Target 550 liner: Here it is.

[RayTheRat]

http://www.target550.com/news.html

Here's the lady fully dressed (she'll be on display on the salt flats during Speed Week):

[Otto Puzzell]

That looks quite fast!

[RayTheRat]

That looks quite fast!

We sure hope so.  The current FIA record is 415.896 mph for the flying mile.  It was set in 2008 by Tom Burkland (who only lives 50 miles from me and is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet), not on this run:



cuz one of the chutes didn't open and he missed becoming an "Interstate 80 highway statistic" by about a quarter mile.  There's a pretty thorough photo essay here:
http://www.chevyasylum.com/lsr/bsf2008/shootout/burkland/Welcome.html  The shot of the liner with the wheels in the air kinda "put me on the map" as an LSR photog.  Niche market, but at least I don't have to do weddings.   

But I digress.  The "mission statement" is included in the website's name: Target 550.  We want to add about 135 mph to the TOP OF THE EXISTING RECORD!  (FIA Category A, Group 1, Class 11 - Reciprocating engine, over 8 liter displacement, supercharged.) You could say that we're over 8 liter displacement...two 510 cubic inch Hemi V8 motors equates to 16.7 liters.     For sure, we want to be the first car that uses pistons and wheels to transmit power to the ground to set a record over 500 mph. 

I think I can announce this: Trial runs will be made at the Mojave Mile (Edwards Air Force Base, Mojave, California) at the end of this September.  If you happen to live on the left coast (or anywhere in the western US...it's 775 miles one way for me, but I'll be there...and maybe with my race car, if it survives World of Speed's 130 and 150 Club attempts) you can show up to see the anticipated test runs....not over 250 or so, but what Marlo Treit (team principal) wants to do will be almost as interesting as seeing a 500+ run. 

He wants Les Davenport, the driver, to run it up to somewhere over 120 mph, depress the clutch pedal, which will disengage both motors, nail the throttle to bring the motors up to the rev limiter and then "side-step" the clutch.  We'll be running treaded Dunlop tires so we should have a fair amount of grip on the concrete surface.  The idea is to see what breaks.  We hope nothing breaks, but with all the trouble people have had with driveshafts, differentials and other parts of the drivetrain (I wasn't the only one who had that sort of problem last year) he figures that if nothing breaks on a concrete surface with treaded tires, then it should be fine on the salt with LSR tires which have no tread.

It's gonna be a "torture test" of the highest level.  When I think about all that's gone into that car over the last 14 years of construction and the possibility of tearing it up like that....well, it makes me very nervous. 

Btw, one of the other cars/teams shooting for 500 mph is Poteet & Main's Speed Demon:


seen here on its fastest run ever, 426 mph, set last year at the "Top Speed Shootout."  George Poteet, the owner/driver of the car, made too quick a shift on the backup run and tore the splines off the transmission input shaft.  He was devastated, as was the entire crew, me included as their "hired gun" photographer.

It'll be interesting, to say the least.

RtR

[faksta]

The more I look, the more I'm becoming sure that those salt flats transporters should also get a decent attention.

The one that is seen in the above album, for one:



Great photos, Ray! I hope there will be many new from 2012 event?  

BTW, is it broadcasted anywhere online?

[RayTheRat]

The more I look, the more I'm becoming sure that those salt flats transporters should also get a decent attention.

The one that is seen in the above album, for one:



Great photos, Ray! I hope there will be many new from 2012 event?  

BTW, is it broadcasted anywhere online?

I work with www.landracing.com.  We provide "nearly-live" photos and commentary, using cell phone modems.  There's also a guy working with us who provides streaming audio thru some sort of magic that I don't completely understand.

The next meet is BUB (stands for Big Ugly Bastard, the name Denis Manning, the event promoter gave himself), a motorcycle-only meet which starts tomorrow, 08/25/2012.  Here's the link to that portion of the website:
http://www.landracing.com/forum/index.php/board,8.0.html

I won't be there...too much stuff to do to get my race car and trailer in shape for the class I'm gonna run in (150 club...159.999 maximum speed.)  What a thrash we're going thru.  We're installing a winch on the trailer to avoid problems when trying to drive the car on, rather than pulling it.  The "drive-on" method has caused us no end of trouble with the ramps, so we're gonna do it a different way.  (see photo)

The event following BUB is the one I'll race at, called "World of Speed."  Kind of a cheesy name, but it's a good meet.  Much more laid-back than Speed Week.  It runs from September 8-11...then a 2-day break (probably just about long enough to come home and wash my clothes, then head back to the salt.  Thank goodness that it's only a 2-hour drive for me. 

The next event is the Top Speed Shootout. September 19-19.  I'll also be doing photo and commentary coverage on that one.  This one should see some VERY high speeds.  One streamliner is bound and determined to get a record of over 450 mph.  He made 1 462 mph pass at The Shootout last year, but, as has been his misfortune for the last 2 years, something broke in the drive train as he was making his return run for the FIA record.  Also running (I think) will be Sam Wheeler with his Easy-Hook motorcycle streamliner, shooting for a 400 mph record.  On 2 frikkin wheels!  Two years ago, the Ack Attack bike liner bumped the record up to 387mph and had an trap exit speed of 394.  Fastest pass on 2 wheels ever.  I really enjoy this meet, even if I just drive from one end of the course to the other and do the "hurry up and wait" thing for a week. 

The urls for BUB, WoS and the Shootout are:
http://www.landracing.com/forum/index.php/board,57.0.html
http://www.landracing.com/forum/index.php/topic,11702.0.html and
http://www.landracing.com/forum/index.php/topic,11681.0.html  Right now that one's in "Coming Events" but I think it'll move to the "Bonneville General Chat" section. 

I'd like to invite any and all to visit the LandRacing site which is based on the Simple Machines forum software, just like this one.  You'll feel right at home.   

g'nite,

RtR

[RayTheRat]

I forgot to mention that the Target 550 Car Carrier is a work of art in itself.  There's a section of the photo gallery that covers it:
http://www.target550.com/gallery/06_car%20carrier/index.html

RtR

[RayTheRat]

A followup on my mention of the BUB motorcycle meet on the salt flats.  They're in a "rain hold."  Bummer.