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Some Names To Look For In This Newsletter:
President's Corner, Editorials, Jackie Arnett sent in the following photographs on her late father Joaquin Arnett, Nice write up by Blanca Gonzale, “Please send me info on this upcoming event, Dave Selway has been a lifelong friend and I wanted to give him some notoriety, I just learned of the Great Bandit’s passing, I just received this very important note from Brian Brennan editor of Street Rodder Magazine please read and heed then pass it to every car enthusiast you know, I'm sending this email out to all of my friends inviting them to our annual charity Halloween Party THE BASH, Luckily for me through The Society of Land Speed Racing Historians Newsletter I may have a chance of getting some information that may not have been available anywhere for me, For those who are interested in the early days of drag racing in California, Chris Economaki is celebrating his 90th birthday, I have been trying to find out exactly where the former Culver City Board Speedway was located, This year's Carrera California will take place November 13-14 2010 with our overnight at Stanlund’s in Borrego Springs, Hi Waldo I'm wrestling with a wheel and tyre problem, Hot News from MSRA Tour Committee Chairman Bob Caviasca, Shane Hmiel of Pleasant Garden NC USAC’s “Most Improved Driver of 2009 incurred critical injuries in a single-car accident during qualifying for Saturday night’s “Sumar Classic 100” USAC Silver Crown race, Live radio show on Monday October 11 2010 from 7-9PM EST, Thanks for sending this inquiry and please pass this response on to Spencer Simon, I am Bob Choisser in Vacaville we've corresponded in the past about the old days of racing, Your book reviews of my books are still running in the www.HotRodHotLine.com on-line publication and I greatly appreciate it, Steve Fossett's 900 mph Jet-Powered Car on Sale for $3 Million, Harvey Shapiro has written an excellent new book about Athol Graham, Finally here are the top speed results for the 2010 World of Speed held at the Bonneville Salt Flats in September
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President's Corner:
Jim Miller is on assignment.
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Editorial:
The following email was received and presents a good topic for an editorial and that is; “Just how accurate are modern historians in interpreting the past?” I just read an old article in Hot Rod magazine written by David Freiburger and it was enlightening. I should be the expert on Wally Parks as he was my father and here Freiburger was showing me new things that I had not known. The writing is filled with positive emotion by Freiburger for a man that he truly admired. While most of the material is accurate, or at least it is accepted as accurate, because it has been repeated over and over again, there are some errors. One of the mistakes is one that my father himself made. It refers to his heritage as Cherokee Indian. Now I have known that this wasn’t true since taking up our family genealogy in the early 1960’s. It was a surprise to find out that we have no Cherokee blood in the Parks family, yet I need to take up a bit of space here to set the record straight, for this shows up in print time and again. Our farthest known ancestor comes from eastern England, sometime around the 15th century. In 1630 a Robert Parke, notice the spelling, immigrates to Massachusetts as a Puritan and somewhat wealthy land owner and farmer, to seek religious freedom. Sometime between that date and 1790 there is a break in the records, for another Robert Parks and his brother settle land in the Ohio frontier. A century later the family moves westward by wagon train and barge with other pioneers where they settle in Lincoln County, Kansas, where my grandfather, Henry Clyde Parks is born. As a young married man, Henry moves to Goltry, Oklahoma where his oldest son, Wallace Gordon Parks is born in 1913. A few years later the young family returns to Kansas and then moves west to California on the advice of Henry’s two other brothers.
Native American Cherokee Indians are from the South originally, near the Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee border area. They were forcibly removed to Oklahoma during the Jackson administration, in the infamous “Trail of Tears.” Since Henry and his wife, Bessie, were from Kansas, the closest they ever came to a Cherokee was when Grandpa “Skant” as he was called, bear hugged a Cherokee squaw. The Indian woman laughed and thought that was a funny thing to do and she returned the squeeze, breaking three of my grandfather’s ribs. He never bear hugged another lady after that. There is a family legend that we are descended from Lenape or Delaware Indians in New York and Pennsylvania region and the name Sarah Yellowleaf keeps popping up. She supposedly came from the peaceful Moravian settlement of Gnadenhutten that was wiped out in a massacre by enraged settlers after Indian attacks on their homes. To my knowledge, we have never proved a paper trail to her, though with such a long history in America I am sure that some intermarriage with Native Americans might have occurred. Why is there such a need to explain my father’s raven black hair and tanned look? The photographs of him in his leather WWII flight jacket sure has the look of a Native American heritage. Sometimes the allure of wanting to be somebody or something other than what you are leads us to invent and believe in things that just don’t prove to be true. I remember my father repeating this Cherokee lineage many times. I also remember many of my other aunts and uncles saying the same thing.
