SOCIETY OF LAND SPEED RACING HISTORIANS
NEWSLETTER - , 2008
Editor: Richard Parks [email protected]
President's Corner: By Jim Miller (1-818-846-5139)

Click On All Images For Larger View

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

President's Corner: By Jim Miller (1-818-846-5139)
  Last Saturday I went over to a store called Autobooks in Burbank. They were honoring an 81-year old gentleman by the name of Robert Wenz. Seems Bob was one of zillions of guys after WWII that indulged his car bug and even served some time on the alkali flats of Southern California. Like many before and after, he had other go fast interests to feed and followed them just like Hallock, Daigh, Hill, Clark, Gulstrand, Meyer, Brown, Ramos...the list goes on forever. At the time Bob was a member of the Low Flyers, one of the best of the post war clubs and still has fond memories of his time at the lakes and some great stories. After leaving and all pumped up, I drove a couple of miles to another kind of automotive book store. This one is run by Fred Chaparro and he sells old stuff. He is also a real racer and used to drive roundy-round cars on dirt. If you think you've got stories, you've never met Fred. As usual I always find something interesting in his shop and this time was no exception. My find for the day was a Popular Mechanics Auto Racing Annual from 1953. Inside were at least 30 pages of records from the AAA, so most everything talked about below will be up to the end of 1952.
  If we turn back the clock before the end of 1955 the AAA was the recognized body for sanctioning car records set in the United States and there are hundreds of them. It's interesting to note that there is a whole section on Track records. These are broken down to how long the track is and covers everything from laps to miles. Way too complicated to get into now, although we can't dismis them if you look at some of the distance records set on them. There is a little section on World record against time. Everything up to 48 hours just happened to be set at Bonneville and everything past that up to seven days was set at Montlhery, a track just outside Paris, France. If you're a real speed record junkie get the book titled "Montlhery," by William Boddy that covers track records there from 1924 to about 1960. It's facinating reading. Looking through the National Record section, it is best to divide and conquer. There are six classes starting with the Unlimited Class. Then there are the A, B, C, D, and F Classes that parallel International Records and are defined by displacement limits.
  It is also interesting to look at where the records were broken and when. The great majority were set at Bonneville but some of the venues may surprise you so let's look at them. Indy is a natural but who would think of a 10,000 mile record being set there in 1949 by a little Austin A90 at 71.86 mph. Another natural is Daytona/Oramond Beach. The standing start kilo record was set there at 61.61 mph in of all things an
Essex way back in 1933 by Chet Miller. Even stranger is the one mile standing start record of 92.71 mph set in 1919 by Ralph De Palma, in of all things, a Packard. That's quite a bit different than Cobb's flying kilo of 393 mph and his flying mile at 394 mph set in '47. Another venue was Atlantic City. Say What! There was a board track there back in 1928 when a Studebaker "President" set the 13 through 19 day records at around 68 mph. Frank Loockhart also set a 10 mile record there at 135.662 mph in 1930. Then comes hallowed Muroc. My Grandfather's record for the standing start kilo of 59.40 mph is listed as is Harry Hartz and Fred Frame's "Catfish" that set eight different records in the mid 140 mph range back in '33.
  Two observations come from the above. All of the drivers that set National Records were professional racers and most came from the ranks of Indy or track drivers. How many of you know that Ab Jenkins entered a car at Indy and that his son Marv worked for Lew Welch and drove the Novi at Indy in practice. It's also strange that in 1952 records were still on the books dating back to 1919. Now we get to the exception. In September, 1952 with the help of Wally Parks and the NHRA, hot rodders made inroads into the professional land speed business when George Hill stepped up with the City of Burbank streamliner powered by everybody's favorite, a modified Merc flattie, and proceded to cover a mile in 15.66575 seconds or 229.774 mph to grab a record. That was the first signal to the world that the back yard mechanic had arrived. In the last story I included a picture of two gents shaking hands that was taken in 1928 at Daytona Beach. These guys are both legends. The fellow on the left is none other than Frank Lockhart, Boy Wonder, who was on top of the world until he went out and crashed to his death in the Stutz Blackhawk. Some reports had him at around 225 mph before a tire let go. On the right is then Captain Malcolm Campbell who went out and set the World Land speed Record at 206.95 mph.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Editorial: I recently received the following email and it makes an excellent topic for discussion.
