can go faster than we did on Sunday and I'll come back on next year on gasoline and try to go for a 215 record a warrior this car has been around and you know I've been reading Hot Rod Magazine for many many years and they all bring back memories every single one of them yeah there's a lot of people out here in the salt that remember this car from 1960 oh yeah come back and they asked he's SEO pumpkin seed the pumpkin seed was a nickname it had back then and so when you tell somebody the pumpkin seed they recognized the name they remember the car from when they they were here in the car ran and people are just really excited about it they like this car a little bit better because we've stretched it two and a half feet in the middle and they seem to think it's got a little sleeker to look to it this nice aluminum body that Mickey had made by Willy Sutton at a Hollywood it's a beautiful shape and the car handles beautifully it runs straight smooth and with less wind resistance it should go fast well we're gonna be watching this run good luck hey great job thank you very much alright we got a basket Jerry not follow me how many years you've got coming out here ad well I came in the early days for about fifteen or twenty years and that stopped for almost 20 years and everything has changed a lot now I'm surprised that all the big new hotels and I couldn't believe it but anyway it is good to be here again and the salt is really wonderful never gonna be a day where you go jumping another one of those cars out here no I I know I I'm a little afraid of that now I had the measles when I was a kid yeah I was shut in for a week or two yeah and I thought boy I'll never want to drive any circle track car where you turn over so I did try a little bit straightaway stuff with the lakes and but made sure it was pretty safe because I didn't I can't take that Hospital at the quarter ain't gonna do it ain't gonna do it do 45 maybe 86 stopped at the right place yes ma'am thank you good job thank you in the 5th models through the greeting fifth mile was to forty four point six to nine the terminal speed was 250 1.0 I'll take that's all I wanted to do was a crack the 250 mile an hour the aren't put the canopy in the back they didn't get in and I'll get in the car nice rond thank you great run faster would have been better is there such a thing as too fast though oh yeah that goes get carbon 760 yeah we are out there those guys are running man yeah that's that's pretty impressive there has to be a good right that's a good right you know we need to put one set lower gear and then it won't quite pull info it was full it works if we put a set 14 so 14 it probably meant we have to figure 1/2 Don figure out the percentage change but it was turning like 5,300 going through the 5 you know where we could be pulling another thousand rpm and we pick up I don't know what it didn't take up another 20 mile-an-hour thing if we could get it up there what hi my name is Trisha Kistner and I'm here at the Bonneville Salt Flats with my three 55 lakester it's a a engine blown gas and today I just went three hundred nine point nine two zero miles per hour on the exit the car and the team are based in Fairmont West Virginia with the exception of two people from the San Jose area and I'm from Morgantown West Virginia I met Joe long who is the owner of the car I met him through is our Institute for scientific research and about a year and a half ago he asked me if I would like to drive his car so I got the I got to come out here and I flew out with his wife Suzanne and here we are the cockpit of the car it's powered by a 493 cubic inch Pontiac it runs one blown gas it weighs 30 up somewhere around 3,500 pounds and what is it feel that called 300 miles an hour and that's what we want to know it's extremely exhilarating Goods happen real quick yeah do you feel like the wheels are slipping at all I didn't really notice much of much slipping at all this time the wing back here really it plants the rear and the past you go it will plant the rear end a little bit further down so it's a very very stable car and the salt looks really a good condition interview yes this is a this was the best the best run so far hey congratulations thank you absolutely beautiful car you got here tell us a little bit about it we started on in February 11th and we finished it last Friday so 29 Ford all steel roadster has a 304 inch small block Chevrolet motor in it Doug Nance 5-speed and so far we've done 168 miles an hour and this is the drive here right yeah and your name is my name is Dominic Granada and how many years you've been coming out here um this is my second year driving up here so here in kind of a newbie out here yeah you can say that and so you have the need for speed and you're getting it today yeah I'm getting my fill today I'd like to go a little faster I think the car has the another human happens all right good luck and over here we gotta Bob well I've got a sample hold diver but without on here's you've been coming out here for this my 49th year 49 years out here I did all the body that's what I do I don't learn about the engines with the bodywork and also for fun it's a masterpiece the body if that's for sure I worked on Charlie mark nice car bones a scar on Berkeley and Barbara years and years ago I just enjoy my life up here this is your life almost like it's a disease I'll tell you know it's not Cary Illinois Midwest okay we're about 400 miles south via so what are you doing out here trying to run 153 miles an hour in a street rat Arden engine car yeah they're getting rare at there this is only my second