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After returning from our annual trip to Bonneville, we have finally been able to get the equipment de-salted, the racecar de-salted, the push van and trailer de-salted and most of the equipment put away. When you spend weeks in preparations to go to speedweek, the job of returning is every bit as big and labor intensive. I would normally begin dismantling the racecar, but I have to keep it in race configuration for the Northwest Motorsports Show in November.

The salt condition was beautiful this year and so was the weather. Many records were set and outside of only a few accidents, the meet went smoothly. The SCTA/BNI folks did a wonderful job. Now then, our personal story is another thing all together. True to the movie "Worlds Fastest Indian", our first breakdown was about 40 miles into the trip. Cameron, Keith and I left home Friday evening. About 10 miles past the last civilization going over Chinook Pass, at 12:15 AM, the engine waterpump/powersteering fan belt broke. Of course it broke right where the part number is printed so we couldn't ID the belt. Unlike the movies, our cell phones don't work on the mountain pass. We were able to turn the van and trailer around and head back towards Greenwater, a small community of one gas station and a tavern. With no water pump, I would accelerate to about 50 MPH, shift the automatic transmission into neutral and coast. When we were reasonably slowed, I would repeat the procedure. We made the 10 miles back to Greenwater and the Naches Tavern. It was still open. Using their land line, I woke my bother-in-law and he went on a search to find a fan belt that would approximately fit. He arrived at 3 AM and we were on the road by 4 AM.

When we passed Pendelton, OR the hard climb up Cabbage Hill proved too much for the Van which had peucked the antifreeze out when we lost the fan belt. It began boiling over and by the time we reached the summit, it had turned into a steam boiler and took about an hour to cool down enough to put water back into the block. Finally, comfortably on our way, we were nearing LaGrande, OR when one of the trailer tires blew. I pulled over and we put the spare on. We hauled down to Baker, OR and went to a Les Schwab tire dealer to get a new spare mounted on the rim. Alas, they would not put the spare tire on the rim because they spotted a crack in the rim. There were no rims in their inventory so we were left with a cracked rim and a new tire with no way to mount it. We headed down the road to Ontario, OR. We tried a couple more tire dealers and at the Big O dealer, we found a friend. He is a fellow racer and felt sorry for us and was willing to help in any way. While moving the trailer, he spotted the front tire on the right side was wobbling and had a big chunk sticking out. We bought another tire. The spare tire we had installed back in LaGrande was replaced with a new tire and the cracked rim had a used tire and innertube installed on it with the promise to only use it in an emergency until we get home and replace the rim.

At Bonneville, we sailed through inspection with only a few small items to fix. During the week of running we gradually increased our speeds to a best run on Friday morning of 159.430. Not bad for a home built 262 block with a 283 crank, running hillborn injection, vertex mag, brodix heads on gas. We were looking for 160 so we came real close.

On Sunday, after tech inspection, my cell phone rang and it was Andy Green. We met up with him and his wife Emma at the Black and White (formerly known as the Hideaway). We spent the evening talking about speed and all the issues surrounding it. Andy's wife Emma is a real jewel with a great sense of humor.

On Monday evening, we met a couple Kiwis, Bryan and Warnick, in line to eat at Anna's at the Nugget. We invited them to join us and became fast friends. Through them we met a truely inspirational racer, Tony Christianson, from New Zealand. Tony is a drag racer, sports car racer, has climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and is scheduled to swim under the ice of Antarctica in January. The trick is.........he has no legs! We were told that there were between 800 and 1000 Kiwi's that made the trip to the US for the 60th running of Bonneville. There were 11 race teams from New Zealand this year. We sure enjoyed those guys and gals. I hope they return.

Our race friends from Canada, Steve and Dave Green and the "Original Fast Guys", bumped their record in B Gas Altered to 255 MPH with a terminal velocity of 259. This is done in a VEGA! Our other friends from Tacoma, Eric McClain, had worse luck than us  when their tow vehicle broke down going over Snoqualmie Pass and had to turn back. They left the race car home and came to the races as spectators. Other friend of ours, the Hammonds (Seth and Tanis) brought out their new lakester and went fast right off the trailer. I think they posted a 270 mph run the second time down the track. Bob Linstrom's 332 "Stay in School" car got their record in C Roadster and put Ron Tezinski in the 200 MPH club with a 229 two way average. Two beautiful cars!

All in all, it was a really good Speed Week. Now back to getting the North American Eagle™ ready for some serious speed................Ed

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