I cannot criticize Freiburger for writing this, since I’m sure that he has heard this repeated in interviews and he is just being honest to his sources. But historians are nosy people. We are to the past what snoops and gossips are to the present. We investigate every little tidbit of information and crosscheck it over and over again to find the truth and still we err as well. We make plenty of mistakes, but as historians we try and correct our errors. That’s what we do. In some cases we will ruin the beliefs of people. We would like to prove the rumors and myths to be true, but if we find out that what has been believed is false, we are honor bound to bring the truth to light. People will forgive us eventually. Historians who corrupt and falsify the past are not historians, they are propagandists. But am I better at reporting than other journalists? No, not really. In many respects they know more than I do, because they have first hand sources that I don’t have and archives to do research in. Our motorsports journalists are also highly motivated and committed to their craft. Freiburger is one of the most dedicated among our hot rodding journalists. That’s why I trust him. Freiburger is right about the “Dust Bowl” and the poverty surrounding the Great Depression. My father never considered himself or his family to be poor, but they certainly weren’t well off. Most of our family members were employed. They worked delivering laundry, in a hardware store and at the GM plant. Uncle Laurence Olivero farmed land in North Long Beach. Uncle Kenny Parks worked at Bell Auto Parts. Everyone seemed to have a job. In comparison with the rest of the country during the 1930’s and ‘40’s the Parks’ were solidly middle class, if you consider an $800 a year income to be middle class in the 1930’s.
Freiburger mentions that Dad first went up to the dry lakes to watch land speed racing in 1932. My brother and I have always heard that it was 1931, but the dates are very close. That would have made him 18 or 19 at the time. What isn’t arguable is that the first time he saw land speed time trials pitting men and machines against the elements and time itself; he was hooked. There is a glaring hole in the fabric of the story of Wally Parks. He never mentioned and reporters never investigated his first wife and two sons. They formed a large part of his early life and late in his life. He divorced and remarried and most people know that his second wife was Barbara Livingston Parks. But even she is lost in the myth of my father and that is really sad, for Barbara was a very special lady and the real truth of her value to hot rodding and drag racing is yet to be told. This isn’t Freiburger’s fault, for Dad was extremely sensitive about his private life and very protective of it. He always told my brother David and I that he didn’t think there was a future in drag racing. His favorite quote was, “Someday this is going to end and we’re going to have to go and find real jobs.” That was a saying that Ak Miller and hundreds of other racers told me and I believe that they truly believed that. It is a shock and a pleasant surprise that hot rodding and drag racing is still going.
Below is Bob Falcon’s response to an email wherein it was supposed that Veda Orr made a typographical error when she referred to an ORD V8. The assumption was that it should have been written FORD V8. As Jim Miller tells me constantly; “We live and learn.”
“Perhaps I can shed some light on some of the descriptive language we hot rodders used in the late 1940s, which is when Veda published her Lakes Pictorials. I don't think she published very many but I have one she gave me in my library. I was in high school at the time and was a regular visitor to the Speed Shop she and Karl operated that was located across the street from the Culver City Roller Rink...about a half block from The Piccadilly's Drive-In that was a magnet for hot rods every Saturday night. Back then all Fords were referred to as "V8's" unless they were four cylinder Fords which were called "As", "Bs" or "T's". There reference in the caption was probably correct to identify the vehicle as an "Ord V8" because it was crafted by Mal Ord who worked for the Don Lee organization and built several cars for the Auto Dealer owner.
Another interesting note is that the preferred models of Fords were the even numbered years beginning in 1932 and stopping at 1936 with a jump to 1940. If you check some photos of the convertibles during those model years they were more attractive than their odd year counterparts. Please keep me informed of your progress with the reprints of Veda's publications as I would like to add to my library. I also used to visit their home often since it was located very close to where my folks lived in Culver City. Karl was also a regular at my dad's wheel alignment shop located across Washington Blvd from MGM Studios.” Bob Falcon
Now I had heard of Mal Ord and I know that Ak Miller often talked about A, B and T engines, but when I write articles I do them in the modern sense and edit out the old style and instead say, “Ford V8.” I now know that my youth and inexperience is contributing to the continuation of grievous errors and from now on I will not make a change based on guess work but on actual, first-hand knowledge. Of course, Jim Miller will tell us all that we all make this mistake, which is why I have Bob Falcon and 12 other people review each and every newsletter that goes in to the website. Even they make mistakes and fail to see my errors. But we are willing to admit mistakes and correct them and offer our apologies. I know some publishers who have said to me, “**** off, we ain’t changing anything or apologizing for what’s already in print.” Recognizing that we are human and can make mistakes is the very first approach to getting the story correct and straight. So I want to say that I really enjoyed David Freiburger’s article on my father and all his other articles. Over the years Hot Rod magazine has been the Bible for hot rodders and racers. If a few mistakes are made then it’s up to us to find them and set the record straight, but we should recognize the great value that these magazines and writers do to bring us the history of our sport.