year out here we blew an engine last year and we rebuilt it and we're back out of it again I've been coming out about 10 years and years mmm so you got the bog I got the bug got the boat okay this car was always about 1950 it's running a 325 of kuririn nine inch we're running a c4 modified transmission and putting out about 325 horsepower and it's aspirated it's not a carburetor yeah you know I like the sound of artists there's no sound like an ardent motor it's just got a weird sound a different a sound yep totally unique totally unique all right okay and good luck out there thanks a lot nice talking here okay this is buddy here at Speed Week and bonnibel this is the only place to be in August in the US has come to Bonneville Speed Week we've broken about 70 some world records so far this meet we're averaging about a hundred and fifty cars per day on the seven mile course a hundred and ninety per day on the short mile course we've got teams that have come from seven different countries that come here some for the first time everyone that comes here from Europe or Australia New Zealand Japan they're fascinated with what the US has here this is a national treasure we have over 420 entries this year from all over North America far away is Maine the South the Northwest everybody comes upon us a tremendous sport it takes a hundred and fifty volunteers to put this on and this team of a hundred and fifty work absolutely in harmony with each other we couldn't put it on without their cooperation effort of these people that's why it is so successful so we encourage anybody to come to Bonneville at least once in your life you come see this national treasure in Ralph Lindy tuccio New Mexico the car is of f100 belly tank from the Vietnam Super Saver tank and the motors is the x9 Kawasaki mm the x9 and was shut run 230 if we can get it to work record it to 21 we should go and what's the wheelbase at this time 134 and what is a way south and Pat will 10 10 20 maybe to 30 dry dry wait up 30 well I'll tell you what it's UD that's why I like it yeah yeah it's a great look at peace thank you any ideas how you gonna panic yet or satin black black and have you come up with a name with it yet no no name no it might become a dangler number seven point five or so my old drag-racing stuff were all danglers anglers ah yeah we'd ever know why but that's what they were well I tell you what you guys need like a carry good luck thank you very much around yeah 303 miles on my name is Bill Ivar I'm with dead stuck this this car we've been coming out here for five years this year we put a Donovan in it got the iron heads he's got a stroker crank 425 cubic inches last year we set the record at 241 and chained or 240 and change we went to 41 yesterday a little more nitro out we're gonna try and go faster today right there about 36 3,600 I oughta Ballas dinner right while we're gonna be showing this show up in Minneapolis I understand you from that area yeah Roosevelt almost ice there junior high Roosevelt High School try to remember the Minnesota drive Association and so you've been having fun four years oh yeah and are you live out to California now or no I'm at the Fort Worth Texas Texas yeah Keller well good luck he will watch for the run okay thank you good to see you again Steve Nico from Metro to Park New Jersey I'm out here for the first time at Bonneville Salt Flats I'm on a 2002 SDI busa with a 600 horsepower turbocharger and I set the record at 236 into the two Club and I just made a long way past 250 at the first mile marker and lightning strikes and put out the last time in lights and we ran out of fuel so we have a lot left in it it's a little scary little skin shaky it goes through like this looks like snow I went to the 3rd between a third and a fourth it's like snow out there really Wow hey congratulations and wondering a heck of a run we'll be watching for you tomorrow thank you street fighters say on the long horse is a license we're out the Bonneville Salt Flats with my good friend Jim Dee's I guess we've had friends about 30 years Jim makes the best parachute safety equipment out there and I guess he's a pioneer in it right well once you start building parachute Jim 1948 1948 well that's a long time when the nylon first came on the market they made a coaster warrior that would cut it and heat seal at the same time and sear it so it stopped rattling it would do the job well what about the Bonneville how many years have been coming to vada though since 1958 1958 I remember with Mickey Thompson originally we put a parachute the first parachute on about 1955 on a little the car was going 104 he was having trouble stopping and his dad works Lockheed if we were making the parachutes ago I'm the old fighter planes in yeah the old original fighter planes and the is densive once you put parachute on and the kid called up the place and they gave I was a project engineer at the time and they gave me the phone call because I do a little bit about racing and so and I worked out that I wound up taking damage shoot fix it up for everyone was beyond economical repair and I've repaired at night and they gave it to the kid the first time when we put it on the back the shoot came out hooked on the blue car and so I wore got some cardboard and I had some tape with my car we covered up the top of the quick bar and the next minute were perfect and from that on hanging out the kids wound up running out their number of times one day Mickey Thompson was there and he came audition you know scouting it was a weekend that he wasn't running at the Lions and Vicky was running Lions dragstrip