   "I have noticed that more and more info on OTHER forms of racing are being listed in the land speed racing newsletter. I am not happy about this. LSR is the least covered sport and I thought this group would remain true to its roots and edit out the non LSR items. I have respect for the other racing segments, but don't want to be forced to wade through other forms of motorsports minutiae to read about LSR. If you must keep sending the stuff, at least be thoughtful and group it so readers can focus on what interests them most. If this keeps up and the focus broadens, then I think the name of the group ought to be changed." Name withheld by editor
   I admit that I am a self-taught editor, having put together about 6 or 7 emailed newsletters on various topics over the last six years. Some of the newsletters remained small and came out at irregular times. Other newsletters had a specific purpose and a deadline date that hardly ever varied. For the racing newsletters I tried to keep to a Wednesday deadline, because the cruises, shows and races were usually on the weekend. But as my email address lists went up over 4000 names, it began to be difficult to keep to that time frame, since all that I can send out are about 400 per day. Another problem that occurs is "how do we find news and how do we present it." Since there is no paid staff, no income and no budget, it is a voluntary effort on behalf of our membership, which isn't a real membership at all. This "print whatever comes in that week," is exciting, because we never know what we will find out, but it's also unprofessional, for valuable news may not be discovered and perhaps lost forever. In defense of Jim Miller and myself, though we don't really need a defense, it can be argued that our group is new and growing and we haven't really found out exactly what it is that we are or want to achieve yet.
   That brings up the issue, just what are we and who are we and what is it that we want to achieve. Jim and I had talked for some time about what happens to valuable artifacts and how devastating it can be to see such historical artifacts lost through neglect or other reasons. Our concern was in how do we conserve, save and make available the knowledge that we have accumulated over the years and we came up with the idea of a group, or that's what I made Miller believe. Now our concern was hot rodding and land speed time trials, which we often erroneously call 'racing.' We opted not to include drag racing, which is a legitimate form of land speed racing, only on a more shortened track. We were aware that land speed racing and drag racing sometimes share a rancorous seat at the table, but that is not why we separated out the two sports. Drag racing is so large and so well documented and followed that we felt that sport could carry on with its own legion of fans. Not that we couldn't learn more about it or study it as well, but that it wasn't necessary to focus on it. Hot rodding was another one of our focus topics, because it was from hot rodding, that inventive and creative idea that all automobiles arose and thus all racing forms evolved. Miller is one of those inquisitive minds that grasps it all and his passion sadly knows no limits, or as I jokingly kid him, allows him no life outside of car racing. That's why he's our president, at least until we have an election. Passion dictates who our leaders will be.
   Miller, who is a member of the Dry Lakes Hall of Fame, in the Historian category, believes that straight line racing is the oldest of the sports using automobiles for racing. Actually, I put a lot of words in his mouth, but on this subject we agree. If only because the first automobiles had to be tested and that meant for a short distance and straight roads were more available in the 19th century, when oval tracks had not even been thought of yet. Straight line or land speed time trials and racing have to be older than any other form or equal to road racing, or using a course on an established road. So hot rodding, or tinkering with the mechanics, frame and body, and land speed trials have to be the original form and that is our interest. We could just as easily have said, straight line racing under power and taken the sport back to the second millenium BC when the chariot was invented. We chose to specify the internal combustion engine, although steam engines would have been okay with us as well. In the beginning, inventors dabbled in everything. They played around with batteries, steam cars, the gasoline internal piston driven vehicle and anything else that propelled a wheeled vehicle. This "in and out" approach lasted up to the 1960's, when specialization began to take hold, although some historians say that most of us are still involved in crossover motorsports. Drivers, mechanics, owners and crews did a little of everything, including flying and boat racing and they moved from oval track to road course to straightline racing.
