In a message dated 01/30/2001 6:05:51 PM Pacific Standard Time,
nafzger@vtc.net writes:
<<
Doug,
I was mulling over your comments while eating and I must say I am somewhat
confused and humbled by you kind comments about my stature in Land Speed
Racing.
I have spent a lifetime as a "tinkerer" with cars and have never held a job
that requires me to do any more than drive one.
I do feel however that differences in the course, density altitude, etc.
are just part of the moving target that make this sport such a challenge.
Conscious changes in the standards required to establish a record are
another thing altogether. I understand why one way runs were established at
Bonneville. No one should be asked to risk the vehicle and maybe their life
just because of a standard. I'm just saying since the records were set with
a different standard of accomplishment, that should somehow be noted. A
simple comment like " Records set after xx/xx/xxxx were two runs in the same
direction because of safety concerns based on salt condition".
If that didn't happen it wouldn't upset me. I'm just venting a frustration
I have. Lot's of good points have come out in this discussion. Maybe some of
them will bear fruit.
Howard
>>
Howard,
I believe Mike Manghelli has a post on the subject of why we run the
second leg of a record run over the same real estate and going the same
direction.
We seem to have more entries and less salt to run on each year. BNI would
love to have enough salt to run opposite direction record passes on, but is
thwarted by the lack of racing surface.
I'm attaching a response I got from SCTA VP Roy Creel. I don't have time
to get his permission first, so I hope he will understand............Doug King
PS: I love it that I can say my V-4 200 Club record was "The hard Way (3way)"
Excerpted from a letter to Doug King from Roy Creel
But when the salt was so bad, we couldn't give a fair shake to try to do
2 ways all the same morning. Each year we try to arrange the course where we
can have return runs the opposite way, but there has yet to be enough salt
(for the long course anyway). In 2000 we were right next to the dike at the
start end. I alone drove over 100 miles looking for a place to put the
courses. It's real tough...like playing poker with no draws..you gotta make
the best of what ma nature deals ya each year...and each year it's different.
We were a little better this year in that we were able to move the long
course onto the pit side. Anybody wants to ride 2nd seat with us for about 4
days laying out courses and setting up, including 2 trips up in June and
July, using GPS , getting lost, getting stuck ( thats how you find out how
much is hard!) etc. Come on along! It seems that the salt is unlimited, but
we are lucky to squeeze our courses in. Hell, in 99 we had to hire a
roadgrader at $120 per hour to try to smooth all we had for a short course.
RC
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