at the time and he came out he said we have to have a have to have bring this guy to Lions I want you to bring your cart and demonstrate the shooting there's a sub knew they hadn't had a plan so they found me again and brought me out made me come with him and I came out there and I Vicky grabbed me and I spent arrested in his kettle a yeah run up down the track every time it was an accident or a flight to blow up or something like that we went to see ya while you're building and building parachutes ever since that day and we come out here and just about every other car is either got your fire suits on they've got the fire suit the drivers wear the car's got their parachutes in our firm phones and seniors and yeah I'll tell you what this guy is a real pioneer he saved a lot of lives for the years and tell you these racers they really ought to my friend Jim Dee's we've been coming out here every year every year that was it ring yeah let's it rains hey good luck Jim thanks a lot you've been thank you by martini push-truck another way on that drug toasting the one mile marker 55-inch seventy two point six eighty five actually qualified again yesterday on that record but had some problems with the drunken party I'd like to see that fish truck make a run Sunday it sounds pretty healthy too see where he's going when he's lost and all that smoke from the race truck and he goes under way to 72 it's the record he's down for nail trying to want feedback for a qualifying run interesting you see the black smoke and the white salt spray to find contrast out there is fantastic for any quarter-mile speed 197 777 first ball to another five nine seven not right now after blocking the track done from thousands of Californians assault fight boy I'm running in the other is modified category 284 coming in to track him down Jerry dantana seven feet taller are the drivers I know Steve drove it over on the short course made building in the front they qualified to run the long course so now they can do it No Mirada California bouncer by Union 76 it's a 1956 Chrysler Hemi for 20 running in a 50 Studebaker champion glasses gasps altered bachelors have sparked in his class well to Griffin was driving bachelor Martha back 10 1994 37.8 okay I tell you what we got Louisiana together and Jim Dee's thumb all right guys I know you're both club well let's say young timers old timers I don't know but you've been out here for a long time wait go back sled 1942 six lines when I started business making all the equipment from the guys who were up the lakes in fact I built original Jamie Sanford as ETA I dialed my shop in Jefferson Boulevard and I you were in a Studebaker yeah I read the suit back back in 1950 and run 247 with a Studebaker yeah 247 model with a surveyor and you ran came around right that's right the one for the red breaking oh yeah hell brad wren's split over we've had a we've had a return right of way above that but there were ran broke in Cagle drove it how hard were you when you run well we know he wasn't cheating oh you could squeeze a boy is it brother chewing him on a run but I didn't but I didn't come back come back so I never got the club but my car got in the club and ice always said nifty the children on our club should put the curlers in the club - I agree now here I got my car runs over 200 many times but I'm down in the club and that right yeah I don't think that's right either and like that's right that's way it should be wheels he's won the first wheel manufacturers yeah I made it called the answers sprint will it was the most famous wheel for 17 years a lot of these guys if they're still running you know will I made rod I made the first forged steel rod and I mean to forge pistons and dickarus piston today is my own company oh yes and in Miller rods which is awesome held company so I had a lot of different companies out here that done that I've been back prior to that before the war when I was before the war I used to do had a sheet chapel it's do a lot of Rossini for all the guys used to come over around which goes Street wasn't call Street drag race yes and I Bridge the only the first bag him Saugus drive ship that was my I owned it oh I didn't know that either Saugus drag was Mike in fact the Prideaux guerre black dog car was all for my car one time yeah I didn't know that either yeah that was my car one time and me and ed peach we rerun we surround her all the time Edie pink name we were team for 110 years ed pink me and he was a really good guy he's very precise a lot of good work so we had a lot of fun races I cannot go they had to do it over I do it all weekend I'll tell you what between Jim and you there's about a hundred years of Salt Flats experience out here even more than that yeah I've been a business for 50 years 50 years 50 years well I'll tell you what you know you're a big part of this drag racing and the Southwest racing and you know you've given a lot out here too as far as safety and even wheels and it's incredible well you two have done well we I think Jim and myself as really joy to business yes what part of my life let's put that way and we we meet a lot of good friends yeah we have any place we go in the world we got good friends just unbelievable everybody is so friendly out here oh yeah alright hey good luck guys thank you very much

Channel: Ky Michaelson -Rocketman Enterprise

Views: 23,759

Rating: 4.8198199 out of 5

Keywords: Bonneville Speed Week, Bonneville Salt Flats (Location), racing, Auto Racing (Sport), Utah (US State)

Id: WBc_v3R3rv4

Length: 43min 20sec (2600 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 21 2015