   Even today we have new sports developing and they are attracting huge followings as the public changes their taste for the exotic. There are tractor pulls, snow, lawn mower, go-karting, motorcycle, speed bike, drag, road course, truck, off-road, rallies and even more exotic kinds of racing. I could simply say, "we're only going to put in articles and news about SCTA/BNI events," and that would be okay. But the crossover between all forms of racing make it very hard to do that, because eventually, just about everybody tries land speed racing. Take Andy Granatelli as an example of a man who became famous for his Indy cars and the legendary Novis at the Indy 500. Yet he raced and set records at Bonneville and he still has a love for land speed racing. My brother broke Andy's record in fact and was most irreverent in his discussion of it, until Jerry Kugel came along with that magnificently beautiful Firebird and buried David's record by 85mph. Danny Oakes made his living driving midget race cars and got his Indy ring as the best mechanic at the 500 in the '60's. Oakes also raced at Bonneville. At one time or another all the great oval track and road course racers tried their luck on the straight line courses at Bonneville, Daytona Beach or the dry lakes. 
   Another facet of our love for straightline racing is that it all didn't happen at Bonneville. We also have Pendine, Autobahn, Daytona, Lake Gairdner, Black Rock and other sites around the world. Associated with those courses are smaller tracks, roads and highways, some of which were legal and others which were highly illegal in nature. When we do biographies, the stories tell a broad picture, one in which land speed racing is only part of the picture. Photo collections may show Bonneville and El Mirage, but they also might have photos of track roadster, midget, champ car or stock car racing. The men and women involved in racing led interesting and varied lives and often straight line racing was only one of their hobbies and love. While it may be impossible for the editor of The Society of Land Speed Racing Historians Newsletter to limit the news and stories only to land speed racing, I can do a better job of categorizing the news and historical articles in such a way as to reflect the content better. But as long as Jim Miller and I continue to hold our present positions, it is likely that a bit of non-land speed racing news will occasionally find its way into the present newsletter. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just heard from Dan Warner that long time Bonneville and El Mirage racer Paul Stanley passed away yesterday. Member of the El Mirage 200 mph club, and for many years president of the Sidewinder car club.  God Speed Paul. From Glen Barrett
   Glen: Can anybody send me a bio on Paul? We try and do bios before we lose our friends so that we can leave a history of their life.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scott Gordon Parks and his wife Stacy, are the proud parents of a baby boy, Brock Richard Parks, born at 6 am, July 23, 2008, at Hoag Hospital, in Newport Beach, California. He weighed in at 9 pounds and 21 1/2 inches and mother and baby are doing well. Scott, the eldest grandson of Wally Parks (a founding member of the Road Runners car club), is also the son of the editor.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

17th annual California Hot Rod Reunion, presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California. The event will be held October 10-12, 2008 at Auto Club Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield, California. Bill Groak, PCGCambell, 310-224-4940, [email protected]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LandSpeed Louise sent in this website showing how drag racing is starting to take root in Poland. See http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/21/world/europe/21poland.html

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2008 Legends of Ascot Reunion Special Guest Parnelli Jones. Honorees: Chuck Hulse, Carl Alleman, Ned Spath, Billy Boat, Louie Senter, Don Basile, Brad Noffsinger, and the Lifetime Achievement Award - The Gardner Family. USAC/CRA Sprint Car Racing. Admission to the USAC/CRA Sprint Car Races at the PAS on Event Day are included with your Legends of Ascot Event Ticket. October 18, 2008 at Perris Auto Speedway. The Vintage Racecar Registration included with your Event admission includes a Special Gift. Vintage Racecar Display. $50 per person before September 1, 2008, $60 per person after that date. Gift Bag includes Event Program, Lapel Pin, Raffle Tickets, Decals and more! Tickets will be available at the Registration Desk on Event Day and WILL NOT be mailed. Please reserve your Tickets early! PLEASE NOTE: Paid Attendance to the Event entitles you to display your vintage midget, sprint, or champ racecar racecar.  Don Weaver