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Nice write up by Blanca Gonzalez. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/oct/08/drag-racing-pioneer-cofounded-bean-bandits-club Jackie Arnett Sonka
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Drag-racing pioneer cofounded Bean Bandits club. By Blanca Gonzalez, Friday, October 8, 2010.
Joaquin Arnett Jr. had a way with cars and machines. A drag-racing pioneer, he was known to beat well-financed competitors with hot rods he built using junkyard parts. As a youth, he once turned his mother’s new kitchen mixer into a sander, and as an adult, he used a weed-wacker motor to fashion a big blender to make margaritas. The native San Diegan was a cofounder and leader of the legendary Bean Bandits racing club. The tight-knit group won nearly 400 trophies in the early 1950s in races throughout the country, but their shoestring budget sometimes forced them to sell their trophies back to the drag-strip operators to get gas and food money for the trip home. Mr. Arnett died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease September 24, 2010 at Country Hills Health Care Center in El Cajon. He was 83.
His passion for cars started at a young age, and he was driving by the time he was 13 years old. The money he earned from a paper route went to buying his own car from a junk yard. He learned to weld and repair and modify cars at a neighborhood shop. “He loved to tinker. People have called him a mechanical genius,” said his daughter, Jackie Arnett Sonka. “He had an aptitude for it. He was a do-it-yourself guy.” Pat Durant, a longtime friend and Bandits club member, said Mr. Arnett was the undisputed leader of the group. “He was an amazing guy. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t do,” Durant said. “He built his own house. He built three (racing) streamliners. We were the first to go 130 (mph) and 140 on a drag strip in 1951. Those were records at the time.”
The Bandits group helped establish legal drag racing in the region at the Paradise Mesa drag strip. Their competition rules became standard for drag strips nationwide. The group was mostly Latino but also included Caucasian, Asian and African-American members. “They relished that here they were a bunch of renegade kids and they were beating racers with big sponsors,” Arnett Sonka said. “They were touring all over the country, and they couldn’t stay at some hotels because of their skin color. They experienced a lot of prejudice (but) my father had a lot of pride in his (Mexican) heritage.” Mr. Arnett won the first National Hot Rod Association’s national meet held in Pomona in 1953, a competition featuring more than 300 cars. A 1953 issue of Hot Rod magazine featured Mr. Arnett and his trophy-winning dragster on the cover along with an article about his car-building skills. A replica of the car, which he also built, is on display at the San Diego Automotive Museum through January.
In the 1950s, race-car driver, promoter and businessman Andy Granatelli offered Mr. Arnett $3,000 for his handmade 1934 coupe. The sale was made after Granatelli also agreed to give him tickets to the next Indianapolis 500. Mr. Arnett was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in Florida in 1992. Although the Bean Bandits were known as a social, fun-loving group, they also experienced tragedy. Mr. Arnett’s eldest son, Joaquin “Sonny” Arnett III, died in a 1995 crash while racing at El Mirage Dry Lake in the Mojave Desert. Mr. Arnett continued designing and incorporating safety features in a new streamliner. Joaquin Espinosa Arnett Jr. was born Nov. 27, 1926, in San Diego to Esperanza Ramos and Joaquin E. Arnett. He attended Memorial Jr. High and San Diego High schools and served in the U.S. Merchant Marine during World War II. He married the former Viola Cese�a in 1945.
In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Arnett is survived by a son, Jeffrey; a sister, Noralund Zumaya of San Diego; six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. A Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m., Tuesday, at St. John of the Cross Catholic Church in Lemon Grove. The NHRA Hot Rod Reunion will hold a commemorative run of Mr. Arnett’s dragster Oct. 16 at Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield. The Bean Bandits club is planning to hold a celebration of life on Nov. 6 in National City.
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“Please send me info on this upcoming event. I really want to go to this one.” Name withheld.
Readers: The above email was sent weeks ago to the wrong email address. I just discovered this but only after the event was over. The best that I can do now is to inform all of you that my article should be published at www.hotrodhotline.com, guest columnist/Richard Parks by the end of the month. For your records, my email address is [email protected]. Please check your records and update them if necessary. You would be surprised at the number of people who come up to me at events and say, “How come you never answer my email messages.” Or they will say to their friends, “He’s really rude, I never get any responses from him when I send him an email.” It doesn’t make these individuals feel any better when I explain that they haven’t updated their records.
