Back to the Salt
To say Speed Week 2016 was highly anticipated would be an understatement. For many land-speed racers, Speed Week at Bonneville is the only event of the year. Cars that had been prepped to run in 2014 sat in mothballs, waiting—along with their impatient drivers—for the chance to run wide open for miles at a time. There’s simply no other place on Earth like Bonneville, and when the SCTA announced Speed Week was on with both a short and long course, entries poured in.
The Bonneville pits were packed with near-record numbers of cars and motorcycles as the race week started, including many cars new to the salt. The racing surface wasn’t quite as good as it had been in previous years, but competitors tried all of their usual tricks to qualify and back up a record. After 2,200 runs during Speed Week, fewer than 70 car records were set, with slightly more motorcycle records going into the books.
The HOT ROD Trophy
Setting records is always a goal for the Speed Demon team, but Speed Demon driver George Poteet has admitted that what he really wanted was the HOT ROD trophy that goes to the fastest timed mile at Speed week. The trophy has been presented at every Speed Week since 1949 to some of the most storied names in land-speed racing like Mickey Thompson, Al Teague, and Alex Xydias. George Poteet already had his name on the trophy by winning the past five years Speed Week has run. At Speed Week 2016, the Speed Demon team faced several cars with the potential to run more than 400 mph, including Danny Thompson’s Challenger II, Treit & Davenport’s Target 550, and Team Vesco’s Turbinator.
The new Speed Demon team streamliner is based on the design of the Poteet & Main Speed Demon that driver George Poteet crashed at Bonneville in 2014 at more than 350 mph. George walked away from that crash and set out to build an improved version of the car with all of the knowledge the team had garnered along the way. Repositioned air inlets and exhaust pipes dramatically reduced drag and also made the vertical stabilizer more effective, as proven by wind tunnel testing at Darko Technologies. The hydraulic motors used to lift the car were relocated to a remote cart, lightweight lithium batteries were installed, and a switch to lighter plumbing helped shave around 800 pounds from the streamliner’s weight. Crewmembers said that much weight loss could even be felt in the push truck! An additional trick involved the engine mounting. The Speed Demon team usually arrives at Bonneville with three different twin-turbo small-block engines to compete in multiple classes. Their new streamliner mounts those engines using front and rear engine plates that serve as bulkheads for electronics, fuel, and coolant (the latter two connected with Jiffy-tite fasteners). A rail-mounted winch on the team’s trailer slides out to pick up and drop engine without them ever touching the salt.
Trends
We’re not sure where it started, but somewhere in the past several years the trend has been for Bonneville cars to not only be functional but also gorgeous. Rad Rides by Troy has at least some of the responsibility, as “Blowfish” was one of the earliest examples of cars that wouldn’t look out of place competing for the Ridler Award. Other cars in that category include Alan Johnson’s “Stupidbaker,” CAL Auto Creations’ 1934 Chevy, Richard Smith’s Barracuda, and both the Mariani Streamliner and roadster also by Rad Rides by Troy.
New Members of the SCTA 200-MPH Club
Erin Hunter Sills 200.540 1000 P-P
Neil McAlister 202.067 XXF/BFALT
Scott Mattern 211.064 H/BGMS
Mike Fitzmorris 223.050 H/BFMS
Kaylin Stewart 224.212 B/BMP
Aaron Hale 227.644 G/BGCC
Sean Romero 232.337 F/BGMR
Ed Renck 236.162 C/GR
Steve Moody 263.676 C/BGMR
Ed Umland 275.121 AA/BGCC
The Salt
Few motorsports events are so heavily dependent on the weather, at least those that are based on land. For a proper racing surface come Speed Week, the Bonneville Salt Flats need enough rain in the winter to flood completely. Not enough and the salt isn’t thick enough, too much rain too late and the racing surface won’t dry in time. Then there’s the hotly contested issue of mining, which many blame for the reduction in the salt’s thickness over the past decade. For more information on the condition of the salt and what is being done to protect it, visit SaveTheSalt.org.
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