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Check Your Tires This is important! See http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897. Marilyn Lachman

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We do have an Associate Membership which is a non-SCTA membership. We maintain a list of addresses of Alumni that have contacted us or who we have contacted. They are encouraged and invited to participate in all Road Runners activities. I like your Emeritus idea. I think I will bring that up for discussion at our next meeting. Jerry Cornelison
Dear Jerry and readers: If you have a non-SCTA membership, that would encourage a lot of people to become part of land speed racing, who like myself, would like to help where we can, but do not have race cars or the ability to pull dry lakes duty.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks (to Jerry Cornelison) for the offers. In '86 I joined the Rod Riders and raced with them until '91. From '91 to 2003 I freelanced putting my motors in other club cars. Now I am partnered with Dave Martin and am a member of the Super Fours. Somehow I managed to keep my name in the records book from '87 to 2007 and am still racing. But please keep me informed of your activities and I would like to contact old friends if they are still around. Pat O'Brian and Bob McClure in particular. Any member of any club can call on me for help at 760-243-9626. Vic Enyart.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The question that I have is, do you know if the NHRA still have the listings of the charter membership? I was on that list. At that time I lived in Washington D.C. and was a member of the TIMERS of Riverdale, Md. I'm just curious if this list still exists. It would be neat if they could find out if any of those people still are in hot rodding. Paul Hamilton
Paul: You bring up a great question and the answer is that I don't know, but let's try and find out. If the original paper files were saved and not thrown away, the problem is to find out who out there has them. In the 1970's, the NHRA was transitioning from paper files to computer systems and it was rudimentary at best. I remember people in the tower trying to figure out how to use the first computers and asking others, "Does anyone know how to work these things." They were literally learning as they went. Today their system is fantastic and huge amounts of information is gathered, analyzed, stored and made available on line. But whether they took all the paper files from 1951 on and put it on computer storage disks is another question. My personal opinion is that they didn't, but since I don't know that for a fact, the first step is to contact the NHRA and find out. I talked to Bob Frey, the announcer, and he is compiling the lists of racers at every NHRA meet from the very beginning up to the present. It is a hobby of his and as people hear about his efforts, they are sharing programs and time sheets with him. This might only help you if you raced at a dragstrip from 1951 through the 1970's, but it's a start. Another person who you should talk to is Greg Sharp, who is the curator for the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, in Pomona, California. The phone number there is 909-622-2133. I talked to Greg and he said that the early paperwork is most likely gone, or at best, in the possession of someone who might have saved it. He also said that in the last months of 1951, in Hot Rod Magazine, there were lists by states of the Charter Members of the new Association. You might be able to find those early issues on-line or if you can't, then maybe you can buy one of those old copies at a swapmeet. I've seen them for sale at all the car shows, the Grand National Roadster Show, L.A. Roadster Show and the California Hot Rod Reunion. We also have the records that my father left to my brother and I and since it was my stepmother, Barbara L. Parks, who was the secretary and kept the records, we might find something. Those records should be available to us soon, but it will take some time to know what's there. My feeling is that an interested group of historians is needed to put the word out and see what individuals have kept over the years and ask to make copies of those old records and reconstruct the past. It's painstaking work and we can never be sure that all of the records have been found, recovered and saved for posterity. Don't forget the computer. Google NHRA, historical societies, drag racing, websites, your name and anything else you can think of. You might be surprised what has been kept and stored on the web. I'll pass the word along on www.landspeedracing.com, where I am the editor.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are new posts on the blog at www.goldenhawk.ca, (or click) http://goldenhawkproject.blogspot.com/. News Flash! It looks like the World finals meet in October will be as soon as we can be ready. As of 25 JULY 08, the website had 24,600 visits. Thanks for the support.