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Dave Selway has been a lifelong friend and I wanted to give him some notoriety. It turns out that Lloyd and Noel Timney were the guys that figured out tying the early Fords together and Dave did all of the engineering drawings and supplied his garage and back yard to build the car. Another fellow was a machine shop owner in Signal Hill, California that furnished the machine shop for all of the bits and pieces. Lloyd and Noel did all of the machine shop work. After the first few runs Dave felt there were too many fellas in the racing pot; Lloyd, Noel, Harold Allison, George Smith, Harvey Goldberg, and himself. He offered Lloyd and Noel to buy him out. He owned the English torsion bars, Nordon steering and a few other parts and went back to work on his drag race and Bonneville roadster. With Clark Cagle's Ardun on lots of nitro it ran 138.98 at Santa Ana with Lloyd Scott driving. It also had a swing axle rear suspension. When they ran the Bustle Bomb car the second or third time it ran 147 at Santa Ana and Lloyd steered all the way across the Santa Ana airport because the rear Cad didn't shut off. The two on/off switches were taped together with black electrical tape. When you moved one it was supposed to move both but the hot sun made the tape only move one! A piece of aluminum around both toggles fixed that. Another thing when Lloyd went up to the first sponsor, Chandler and Lyons Auto Parts, I went with him for nerve support. Got the $ without any trouble after conversation about sponsorship. Some of the early times were: Santa Ana, 147 in June 1955; Lawrenceville, Illinois, 151.007 on 50% August 20, 1955: San Fernando, October 9, 1955, 152.02. Ed Farrell
Ed: Thank you for the additional memories. If you have more stories of the past please send them to me and I will post them to the website at www.landspeedracing.com.
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I just learned of the Great Bandit’s passing. I wrote a story about Joaquin’s Bean Bandits in the March 2002 issue of R&C marveling at the collection of drag racing and LSR photos in Joaquin and Viola’s home that never seemed to end. We need hot rodders like this man that took kids out of the gangs and turned them into Bandits. Dick Martin
Dick: I will refer our readers to Rod & Custom to read the article, however, if the time limitations have run out on R & C's exclusive and you wish to send me the article, I will be glad to publish it.
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I just received this very important note from Brian Brennan, editor of Street Rodder Magazine, please read and heed, then pass it to every car enthusiast you know. Take this as a serious threat to YOUR hobby. Jim Hosking, re-sent by Scrub Hansen
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Get the following info out to all: Proposition 23 is in trouble … what does that mean … so is your hot rod! A new Reuters/Ipsos poll claims that Proposition 23, a ballot initiative to roll back California’s global warming law until unemployment recedes, is losing 49%-37%. That any Californian who could vote himself out of a paper bag would oppose Proposition 23 is incredible. The state has a budget deficit of $19 billion and unemployment rate above 11 percent. California needs to create economic growth and revenue producing jobs as opposed to ways to garner more tax dollars from the few. Sincerely, Brian Brennan, Editorial Director Source Interlink Media Rod & Restoration Group Office: 949-705-3313 New Mailing Address, 1733 Alton Pkwy, #100, Irvine CA 92606.
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I'm sending this email out to all of my friends inviting them to our annual charity Halloween Party, THE BASH. Last year we raised more than $75,000 for handicapped children and adults with more than 900 guests in attendance. And the party was amazing fun. You can learn more about the event at www.houstonbash.com. For those of you who are unable to attend, you can still be involved in THE BASH raffle (you don't need to be present to win). The prizes are numerous and truly spectacular. You can view the list of prizes at http://www.houstonbash.com/public/pag31.aspx. And you can buy raffle tickets online at https://app.etapestry.com/hosted/UCPofGreaterHouston/OnlineRaffle.html. Hope to see you at THE BASH! Mark Brinker
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Luckily for me through The Society of Land Speed Racing Historians Newsletter, I may have a chance of getting some information that may not have been available anywhere for me. Knowing Bob Falcon as a professional expert on quick changes, I would like to ask Bob Falcon a possible quick change trans-axle question. I do not have a lot of information on what I have. Hopefully the information I am giving will give way. My guess of what I have appears to be an American made trans-axle probably made during the 1970's era. It consists of a Richmond 5 speed trans-axle with a quick change on the rear like a Halibrand. I was told that by a rumor that there were only 30 of these made. It was also the earlier one. The center shaft from what I heard cost $60,000 to make. Whether it was for all 30 units or just this one, who knows? A tip of a guy name Delynn Mason was either involved or the maker of the unit. The company or the guy went bankrupt. Bob, do you have a possible clue on my subject? Thanks, Spencer Simon
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For those who are interested in the early days of drag racing in California. I went to the CNTA (Cal-Neva Timing Association) Reunion get together in Richmond, California on Saturday. Met some great folks and a tip of the hat goes to Glenn & Karen Stephenson for arranging a great event. The food was fantastic and thanks to Geno Gastelum for sharing some great old photos from his collection. The bench racing; well, it was definitely some of the best! Enjoy a few photos I snapped: http://rides.webshots.com/album/578756992ThPSMl. Bob Choisser
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Chris Economaki is celebrating his 90th birthday. Economaki is the past editor of National Speed Sport News
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I have been trying to find out exactly where the former Culver City Board Speedway was located. Through the years I have heard of several locations where this track was located so during a conversation with the lady who serves as the Culver City Historian and who has written a couple of books about my former hometown I received the location of Victory Park where a Marker has been placed to signify the location of the speedway at that spot. I checked my Thomas Street Guide for Culver City and discovered that Victory Park is across Vinton Avenue from where the Orr residence was located. Many believe the track to have been located near Jefferson Blvd, but the area where the park is now located is south of Braddock Avenue bordered on the west by Le Bourget avenue and on the east by Motor Avenue. There are several streets to the south that are curved that I believe follow the curvature of the south turn. This speedway, as all the early day board tracks was huge, probably two or two and a half miles around. The park is located in the center of what I envision to be the track. Another thought, if my estimate is accurate a home where our family resided in 1942 was also on the track property. My dad would have been quite pleased. Just thought you would like to know about my research. Bob Falcon
Bob: Harold Osmer wrote a book on where various tracks were located and he and Harry Pallenberg are doing a video of some of those tracks. I hope we can locate all of the circle tracks and drag strips in the area.
