Introduce Yourself

[bak189]

Bob Bakker...here.."one of those sidecar guys"....a Alien (legal) Came to the U.S.A. in 1949 as a 12 year old kid...(After barely making it thru WWII...but that's another story) Became a U.S.A.
citizen in 1954.  Served  in the U.S. Army
(101 Airborne) Raced Bonneville in 1954 on a M/C
...132mph..second run, speed woble fell off..no damage..Spectator at Bonneville for many years after. Solo M/C roadracing with AFM (with Don Vesco, Tony Murphy, Marty Dickerson) Raced AMA Dirt Track, Scambles, (moto-X to you young people)  After college, raced International Moto-X in Europe...got hurt (back, shoulder, arm, enc)
Was building solo and sidecar chassis...started roadracing sidecars with a BMW outfit, went back to Europe, roadraced National and International events....(got good start money in Germany, lots of U.S. service men, promotor could advertise a U.S. Team to help the gate)
Back to the U.S. raced sidecars with AFM and AMA...got married to Linda, my sidecar passenger
(yes, we are still married) AMA made me Sidecar
 Coordinator and asked me to write their rules.
Went back to Bonnevile in 1979 with BNI....raced with BNI till 2003......been racing the BUB since that time.....at 71 years old now, got LarryC driving my sidecars.......4 sidecar records today....
or maybe it is 3....never did get a answer from
Russ or Roy from BNI.............................................
Only part of my "past life" don't want to bore you with the rest....Best of luck to any and all..... racing LSR in 2008

[Dynoroom]

Well I guess it’s my turn in the barrel.
 I’m Mike LeFevers and like many of you as a kid I looked at magazines showing Breedlove and Arfons vying for the Land Speed Record. I knew that they and others had raced at the dry lakes in the past, so imagine my surprise in the late ‘70’s to find out they and many others still did! I had to check this out so off to El Mirage I went and like the rest of you I was hooked. I can’t think of any place else that one could go and meet so many of their childhood hero’s, and they would actually talk to you. I was 21 then. I turned 51 today and am considered a kid by most of my peers at the salt, but that being said I do like to listen to the war stories the “old timers” like to spin from time to time. In between all these years I’ve been involved with many record setting projects and even managed to get a “red hat” for myself, it’s hard to believe.
And we are very lucky to have a web site like this to share all the different ideas and history that is land speed racing. 
Now some more of you lurkers jump on in, we’ll even talk to you…….   

[Bob Drury]

Welcome back to the oldbies, and welcome onboard to the newbies.
  My name is Bob Drury.  I am a 61 year old retired sheet metal worker and live in Vancouver, Wa.
  My background is in drag racing, which included stints crewing on a Top Fuel and Alcohol dragster, a Nostalgia Gas Supercharged car, and building various street rods.
  I first came to the salt in 95 to watch, and got sucked into the salt vortex. On the flight home I knew what I was going to build, spent a year gathering parts, and built the chassis, car and a trailer in 42 weeks by myself while working full time.  Boy, I wish I could re-think a few of the decisions I made building the car, but what the hell, its mine. 
  My passion has always been to try new ideas and not follow the norm, so I built a tube framed 53 Studebaker with a early olds engine running on fuel.
  The car would probably be faster if I would quit tinkering with do-dads and new ideas, but thats what keeps me coming back.  If Rube Goldberg is ever outlawed at Bville, I am gone.  (D.W.-don't get any ideas).
  This is the last place in the world where you can run what you want, and the guy you are trying to beat will give you the advice to do it.
  My only advice to newbies, is come to the salt before you build a vehicle, talk to the people building similar cars or bikes, absorb what they are telling you and read the rulebook twice.  Don't, however, be afraid to try your own ideas, just remember the rule book!  Safety is number one, and number two is you will be adicted for life.            Bob Drury (proudly flying VISA decals since 1996).

[Cajun Kid]

Hello to all: I am Charles Venable a working 45 year old Managing Director  for an Insuranace and Financial Planning Firm. (wish I was retired so I could race and have fun with my cars all day long) I live in Winston-Salem, NC (about two hours from ECTA's Maxton Track) My past racing experiance has been off road motorcycles and then Drag Racing Cars and Bikes from the mid 70's to the early 90's at which time a bike accident left me with 13 broke bones and a long road to recovery.  I am into hot  rods and street rods now. Last year I visited Maxton 3 times and have been hooked on LSR ever since. In keeping with my current streetrod fever, I am building a 1933 Ford Vicky (fenderless hiboy sedan) for the Classic category.  As fate would have it my plans where to be ready for the  Maxton event in April, but with parts coming in after the promised date and other parts being hard to find, it looks like the May event at Maxton is when I will debut the Vicky.  I hope to get to the salt in September for the USFRA  and do the 130MPH and 150MPH  deal..