(The blog is not counted) Thank you for forwarding this to your friends! To add your comments or offer advices just click on the word comment on any posting and follow the instructions it is very easy. Regards, Randy Pierce
Randy: Glad to post your site and we will post anyone else's web or blog site if they wish us to.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steve Earle, founder of the Monterey Historic Automobile races will be honored by the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) on August 16, 2008. Gil Bouffard

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(In your newsletter you wrote) "of Ed Adams, Francis Luehm, Duke Hallock, George Wilson, Johnny Junkins, Dick Cannon and Harry Hess. We know almost nothing of these men besides, their names." Johnny Junkins: Only thing I remember about Junkins was that he and Tony Capana were good friends and in some form, business partners. When we were pretty young, in our teens (Early 50's), Dean Murray and I used to hang around Tony's shop (WilCap), on Avalon Blvd. in South LA. Johnny used to come in regularly to visit. Johnny was involved, I believe, to some extent as was Harry Duncan with the car Tony attempted to field in the 1958 Indy 500. That's the one that Dean and I were helping with until I got drafted into the army. Dean got to go with the group but the car didn't qualify. Jerry Unser was the driver that year and got killed, I think it was the next year, trying to qualify another car. Johnny was also involved with Tony or his Marmon V16 engine car that he ran back in the day. Most of Johnny's exploits were well before me, but I did know him from his visits to Tony's. Red Wilson was involved in the mix there, somewhere, also hence the name Wil (Wilson), Cap (Capana). Hell you probably already know all this stuff. Mike Waters
Mike: What I know comes from listening to guys like you who lived and worked with the land speed racers from the 1930's and later on. Have you written your biography of your life in racing, both cars and boats? If you haven't, check the newsletter for the guideline that we send out and use it to write your story, then send me your bio. I will work with you to refine and edit it. When you are satisfied, send as many captioned photos as you want and your story to me and I will add it to our archives at www.hotrodhotline.com and www.landspeedracing.com.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks much for all the kind words. Eric Rickman. Note Eric. It is last half of Frederic my Christened name. My mother didn't want me called Fred or Freddie.
Eric: Have you written your biography? If you haven't, here is the guideline that we have been sending people to assist them in writing their life's story. When you are done, send it to me and I will edit it. Also include at least 6 photographs with captions. The finished work will go to our historical project archives at www.hotrodhotline.com and www.landspeedracing.com.
Guideline for writing a biography:
a) Where did your family come from; your parents and grandparents and what did they do for a living?
b) Where were you born and where did you grow up? What elementary, junior high and high school did you attend?
c) Did you take any shop classes, while you were in school? Name your friends, especially those interested in racing.
d) Did you join any car clubs or work on or own a car, or a race car, or work as a crewman on a race car while in school?
e) What kind of jobs did you have as a young person while growing up? What kinds of hobbies and interests did you have?
f) What did you do after graduation? Did you join the military? Were you drafted? Did you fight in the war?
g) What kind of racing did you get involved in? Did you own a racecar, drive a racecar or work as a crewman?
h) Who were some of your friends that were involved in racing with you? Name and describe them.
i) Tell us about your family, your wife and children. Were they involved in racing?
j) What kind of work did you find after you left school? Was it racing related employment?
k) Are you retired from racing? What are you doing today?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Ralph Foster story is done, I just sent it in tonight. Roger Rohrdanz
Readers: Check out www.hotrodhotline.com Guest Columnists and see the stories and biographies that have been coming in. You are the authors of your own stories, I edit and review them and Roger Rohrdanz is the photographic and captioning consultant. Kay Kimes just brought in his biography and it is 120 pages long. We are getting some GREAT history here and it's all on the websites www.hotrodhotline.com or www.landspeedracing.com.