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This year's Carrera California will take place November 13-14, 2010 with our overnight at Stanlund’s in Borrego Springs. Event information can be found at www.carreracalifornia.com. Last year's event sold out early and existing confirmations indicate we are close to half full already. Hope you can attend, please book your hotel room and RSVP so we can add you to the event program. Best Regards, Charles Rollins at www.CarreraCalifornia.com From the Ocean to the Desert and Back; www.Bench-Racing.com.
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Hi Waldo, I'm wrestling with a wheel and tyre problem. We're after 400 mph in the UK. This has to be done on a runway - there's no sand or salt area big enough or flat enough in the UK. So we have to run on a runway. There are a few that are long enough, and smooth enough. The tyre companies are very sketchy about what their tyres will actually do, and the only ones that come close are Goodyear's that were used on Dieselmax. They're for a much bigger and heavier car. Toyo sold me some '300 mph' tyres and when questioned, would only rate them to 200. We can't run metal right on the surface; no bite into the surface for steering grip and they may well damage a runway owned by the RAF. So, I'm thinking machined billet wheels and solid bonded rubber. Would you, please, have a think and let me know of any ideas-opinions? Cheers, Carolyn Campbell
Carolyn: 400 mph would for a hot rocket car mean a 2 mile long course or somewhere around there in length. A mile in and a mile out. Surely Pendine sands are long enough if you run in the winter. It has been a long time since a Brit set an English record on that beach. It might make quite a stir or maybe not. The locals and hotels would probably even help you out a bit. You would need not billet wheels but upset forged wheels made from an aluminum billet beaten down into a pancake so the grain runs radially of at least 30 inches in diameter. You should machine them with smooth sides so that no sand can stick to them and throw them out of balance during a run. Also spray them with WD-40 or oil to make sure that doesn't happen. You might put two keel ridges on them like we put here on our sand rail front tires for sand drags. You could buy a standard sand rail front tire and after the wheel is upset forged you could have a machine shop copy the ridges on the sand rail front tires. Also, running at the beach if you had a fire problem you could splash it with sea water. Make the wheels all the same and balance the hell out of them and then spin them in two different balance machines to make sure. Balance them by drilling shallow holes in them in the heavy spots and not by adding weights. Bonding rubber to a metal wheel is a good idea for machine equipment but not high speed wheels as the rubber tends to nick from things on the course sometimes even vibrations can chip them and then they are out of balance and will start to destroy themselves and your car at speed.
Bill Summers used to run Urethane bonded to his front wheels of his lakester and in all the years he ran them he never had a problem that I saw. Of course his car was only running 250 miles per hour or so but they were much smaller in diameter than wheels you would need to use. Craig Breedlove ran composite tires bonded to aluminum wheels. The tires were made of Graphite filament wound around a mold and glued with resin but they chipped and debonded from the wheels at speed. Metal wheels on a tarmac will do as much sliding as rolling under thrust and grind a flat spot, go out of balance and come apart. I don't think aluminum wheels would hurt a runway tarmac as I think it would be the other way around. Steel of course would grind and spark and probably start a fire and you could not afford Titanium upset forged wheels as the tooling to make them would be more than the cost of your project.
If you are hell bent on running on a runway with tires remember that most high performance and race tires are seldom tested on a dynamometer to destruction so most of the manufacturers don't even know what their own tires will withstand. Most of their claims are simply made from extrapolated upwards data on earlier tire designs. Don't risk your life on that! The Toyo thing smells of insurance CYA to me and they are being smart to do so. If you crash on their tires because you ran them in excess of their design limit it would still probably hurt the company and they don't need that. The Goodyear’s are good but you had better dyno them and do not simply buy them off the shelf and race them. As you will be taking your life into your own hands and I mean this about any manufacturer's tire product; DYNO, DYNO, DYNO, PERIOD! Why not tell TOYO to pay for dyno tests to destruction and you will share the results with them and maybe promote them at the same time? Andy Green knows where there is a dyno for those speeds or at least how you could put one together as I am positive it was done for the Dieselmax.
