The 60th Anniversary of Speed Week promises to be one of the biggest ever.  As of June 12, there were a total of 485 pre entries. 

Speed Week Pre-Entries as of 6/12/08  355 Cars, 130 Bikes, Total: 485

Entry Count by State/Country: State Entries: California 194, Texas 45, Washington 34, Colorado 16, Utah 16, Arizona 15, Nevada 13, Oregon 13, Florida 9, Missouri 9, Idaho 8, Indiana 8, Montana 8, Illinois 7, Michigan 6, Virginia 6, Kansas 5, New Mexico 4, Wyoming 4, Georgia 3, Iowa 3, Kentucky 3, Connecticut 1, Maine 1, Mississippi 1, New York 1, North Carolina 1, New Zealand 11, Canada 9, Great, Britain 3, France 1        

Monday 8-18-08

Weather was hot.  http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/motorsports/4278559.html

The British Steam Car still hasn't arrived—folks at registration haven't even heard from the much-hyped team—but Bonneville Speed Week is underway after pre-race tech inspections. From a rubber-band-powered racer to a 200-mph ethanol ride—not to mention some vehicles pushing for anywhere over 400—the salt is getting hot after Day One.

08/18/08:   408 race vehicles inspected to date.  483 runs with 119 runs on Long Course, 148 runs on Short Course and 216 runs on Special Short Course.  64 vehicles have qualified for return runs on Tuesday morning.

Monday (8-18-08) Speeddemon ran at 334 MPH, a new record from our old one of 325. The car did not shift into 5th gear. It got stuck in 4th as the clutch got fried. We are going into impound for a record run Tuesday morning and hopefully we will have the shifting problem worked out. (Yes, we replaced the clutch).

Down Runs Long Course Vehicles

Down Runs Short and Special Short Course Vehicles

http://www.nishmotorsports.com/index.html  Nish Royal Purple 801 C.I. Big Block Engine 673 cubic inch Aries Big Block Chevy Engine.  We will not use the new 801 C.I. Engine for the shake down run during Speed week of 2008. We will use the Mule Engine which is a 598 Cubic Inch Big Block Aluminum Engine and we will use only about 10% Nitro Methane. We want to make sure everything is working well and save the 598 CI Engine for a spare if we need it at our World Record attempt during the Land speed Challenge to be held September 22nd thru the 25th”.

Down Runs Long Course Vehicles

Down Runs Long Course Vehicles

Long Course Records

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Tuesday (8-19-08) we ran for record at 8:00 AM this morning. Our time was 352 (a new record, but the time will be averaged with yesterday's run (records require the average of two back to back runs). We are now in impound again waiting for another record run Wednesday morning. We have increased the boost and will have a higher speed run tomorrow as long as the Speed Demon engine stays happy.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

457 race vehicles inspected to date.  515 runs with 125 runs on Long Course, 164 runs on Short Course and 226 runs on Special Short Course.  11 Long Course cars and 11 Short Course cars set records.  Bike records are pending.  Two injured during Speed Week trials

© 2008 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved Published: August 21, 2008

Two people were injured in separate crashes on the Bonneville Salt Flats Wednesday.  About 3:15 p.m., Steve Pearson of Lander, Wyo., rolled his vehicle as he attempted to slow to a stop following a 180-mph run on the salt flats, said Bonneville Nationals spokeswoman Joann Carlson.  The vehicle was significantly damaged, but Pearson was conscious and coherent when he was flown to University Hospital, she said.  Shortly after that crash, a Pismo Beach, Calif., woman was injured when she wrecked her vehicle. The details of the crash were not immediately available, but Carlson said the woman suffered only minor injuries.  Speed Week time trials are being held on the Flats.

Down Runs Long Course Vehicles

Was the steam car out there?

2^nd Run 365 final speeds, 355 averages, car was not getting full boost again, a clamp came loose and they lost boost. They took the qualifying time and went into impound. They will run first thing in the morning hopefully for a new record

Ran for record at 8:00 AM this morning (8-19-08) time was 352 (new record-but the time will be averaged with yesterday run (records require the average of two back to back runs). They are now in impounding again waiting for another record run Wednesday morning. They have increased the boost and will have a higher speed run tomorrow as long as the Speed Demon engine stays happy.  

Thursday, August 21, 2007 

Utah forecast: Windy, hot The Salt Lake Tribune Updated: 08/21/2008 Expect gusty south winds today in western Utah with hot temperatures and low humidity. That combination will keep the fire danger on the high side. A weak cold front will push across northern Utah this evening and there is a slight chance of a storm near the Idaho border.

