Hello List,
Here is the second episode of my exploits with the D/roadster.
Tom, Redding CA - #216 D/GCC
Part 2...
Speedweek 1964 was the debut of our new 1929 roadster sporting a VW
front axle and improved areo package. Not that too much can be done to
improve a roadster, but in this car the bottom was clean, the engine was
mounted higher and there was nothing protruding below the front axle
line. 1964 was not a good year speed wise, at Bonneville, because of
suspension problems that had to be redone once we returned home. We did
get the car sorted out and determined improvements needed. After the
repairs, we came back to the Lakes in October and post our best time yet
at 172.74 MPH.
Our new car was finally sorted out making 1965 a good year for us. We
ran 173.41 MPH at El Mirage and also set a new D/GR record at Bonneville
at 176.774 MPH and a best one-way run of 178.92 MPH.
At the first Lakes of the season in 1966, we decided to try the D/FR
class. We had been running 33% nitro at the half-mile drags at the
Riverside Raceway with great success and having a ball. We had posted a
run of 166.66 in the half-mile, running for Top Eliminator at each meet
and winning the top spot on one occasion, by defeating the Sadd Bros
roadster which was powered by a Supercharged Dodge Hemi. At El Mirage we
ran 176.12 MPH which was OK, but the engine kept running for a = mile or
so after shut down. We went back to the D/GR class for the rest of the
season posting a best of 173.74 MPH at El Mirage and 177.51 MPH at
Bonneville which qualified on our own record, but we were unable to make
the two-way average above the record.
During the 1967 season, we ran both D/FR (188.67 MPH) and D/GR
(172.41MPH) at El Mirage. We ran both classes at Bonneville as well. The
D/GR speed was 172.42 MPH and the D/FR best was 171.75 MPH. At
Bonneville, I was never able to keep the engine running on all cylinders
through the lights while running nitro. I did have some exciting short
rides, however.
We moved to Redding (Northern) CA in May of 1968. Opening a new
business, and a burglary of our shop on Memorial Day Weekend 1968, set
us back a couple of years in our racing efforts. I lost the fuel
injection, distributor and cylinder heads off the car during the
burglary. It was 1970 before another trip to Bonneville was made. That
trip turned out to be a disaster. I had borrowed an fuel injection from
a friend and ended up breaking the engine in the warm-up area before I
made run down the course. Believe me when I say that absence from the
racing scene for a couple of years is difficult to overcome.
We had lost our Lakes record to Harold Johansen in 1967 and then the
Bonneville record in 1969. I never again held a record with the
roadster. For the next few years, we ran speeds from 187.891 MPH to
199.137 MPH running both the D/GR and D/FR (running alcohol only)
classes. I had purchased the Pierson Coupe and ran it as well as the
roadster at Speedweek in 1980 and '81. We retired the roadster after the
1981 season.
Next episode will be the Pierson Coupe years.
|