Most of the old salts ran old tires that were iffy at best but since they were at the top of the land speed wheel driven pyramid they were let do whatever they wanted as they had the most experience anyway so who was to tell them any different. Those guys were teachers not students. Some of those guys ran nearly 50 year old rubber and seldom if ever had a problem. A lot of them exceeded 400 miles per hour with heavy cars applying traction to do it. That is another thing to take into consideration and that is that tires for cars are designed to provide traction to make the vehicle move and you will only be using them as rollers and that may make a difference in them coming apart or not because of the elimination of torque applied.
I watched the North American Eagle jet car run about 400 mph at El Mirage with a rubber front tire from the basic Starfighter aircraft on the nose wheels and I know those things were only rated for under 300 mph yet it was done on the dirt. Jet aircraft tires can be shaved down on a big lathe to make them handle faster speeds but again you are back to dyno testing to be sure. Then you had better not talk about your experiment as the tire company will come after you.
Many of the latest bike liners are the weight of your car and running very well on rubber tires such as the Ack Attack and the "7." They are all knocking on the 400 mph door. So standard tires are here for what you want but like I said buy a batch and D-Y-N-O! I hope this all helps you. I have CC'd a few guys that may have some other ideas for you as always I like to see people who are willing to go after something achieve their goals so Good luck. Waldo Stakes
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Hot News from MSRA Tour Committee Chairman Bob Caviasca: There is a Do-Wop concert Saturday, October 16, 2010 at the North Shore Music Theatre (NSMT) in Beverly, Massachusetts. If you'd like to go, Bob has arranged preferred parking for a group of hot rods, etc. He needs to know how many would attend with their hot rods ASAP so he can let his contact at NSMT know. Tickets for the concert are $45 per person. Call Bob at his shop 781-662-0292 or cell 781-820-3356 to tell him you're going or to ask him any questions. For show tickets, call or email NSMT. Also, if you want to sneak in a cruise to York Beach, Maine or somewhere up thataway on Sunday, many are meeting at the rest area on I95 northbound just past Route 97 - meet by 8:30, leave by 8:45. Call Bob Caviasca for more info. SUMMER'S NOT OVER TIL WE SAY IT’S OVER! Also, Gathering of the Faithful by the New England Speed Society this Saturday in Rochester, Massachusetts. Gil Coraine
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Shane Hmiel, 30, of Pleasant Garden, N.C., USAC’s “Most Improved Driver: of 2009, incurred critical injuries in a single-car accident during qualifying for Saturday night’s “Sumar Classic 100” USAC Silver Crown race at the Terre Haute (Indiana) Action Track. Hmiel was transferred from Terre Haute to Indianapolis’ Methodist Hospital where he is listed in critical condition in the hospital’s intensive care unit. The United States Auto Club will release updates on Shane’s condition as they become available. “We are very concerned about Shane and offer our resources and our support to his family during this time of healing,” said USAC President/CEO Kevin Miller. Sent in by Betty Packard
Betty: We at the Society of Land Speed Racing Historians Newsletter send in our thoughts and prayers for a complete recovery for Shane Hmiel. We are sorry to hear of his accident.
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Live radio show on Monday October 11, 2010 from 7-9PM EST. Presenting National Dragster’s Associate Editor & Illustrator John Jodauga, "General Motors's Chief Designer" GM Consultant Today GTO, Olds 442, legend David R. North, "Drag Racers Notebook" Jim Amos. The Sam Auxier, Jr Show, http://zeusradio.ning.com/group/racersreunionradio.
Call In 1-877-500-9387, http://racersreunionradio.com.
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Thanks for sending this inquiry and please pass this response on to Spencer Simon. We made two different Quick Change Trans-axles at Halibrand but none were of the five speed variety. The first which did not see much production was our Champ rear end joined up to a Borg Warner Four Speed manual transmission. I seem to recall that it was a Muncie T-10 and my memory seems to recall that we designed, and produced, this for Mickey Thompson but I don't recall which car it was intended for use. About the same time there were a few US Indy Car builders "sticking their toe into the rear engine race car water" and the Brit Hewland boxes were in short supply and that were readily available were pretty well used-up. This was in the early 1960's and were had the detail drawings for the Halibrand Shrike Indy Car on the drawing boards at the time. Our second effort was a two-speed unit that saw a lot of service with the US built rear engine Indy Cars. This product was several pounds lighter than the four-speed that we built for Mickey. I've never heard anything about the Trans Axle based on the Richmond five speed trans. Does Spencer know what style of car where the unit was used? It appears to me that the cost of $60,000 dollars to fabricate the lower shaft is quite elaborate for a single unit. Perhaps Kenny Sapper at Speedway Engineering located in Sylmar may know something about this product. Kenny was a Halibrand customer and supplied a lot of QC rear ends to the NASCAR world. Bob Falcon
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I am Bob Choisser in Vacaville; we've corresponded in the past about the old days of racing. My first visit to Bonneville was last year. By cc of this note back to you, I am alerting Jim McCombe and he can give you more information. I am kind of a "Johnny Come Lately" to the lanes in drag racing other than a few street races back in the early '60's. My "Gearhead" path took me to the cars that turned left on small quarter mile dirt and paved tracks. Although I was never far from the guys who did it in a straight line as I used to ride my bicycle over to Bing's Speed Shop on Barham Avenue in Santa Rosa, on the off chance I might get to see or hear one of his engines roar to life in preparation for its next run at the Cotati Drag Strip or see a Hardtop being readied for its next race at the Vallejo Speedway.