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two new exhibit openings, including a tribute to NASCAR, and two Prolong Cruise Nights make the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, presented by Automobile Club of Southern California, the place to be in August. Here's a brief checklist of what's up in August:, -    New exhibit: NASCAR: A Salute to 60 Years of Racing opens August 6 and runs through March 1, 2009. Authorized by NASCAR, exhibit will feature racing memorabilia and photos, along with a selection of race cars, including one of the most famous, Dale Earnhardt's 1998 #3 Chevy Monte Carlo courtesy of Schroeder Racing Products. Prolong Cruise Night, August 6: The first of two Cruise Nights in August. Hundreds of the coolest hot rods around will fill the Fairplex parking lot for the family-fun event. Runs from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. New exhibit: Trophy Queens, a photo exhibit honoring the glamour girls of racing, runs August 27 through August 2009. Included in the dozens of rare shots of models presenting racing trophies from the '50s through the '70s are images of a 19-year-old Raquel Tejada, later to become Raquel Welch and Barbara Huffman, i.e., Barbara Eden star of the long-running "I Dream of Jeanie TV show." Also highlighted is the most famous trophy queen of all, Linda Vaughn, known as the "First Lady of Motorsports." Prolong Cruise Night, August 27: Second Cruise Nights of the month. Special highlight here is that Pink's, the icon Hollywood hot dog stand, will be selling its famous dogs during the event. Pink's will also be at the November 5th Cruise Night. Runs from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Other upcoming events at the Museum include this special event: Indian Motorcycle Day, honoring the 100th anniversary of Harley-Davidson racing, October 25, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Presented by Duke Video USA and Coker Tire this annual event features scores of vintage motorcycles, especially Indians. Plus, Sam Wheeler, owner/driver of the 355-mph E-Z-Hook motorcycle, will host a special seminar. Attendance free to those who bring a pre-1965 motorcycle. New exhibit: The 75th Anniversary of the Ford Model 40 goes from December 3rd to spring 2009. Exhibit, sponsored by Steve's Auto Restorations, highlights one of the most popular hot rod platforms around, the 1933-'34 Ford. Among the cars in the exhibit will be three of the most famous: the Billy F Gibbons' ZZ Top Eliminator, the Pierson Brother's Coupe and the Pete & Jake's California Kid. Also on display will be the Super Bell Coupe, Big Al and the Mooneyham & Sharp 554 car courtesy of the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing. Currently on display at the Parks Museum: "A Tribute to American Ingenuity, "honoring the 60th anniversary of Honest Charley Speed Shop as well as the 50th anniversary of Coker Tire through November 16th. Celebrating 60 Years of Hot Rod Magazine: through October 2008.  Bakersfield: A Salute to the March Meet - 50 years of Racing: through August 2008. Bill Groak

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Celebrating its 10th anniversary and named for the founder of the National Hot Rod Association, the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California houses the very roots of hot rodding. Scores of famous vehicles spanning American motorsports history are on display, including winning cars representing 50 years of drag racing, dry lakes and salt-flat racers, oval track challengers and exhibits describing their colorful backgrounds. The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., PST. Current NHRA members are admitted free and Auto Club members enjoy a $2 discount. Admission for non-members is $7 for adults, $5 for seniors 60 and older, $5 for juniors six through 15, and free for children under the age of five. The Museum is also available for special group tours. The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum is located at Fairplex Gate 1, 1101 W. McKinley Ave. in Pomona. For further information on special exhibits, museum events or directions, call 909/622-2133 or http://museum.nhra.com. Bill Groak

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't know if you are aware but, landracing.com has not printed an updated newsletter since #37. Dan Warner
Dan: I just checked on www.landspeedracing.com and all 69 issues are there. Perhaps you didn't receive your emailed version and if that's the case then go to www.landspeedracing.com and sign in again. Also, www.landracing.com is a different website, a very good one, but it is owned by another party and is not affiliated with www.landspeedracing.com or www.hotrodhotline.com. Whenever any of our readers does not receive their weekly copy of the emailed version, they should go to the website and read it on-line. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maxton, North Carolina
  Laurinburg/Maxton Army Airbase was built in 1942 as a training base for gliders. The plan then was to silently send troops past enemy lines during the invasion at Normandy. Tucked away in the Carolina pines was an isolated location perfect for such training during World War II.
There are three original runways at Maxton (short for Laurinburg/Maxton). Two are still in use by the airport. The third, however, was abandoned in the 1960s, as three runways were more than the community needed. While unused for 35 years, it fell into a state of disrepair with grass, bushes and even trees growing up around and through the concrete. When we first looked at this unused and forgotten runway, we could see immediately the potential for speed trials. With the use of the taxiways on either end of the main runway, we had almost 1.9 miles of total length. Hard and flat, we could run a full mile and still have 0.8 to 0.9 tenths of a mile of shut down area, perfect for speeds that would be over 200 MPH, with some eventually reaching 260 MPH. 
