MONDAY REPORT:
THE CAR ISN'T SHIFTING INTO HIGH GEAR TOO EASY. JOHNSTON MISSED GETTING UP TO SPEED FOR HIS LICENSE ON HIS FIRST TRY BECAUSE OF THAT PROBLEM. THEY PUSHED OFF JERRY CARBONE IN HIGH GEAR AND WHEN HE HIT AROUND 140 MPH THE CAR DID TWO 360 DEGREE SPINS. THEY ARE TAKING THE WEIGHT OUT OF THE REAR OF THE CAR AND WILL TRY TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO PLACE SOME IN THE FRONT END.
TUESDAY UPDATE:
THEY HAD A BETTER DAY OF RACING AND GOT UP TO 174.8 WHICH IS JUST 2 MPH OFF THE RECORD!
WEDNESDAY UPDATE:
ELECTRICAL AND FUEL PROBLEMS ALL DAY.
THURSDAY UPDATE:
THE LAST DANCE ON THE SALT FLATS IS OVER. THE ENGINE BUILDER THINKS A CAM BEARING IS GOING IN THE MOTOR AS THE CAR SLOWED DOWN ON THE LAST RUN EVEN THOUGH BILL WENDT AVERAGED 181 MPH. IF BILL COULD HAVE MADE TWO MORE RUNS THEY WOULD HAVE HAD THE RECORD.
FINAL REPORT:
from racers, Dave Johnston, Bill Wendt and Jerry Carbone: We all got our license runs but the Offy got tight when we were ready to make our record runs so we made the decision to save it rather than chance any more damage. Bill made a pass up to 181 mph, 5400 RPM against the 176 mph record but did not count because it was on a licensing run. He let off the gas so as not to exceed the 175 mph max on his run. The engine was pulling strong and should go to 210 mph once we get it fixed.
The current record is held by the Latin-Gillette racing team who probably holds more Bonneville records than anybody. It took them 10 years to beat the previous record holder. They finally got it in 2008. We had a lot of people cheering for us, the underdog, and they knew we had the equipment to blow that record away, however, Bonneville eats rookies for lunch and it wasn't to be on our first time on the salt.
So, we all decided to fold our tents and return to Miami to regroup. Bummer it is only once a year, except for the World Finals Oct 3rd, which won't give us enough time to make all the record runs we want to.
Bonneville is so exciting and certainly overwhelming. As an example, it is 10 miles from the finish line to the pits... The wait in line averages about two hours. Then if it doesn't start or a spin out, it takes hours to get back to the start line. They are extremely safety minded and prior to start the starter double checks everything to make sure all is well.