As I mentioned before, among the many folks that were at the CNTA reunion yesterday, was Eugene "Geno" Gastelum who brought five or six photos albums filled with priceless one-of-kind photos of he and the other racers and officials from the early days of drag racing and the NHRA. I believe there was a B/W shot of Geno and your dad Wally. I took a shot of it, but my camera didn't focus correctly and it turned out blurry and has been deleted, but it exists in very good condition in one of his albums.
I do know that Geno will be at the Hot Rod Reunion in Bakersfield this coming weekend, October 15-17, 2010. He and several of the other CNTA members were going to hang around the Bay Area for a few days and then head south to the Reunion. You might be able to catch up with him via his cell phone. I'm sure he would enjoy getting together with you. As I get more information and photos about the early days of racing, I will be sure to share them with you. And, please do put this email address on your list. Kindest Regards, Bob Choisser, Vacaville, CA.
Bob: You're right, thank you for jogging my memory and don't forget to go to www.landspeedracing.com because I am printing your letter in it. If anyone from the Cotati Drag Strip or the CNTA reunion would like to put together a story on the people who attended the reunion or the history of the drag strip I would be glad to print it.
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Your book reviews of my books are still running in the www.HotRodHotLine.com on-line publication and I greatly appreciate it. Hot Rod Hot Line seems to have new readers all the time and is a great place to advertise cars, engines, services and books. My books continue to sell thanks to your kind reviews. I like to joke that I am a member of the Book of the Month Club. I sell about one book a month! Anyway, your help and your friendship are greatly valued.
Bob Foley
Bob: Great to hear from you. The email address that you used was an old one and I don't check it as much as I should. My correct email address is [email protected]. I'm glad that you are finding success for your books. It is a small market now, but back in the 1960's it was where all the action was and for a while the boats, especially the drag boats, rivaled the cars. Hopefully someday they will again, if they can find the sites to run the boats more frequently. Keep plugging away and you'll get them all sold. You can send captioned photographs and we'll run them in the Society of Land Speed Racing Historians Newsletter, which is posted at www.landspeedracing.com. We always like to see some fast boats and many of the car guys have raced boats as well.
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Steve Fossett's 900 mph Jet-Powered Car on Sale for $3 Million. Published October 07, 2010. Recommend Target 800 mph. At the time that he died in a plane crash in 2007, aviation pioneer Steve Fossett was in the middle of launching a new project that was very down to earth. The aeronautical adventurer had his sights set on breaking the then decade-old land speed record of 736 mph, set by Andy Green of Great Britain in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. To accomplish this feat, in 2006 Fossett purchased a vehicle called the ‘Spirit of America – Sonic Arrow’ from one-time land speed record holder, Craig Breedlove. The 69-year old Breedlove had hoped to break Green’s record himself, but was unable to get his car to travel faster than 676 mph, despite projections that it could crack 800 mph. Fossett put the full force of his aerodynamic expertise behind redesigning the jet-powered vehicle, rechristening the effort “Target 800 mph.” However, with the changes made by his team, and a better power to weight ratio than a jet fighter, he expected it to hit 900 mph. Development continued after Fossett went missing, but the project was eventually mothballed in 2008 after over $4 million was invested. Now, in what is likely the only supersonic car to ever have a ‘For Sale’ sign put on it, the vehicle, blueprints, transporter and everything connected to the effort, including a catering truck for those long days in the desert, are being made available to the highest bidder, with a starting price of $3 million. The sale is being handled by Project 100 Communications, a British motor and adventure sports marketing firm, and all serious offers are being considered. Keeping in mind that a new Bugatti Veyron costs between $1.5 and $2.5 million, and it only goes 258 mph, Fossett’s folly could turn out to be the high-speed deal of the 21st century. Fox Car Report; resent by Dick Elliott
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Harvey Shapiro has written an excellent new book about Athol Graham. This is now Shapiro's third land speed related book. Shapiro's previous books revolving around the land speed record were "Man Against The Salt" (a biography of Art Arfons) and "Faster Than Sound" (a history of the land speed record up through The Blue Flame). Sincerely, Franklin Ratliff
Franklin: If you would like to do a book review on a land speed racer who perished on the Salt, I would be glad to put it on www.hotrodhotline.com and www.landspeedracing.com, under your by-line. We are trying to put together a large book review section for our readers. Athol Graham didn't live long enough to get the recognition that he deserved and so it is gratifying to know that a book has finally been written on Graham.