  In spite of the promise, this place needed a tremendous amount of work to make it usable. After removal of approximately 200 tons of dirt and debris from the 150 foot wide runway, we were able to pick a 30 to 50 foot section that would be the new course. After many weeks of jack hammering and concrete pouring, we had a surface we could run on. It's not as perfect as the dry lakes or salt flats prepared by Mother Nature, but we are constantly improving it. The pit area at Maxton is located across from the finish line. This affords a great view of all the high speed action. The pits are old airplane tie downs that give us a concrete surface to park our vehicles on. There is also a taxiway that runs the length of the race course, which provides easy access from the pits to the start line and from the shut down back to the pits. Maxton has given Land Speed Racing another chance to grow into its own on the East coast. We may not be the quickest, but we can boast some of the fastest vehicles on the eastern side of the Rockies.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dry Lakes Racers Australia http://www.dlra.org.au/. A Brief History of The Dry Lakes Racers Australia (DLRA), The first ten years, by Geoff G. Rea. "Over the years many hot rodders in Australia have followed with interest the American dry lake racing events, mainly those held at Bonneville (a salt lake located in the state of Utah) run by the Southern Californian Timing Association (S.C.T.A). In 1985 a group of hot rodders headed by Ted Robinette and Andy Jenkins had heard of Lake Tyrell in Victoria and decided it was worth checking this lake out as to it's suitability to run time trials on. Unfortunately this lake was not suitable for our racing purposes. But the ever resourceful Andy Jenkins was not deterred and over the following years he made it his objective to find a suitable lake to race on. Lake Gairdner in South Central South Australia had been mentioned in the press that a land speed record attempt would be made there by John Harkness and later by John Vevers (who did eventually run his streamlined motorcycle there), neither of these attempts were made at the time stated by the press of the day! With information about this lake and knowing that it was accessible Andy and Mike Davidson (who would; later become the founding President of the D.L.R.A) made a trip to the lake to determine whether it would be suitable. What they found on that exploratory trip was a salt lake that would prove to be as good if not better than any other similar lake in the world. Knowing that they had found a place where the fledgling D.L.R.A would be able to conduct events a date was set in March 1990 for the first meet, advertisements were placed in magazines and then it was a matter of seeing who would turn up to this inaugural event. Well for the amount of publicity and the lead time involved the event was quite successful, with some 25 people attending and around 8 or 9 cars running of these only 2 were purpose built race cars (Mike Davidsons historic racer and Rod Hadfileds '29 Ford roadster). Really enough can't be said for Mike Davidson's commitment to this first event, if not for him we may never have got there!
So after this event all the people that had attended new what to expect, it was a real challenge just to get to the lake, having to travel the last 130 kilometer over very ordinary outback dirt roads and living in the outback for the time we are there. Yes dry lakes racing Australian style was going to be no picnic, but for many of the people that have attended year after year it is this 'doing it tough thing' that is part of the attraction. In the following few years a lot of purpose built dry lakes cars and bikes have been built and raced with speeds ranging from 90 mph to well over 200 mph and with this year's some approaching 300 mph. In this form of racing there is virtually a class for anything and in fact the D.L.R.A decided very early in the peace to run by the rule book of the S.C.T.A. Of course the D.L.R.A. got a fair bit of exposure in local magazines, with Larry O'Toole the editor of Australian Street Rodding attending all our events since the first and always giving a great write up in his magazine. As well as this we also got coverage in the Bonneville Racing News publication. So because of this the rest of the world was hearing about our 'little piece of salt'. To this end we saw 4 American race cars shipped out to our event in 1995 in a tour organized by Dick Williams (a manufacturer of fiberglass car bodies and parts in the US) as well as bringing a large contingent of US spectators. One of those cars shipped out was the Speed O Motive streamliner of Al Teague that at the time and still has the record as the worlds fastest wheel driven car which has run over 400 mph, unfortunately here he only ran 366 mph. From this tour many new friendships were forged and perhaps the strongest was that with Mary West and Martha and Chuck Salmen. In later years Chuck and Mary were instrumental in the D.L.R.A. obtaining by donation from the S.C.T.A their timing equipment that was being replaced with new equipment.
