Quote:
Originally Posted by jimlem
OP - Let me add another congrats to all you've received. The record is a fantastic take-away from a hard-fought battle. You earned it. But I'll bet, based on all the smiles in that group pic you posted, of everyone in front of the bus at twilight, that at least 51% of the fun was doing WITH all those friends and family. It shows in all the smiles.
Your written account of the weekend was very well done. I felt like I was out with a group of my friends. When (or if) you ever tire of racing, you should be able to choose to write for many publications. A great job all the way around.
One tech question if you have time? Excuse my ignorance about your world but I was curious about the approaches people take to make their cars competitive. For example is NOS legal? How do large c.i. NA motors compare to FI motors, and if legal how do they compete with NOS equipped motors? Thanks. Just always curious how they all compare.
Also very classy of you to take the time to answer or acknowledge all the good wishes sent your way. Well done, sir.
Congrats again. God speed.
P.S. I'd keep that clutch line that was custom made in the pits as a very fine trophy in it's own right. I'd find space on a wall somewhere for it.
Jim
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Hey Jim,
I'll try to respond in the order of your comments and questions...
The group photo... Unfortunately there were several critical people missing from the photo...
Sean Gustin... a young man I met at the mile the first time I was there as a competitor. We were attending the drivers meeting and he was leaning against one side of a wooden tent pole and I was leaning on the other side... They went through the routine meeting topics and then asked for a show of hands of all those attempting to exceed 200 mph... We were the only two that raised our hands.. Sean rides a bike and I had my car.
So most people departed and they had special instructions for us due to our intended goals. Sean had just arrived and was looking for a place to pit his bike, so I invited him to our area... Conversation determined that while I still worked offshore, he had worked offshore previously and we had worked some of the same rigs, and had some mutual friends.
A very close and strong friendship grew out of a common love of all things fast... Sean is Patricks brother, the man mentioned on the back glass of my car... We lost him last year to a motor vehicle accident in Florida.
Justin Stephens.. I met him through Sean. They were life long friends and they both fit right in with my existing gang. Justin is class a class act... He left Houston, drove home to Gatesville Texas, borrowed a plane and flew down to be with us late Saturday and all day Sunday.
Chris Cicognani, a close friend that is the resident comic... If he's picking on you, you're ok... He's actually pictured in there..
Glen Smith, manager of BlackJack Speed shop that takes care of all my alignment concerns... both for and after the track events... My track alignment isn't worth a damn on the street...It's way to twitchy...
Doug, Tag Ur It here on the boards, a fellow moderator and close friend that has been to every event I've run...
Matt, another close friend who's wife is the office manager for my tuner builder. Been to every event I've run
Rick and his wife on the left side of the group photo... He races a Corvette at the mile and at Bonneville... We have exchanged ideas, parts, tires, jokes and frustration at times... Great guy...
There were two vendors out there as well that were not pictured in that group, that made the trip, (one of them a seventeen hour drive and the other a flight from Kentucky) that were away at their respective hotels. Thomas from Hendrix Engineering and Andres from ERL...
Also not pictured are my two brothers who attend the event when they can. My oldest brother took my mom to Dallas for a day trip and my other brother was in Arizona at his property and couldn't make it back.. We have become especially close after the loss of my dad last year, who attend most of the events prior to his passing. He was a huge stock car racing fan and I think he attended more out of concern for my safety than for the pleasure of the cars... The Standing Mile events are not a particularly great fan favorite as you can only see a limited part of the track at a time.
I wear a HANS device at his recommendation and would anyway, but he asked me to...
So yes, the racing is one thing but sharing it with so many fantastic people is the true blessing... Those people and others have supported me all along the way and I give all of them credit for helping in any fashion they can. All of them have contributed...
We, the gang, have boo coo tons of fun as well... We laugh to no end at the shenanigans and we as a group are quite notorious at the mile... We've been kicked out by the head of security and invited right back by the owner of the event... The DPS trooper that I gave the Texas Highway Racer t-shirt to... Great guy, just had never seen what we did to get kicked out in his 35 years of service... We took him by surprise...
As for the tech questions... This is more or less a run what you brung event.
Unlike the ECTA and other associations, there are no listed classes with any of a Campbell's alphabet soup classification stuck on the side of the car.... We pretty much break it down by car body, cubic inches, power adders, Nitrous/Meth etc... and then last but not least street legal or not...
For example, my car profile is as follows...
2363, Henderson Performance Tech, Automobile, 2010 Chevrolet, 2 door SS Coupe, Burgundy, (there wasn't a Red Jewell Tint option) V-8, H.O., Street Legal, Over 199.00 mph, twin turbo, 373-439.99 ci, No Nitrous, No Meth, rear wheel drive.
Essentially the faster you can go, the stricter the rules become.
Nitrous and Meth and exotic race fuels are legal, one car runs Methanol fuel... I have to this date the fastest standing mile pass ever in a 5th Gen Camaro, but there are a few right on my tail... The former record holder has two cars capable of taking it... One I'm concerned with the other, not so much... His Vert, was the record holder at 225.7, I got it by a .1 of a mph... He is capable of taking it back with a great pass... I've been chasing him for three years...
The other car is a car being built that has never moved a foot down the track but appears to be an incredibly capable car... Until it hits the track, it's just a conceptual idea though... It's a 632 cubic inch twin turbo monster being built by Tom Nelson... There are several youtube videos about it... But... It is a COPO, and as such has no VIN number and can't be street legal. So, I don't worry about it....
Then there is Nacho who has a beast very similar to my car in the power plant. Unfortunately it was wrecked very recently and fortunately the driver is fine... He's out in California to my knowledge... He was shooting for 200 + in the half mile... I could do that but it would require a gear change... I've been 185 with my anemic launches...
As for power adders vs non power adders... Big cubic inch N/A cars do ok, until compared to small cubic inch cars with power adders... To be competitive in this event for the big MPH passes, adders are generally needed...
However, there are vehicles that are N/A trying for world records for their type...
50 ish CC Indian Motorcycle...
Factory original Karmen Ghia... somewhere just north of 35 hp...
Etc...
Fun to watch them and they get lots of cheers and support.
Gotta go eat...
Thanks for the kind words and I apologize for being so wordy...
I am a technical writer in the offshore oil industry as a BOP surveyor... Though I would love to write in the automotive industry...
Robert
EDIT: I make no claim to the accuracy of my typing... or spelling, I didn't edit it, I just wrote and posted it...