Return Runs Long Course Vehicles

Speed Demon didn’t get up to full speed due again to problems with the turbo pressure. George Poteet pulled of the course at around 200 MPH. Kenny solved the problem and they went back in line for another run. Then the winds came up and the racing was put on hold while everyone just stood patiently in line waiting for the wind to die down. Finally the officials shut the tract down. Everyone will keep their same position in line and they just start again tomorrow

5 drivers crash in 2 days at Bonneville Salt Flats

August 21st, 2008 @ 3:47pm video: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=4070161

It's Speed Week again at the Bonneville Salt Flats. The drivers have experienced a lot of speed and a lot of accidents as well. Five drivers have crashed in the past two days.  Hundreds of drivers from all over the world enter the race every year. And they do so knowing that there's always a chance of crashing. But that doesn't stop them from pushing it to the limit.  Pushing 300 miles an hour is not for the faint of heart, but for nearly 500 drivers, it's what they live for.  This morning, about 7:15, 44-year-old Keith Copeland of Tucson, Ariz. crashed his vehicle while trying to set a speed record. He was in the middle of a 3-mile timed run and lost control while he was cruising at a blistering 180 miles per hour, said event spokeswoman Joann Carlson.  Copeland's vehicle overturned in the crash and sustained significant damage. He was examined and transported to an area hospital at about 7:45 a.m., but Carlson did not know his condition.
Copeland qualified for today's round during a race yesterday during which he was clocked at more than 250 miles per hour.
 

Yesterday, two crashes injured a pair of drivers as well.   Steve Pearson, 52, of Lander, Wyo. crashed his racer around 3:15 p.m. Wednesday after he earlier had completed several runs reaching about 190 miles per hour.  Pearson's vehicle also overturned and sustained significant damage when he lost control. He was treated on site by paramedics and transported to the University of Utah Medical Center for observation. He was conscious and coherent during the transport, and Carlson said he broke both his hands but is otherwise doing OK.

And at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Gail Phillips of Pismo Beach, Calif., lost control of her vehicle and crashed.  Phillips is part of a racing team with her husband, Allen, and had just completed a timed run at 240 miles per hour. She was slowing to end the run and preparing to exit the course when she lost control and overturned the vehicle.  The car sustained only moderate damage and Phillips was able to exit on her own. She was conscious and coherent while being examined by paramedics and did not need to be hospitalized. She left the site with her husband. Racer Gail Phillips said, "I can't believe it either. I stepped out of the car myself and my exit speed was 242 miles per hour."  Phillips has raced since 1995, but yesterday she was in a new car. Everything was fine until she got to the end of the track.

"The car rolled on its side. I was aware of it rolling on its side, thinking this isn't too bad. It feels a little like I'm on a sled. Then everything went topsy-turvy, and other people have said it flipped up in the air," she said.  Phillips' was just one of five incidents in the past two days at Speed Week. Like the rest of the drivers, Phillips made it out with just bumps and bruises.  "It was scary in the sense you don't know what's going to happen next, but at the moment its like, everything's OK. I'm all right. That kept running through my head. But it was very fast. It's like, we're talking split-second fast," she said. Phillips drove herself into Salt Lake to get checked out. Today, she says she just has a headache.  "Really I'm just mad I didn't make it to the Bonneville 220 Mile an Hour Banquet last night. I'd rather have been there than at the emergency room," she said. 

The event is part of an annual "Speed Week," which attracts about 2,000 people to the salt flats and frequently sees vehicles cruise up to blistering speeds of more than 200 miles per hour. The week concludes Sunday.  Carlson said 500 people registered for the event this year. She added that several hundred cars race every day, and these types of accidents rarely occur.

So how are the drivers able to walk away?  Russ Eyras of Bonneville Nationals Inc. said, "We have lots of safety committees. We require lots of safety responses built into the car. We have a technical committee that goes through this area over here, which is our inspection area that rigorously inspects all the cars. Any time one attempts to go the speeds these cars are going, handling and control and conditions are always marginal because everybody's going absolutely as fast as they can. That's what we're here for."  Some of the drivers were transported to the hospital as a precaution. Organizers are prepared for these types of accidents. They have two ambulances and two fire safety crews on standby.

Drivers crash at Bonneville Salt Flats

 Last Update: 8/20 11:29 pm

Salt Flats wreckage (Bill Brussard, ABC 4 News)

BONNEVILLE SALT FLATS, Utah (ABC 4 News) - A man was injured during a speed run at the Bonneville Salt Flats on Wednesday. A female driver also crashed, but walked away unhurt after going more than 240 MPH.

Rescue crews say the 52-year-old Steve Pearson of Lander, Wyoming crashed going nearly 175 MPH. He was flown by helicopter to University of Utah Medical Center for observation, but rescue crews think he had only minor injuries. A short time later, 57-year-old Gale Phillips from Pismo Beach, California crashed the vehicle she was driving as well. Race track officials say Phillips was going more than 240 MPH when the vehicle she was driving left the course and rolled. She refused medical attention, and walked away without a scratch.

The crashes came during the annual Speed Week event at Bonneville. It was the third day of the event, and Wednesday's incidents were the first crashes of the week. Both crashes happened on the same 5-mile long course after the racers had finished their fist timed segments. Both crashes involved two Lakesters, specialized gas-powered cars used to set or break speed records. They are the fastest vehicles participating in Speed Week. After the crashes, the cars were impounded by race officials to checked for any mechanical failures.

More than 500 competitors will participate in the event, and already more than 80 records have been broken this week. One course official told ABC 4 News the condition of the salt on the course was most likely not a factor in the crashes, and added the salt was in its best condition of the past 31 years.

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