In the ten years since 1990 we have grown to a dedicated membership of nearly 250, with members from all over Australia as well as overseas. At our recent event held in March 2000, we had 37 vehicles and motorcycles entered and from that had a driver entry of 52 (a lot of the vehicles/bikes run more than one driver, not at the same time!). Included in those entries was 3 overseas vehicles, Casey Hill's model A Ford roadster from New Zealand, Chuck Salmen's '34 Ford roadster and Dennis Manning's streamlined bike; both from the US. This year we ran a course of nine miles. We have developed a good working relationship with conservation and lands department, who have attended virtually all our events and seen that we are committed to looking after the area on which we race as well as the surrounding property on which we camp when we are there. As someone who was there at the very first event and attending each one since, getting there in my '32 Ford coupe and then becoming a member of a race team (Rea Weir Mumford) after that first event to build a race car. I can say I am very proud to be associated with the D.L.R.A. and all the dedicated people who have worked together under very adverse conditions to have an organization that runs an event with vehicles that are as good as any running in similar events in the US and this was in fact proved when 3 of the Australian built dry lakes race cars ( those being John Lynch's belly tank, Rod Hadfiled's Studebaker and Leigh Fielder's Pontiac) were shipped to the US in 1998 for the 50th Anniversary meet at Bonneville. At this event Leigh ran a record (which is a world record) in his class and John ran his best personal time ever at the time of 254 mph, unfortunately Rod experienced problems the whole time he was there but still managed runs up around the 2000 mph mark. The Americans were very impressed by the Australian's and I can say I was privileged to be there along with a group of other Australians working on those 3 great race cars.
The sport of dry lake racing can be a little hard for some to understand, especially considering we only race once a year (believe me this is enough, when you consider what we go through to get to our race track!) and in the ten years of our existence 2 of those years we didn't get to run because the lake had water in it! So in fact our form of racing requires a great deal of patience and a very big commitment (not necessarily in dollars). As our team always says 'There is always next year'.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Many of you may know that our former cat was attacked, killed and eaten by a coyote. We all lose pets and I don't want anyone to feel like I'm anti-wild animal life, for that is not my intention. Wild animals have to live too. But this happened 40 miles from any wild areas in a series of cities with over 15 million people and it seemed rather preposterous to lose a pet to a wild animal. So I made a lot of calls and found out that our politicians and city managers are just as misled and unknowledgeable about wild animals in an urban environment as I was. The article that I wrote is at http://www.hotrodhotline.com/feature/guestcolumnists/richardscorner/. What I learned is astonishing. There are often more wild animals living in the cities per square mile than in the wild. I also learned that they can attack and kill a toddler in the time that you turn your back and become distracted by something else. The big trio is bees, snakes and insects, but coyotes, bears and mountain lions can kill and injure people as well. So read the article, then take precautions to protect your family, even more so in the cities than the country.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Links to other land speed and hotrodding websites:
www.landspeedproductions.biz, http://www.landracing.com, www.speedrecordclub.com,
http://www.ahrf.com/video.php, www.hotrodhotline.com,
www.landspeedracing.com, www.Autobooks-Aerobooks.com

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Members:

Jonathan Amo, Brett Arena, Henry Astor, Gale Banks, Glen Barrett, Mike Bastian, Lee Blaisdell, Jim Bremner, Warren Bullis, Burly Burlile, George Callaway, Gary Carmichael, John Backus, John Chambard, Jerry Cornelison, G. Thatcher Darwin, Jack Dolan, Ugo Fadini, Bob Falcon, Rich Fox, Glenn Freudenberger, Don Garlits, Bruce Geisler, Stan Goldstein, Andy Granatelli, Walt James, Wendy Jeffries, Ken Kelley, Mike Kelly, Bret Kepner, Kay Kimes, Jim Lattin, Mary Ann and Jack Lawford, Fred Lobello, Eric Loe, Dick Martin, Ron Martinez, Tom McIntyre, Don McMeekin, Bob McMillian, Tom Medley, Jim Miller, Don Montgomery, Bob Morton, Mark Morton, Paula Murphy, Landspeed Louise Ann Noeth, Frank Oddo, David Parks, Richard Parks, Wally Parks (in memoriam), Eric Rickman, Willard Ritchie, Roger Rohrdanz, Evelyn Roth, Ed Safarik, Frank Salzberg, Dave Seely, Charles Shaffer, Mike Stanton, David Steele, Doug Stokes, Bob Storck, Zach Suhr, Maggie Summers, Gary Svoboda, Pat Swanson, Al Teague, JD Tone, Jim Travis, Randy Travis, Jack Underwood and Tina Van Curen, Richard Venza.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 1999 - 2007 Hot Rod Hot Line All Rights Reserved
No Portion May Be Used Without Our Written Permission
Contact Us Toll Free (877) 700-2468 or (208) 562-0470
230 S. Cole Rd, Boise, ID 83709