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Finally, here are the top speed results for the 2010 World of Speed held at the Bonneville Salt Flats in September. More information will be presented in Hot VW's in a future issue (next year!). In the meantime, I will be incommunicado for the next couple of weeks and wish all competitors good luck at Maxton and Goliad at the final 36hp Challenge events in October. Burly Burlile
36hp Challengers:
SS T2 Todd Penn 60 Pick-Up Canada 56.233 Base Record. Driven to and from Canada with a 1600cc engine, then engine swap to 36hp
SS Bug April Froke 57 Bug Sunroof California 59.149 Daughter of Dave & Molly McCoomb
SS Bug Juan Cole 63 Bug California 72.017 Beetle Ball competitor
SS Ghia Craig Wilson 67 Ghia Coupe California 71.125 Used Britt Grannis' SS Bug engine from 2009
SS Ghia Bill Smith 56 Ghia Coupe Arizona 71.314 Base Record Restored original Coupe (most beautiful VW on the salt!). 83K on engine
1 Club Jerry Avis 65 Bug SS/Aero Oregon 72.035 Aero mods put this SS in the 1 Club arena (Called the 'Cheetle')
SSS Bug Taylor King 69 Bug California 68.932 Matt Kinney loaned them this 1380cc at the last moment to race
SSS Bug Justin McAllister 74 Bug Utah 99.370 New Record Yes, it has a single 'modified' 28PIC carburetor
DSS Bug Kim Slaughter 58 Bug California 70.914 Wolfsburg West Dual Carb Kit
DSS Bug Dave McCoombs 57 Bug Sunroof California 88.898 Used Tom Bruch’s big Bruchrasa Single Port dual Carb motor
DSS Bug Dan McAllister 74 Bug Utah 99.650 Last year’s 103 mph motor with 3:44 R&P tranny
1 Club Dan McAllister 74 Bug DSS/Aero Utah 101.525 New 1 Member Aero mods and using 3rd gear with 3:44 trans
1 Club Colton McAllister 74 Bug DSS/Aero Utah 103.723 Aero mods and using 3rd gear with 3:44 trans
1 Club Maylene McAllister 74 Bug DSS/Aero Utah 103.967 New 1 Member Aero mods and using 3rd gear with 3:44 trans
DSS Ghia David Manobla 63 Ghia Coupe Colorado 79.093 Wolfsburg West Dual Carb Kit
DSS Ghia Britt Grannis 67 Ghia Coupe California 91.587 Used Richard Troy’s 1500cc Okrasa engine
DSS Ghia Craig Wilson 67 Ghia Coupe California 98.472 Used Tom Bruch’s big Bruchrasa Single Port engine
DSS Ghia Richard Troy 59 Ghia Coupe California 105.777 New Record Denzel engine. Fastest 36hp speed to date in 2010
NA36 Bug Colton McAllister 74 Bug(carb) Utah 101.945 New 1 Member DSS engine from last year with modern carburetor
UNLTD 36 Dick Beith 68 Bug California No Speed Display only. Will make inaugural run in 2011
Big Block Air Cooled (non 36hp) 130 Club:
130 Club Matt Guzowski Formula V 40hp Utah 103.089 Totally stock Formula car road racer
130 Club John Milner Formula V 2275 California 130.837 Fastest air cooled engine at WOS in 2010
130 Club Dick Wakefield 67 Bug 2275 Texas 117.693 Fitted with Herood’s helper for stability
130 Club Brad Humenney Manx Type 2275 Canada 115.563 Is now the world’s fastest Dune Buggy
130 Club Britt Grannis 67 Ghia 2275 California 122.496 Fastest air cooled VW bodied car at WOS
Water Cooled:
150 Club Gary Fergus Golf Oregon 154.222
150 Club Gabe Adams Golf R32 Colorado 158.948 3.2 VR6 Turbo 700hp Also road races in NASA series in GTS. Fastest VW at meet.
130 Club Rob Olsen Golf R32 122.127 VR6 with cams
130 Club Mark Biondi Golf 133.980
130 Club Louis Arnold Golf 88 GTi 136.053 VR6 Vortec Supercharged
130 Club Joey Marstall Golf Oregon 138.967
G/DT Rick Winder Rabbit PU Diesel Utah 87.648
F/DS Kevin Winder Streamliner Diesel Utah 145.910
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Land Speed Racing Websites:
www.hotrodhotline.com, www.landspeedracing.com
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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.
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