Hope to meet a bunch of you fine folks in Maxton and then on the salt in the fall.

Chalres

[Geo]

Hi all, Geoffrey Green from Prairie Village, Kansas, the land of Oz.  Dorothy and Toto’s Oz.  The other Oz.  I have been in the automobile world most of my life as a tech, shop owner, dealer service and parts director, foreign auto advisor in China. I’m going back to racing after many years on the concours car circuit with my favorite car the Jaguar.  Drag racing was my favorite with some road racing and circle track.  I have found high speed most enjoyable I am excited about trying some new ideas.  Besides I have a lot of motors from restoring Jaguars I must get rid of and finding the upper limits them seems the best way!  Tried this as a kid with the brick on the gas pedal of some old Triumph and after about 20 minutes I walked away.  It may still be running to this day!  Best time as a kid was playing in the junkyard!

Thanks Jon for getting the forum up again.  I hope limits set on the overrun are forgiving when I race as the first trip down the salt is scary when I think about it.  I look forward to meeting all you old salts and other newbies like me.  I have been reading the progress of many and I am very impressed with what you all are doing and writing about.

I find the 50cc streamliner as wonderful as the blown studes and roadsters as cool as the bikes.  I look forward to your help as I progress into the build this spring and summer.  Kidding me “about stiff upper lip” and asking for “Grey Poupon” in the staging lane is OK, just don’t expect a Newcastle when we’re done.  Well yea we’ll still share the beer.

Geo

[Stainless1]

Go to the fridge and get a cold one, I’ll wait…..

I am Robert Steele from Wichita KS, age 57 and a retired Boeing B-52 field service guy.  A lot of people just know me as Stainless, a nickname I acquired in the service.  Back in 1972, while going to USAF B-52 Tech School in Denver, John Gowetski and I were looking for a car on South Broadway and stumbled into Ben Jordan’s Citroen dealership.  We started helping prepare his new Citroen SM for Speedweek in our spare time.  Going racing at the salt flats was a childhood dream, working on a LSR car was a great start.  I made it to Bonneville with Ben for the first time in 1978, was hooked and in 1980 we put Ben in the record book with the Abarth in I/GT at 120.872 MPH.
In 1984 we converted Ben’s twice crashed rear wheel steering K Gas Streamliner into the Mountain States Automation Bockscar Lakester, and took home the J/GL record.  I crew chiefed and wrenched the car with Kevin Sutton while John and Marty Sutton drove.  In 95 Johnboy entered the 200 MPH Club and Marty in 96.   After Johnboy’s spin in 99, we stretched the Bockscar a foot and I became a driver.  In 2001 I became the third Bockscar driver to enter the 200 MPH club. 
I must admit, ours is a team of bikers, disguised as car guys, the Bockscar has always been a bike with 4 wheels.  We’ve used bike motors from 45 to 96 cubic inches and up to last year they were always normally aspirated.  We are now trying that turbo thing; I’ll let you know how that works out… 
In 2003, I finally built a bike for my oldest son Rob, and he rode it to the 1000 production record.  I changed it to a Modified in 2004 and we chased that until 2006 when it became an Altered through rule changes.  I’ve made several passes on the bike, but chasing the record and Robs goal to get an A bike license has kept the scooter busy.   
In my spare time I’ve been helping Jon with his scooter, which is just baby sitting the bike to get ready while he does web work, interviews, tracks down speeds, gathers info for you guys that didn’t get to the races. so you can keep up with current events. 
I don’t need to tell the other racers, but you new guys need to know LSR is the greatest sport on earth with lots of very helpful people.  Walk the lines and people talk freely about their cars and bikes.  You need something; someone will lend it to you. 
 
Warning, LSR is addictive and will drain your wallet, make people to think you are a couple of bottles shy of a six pack, and likely cause a serious adrenalin rush. 
Be safe, have fun, go fast

[Freud]

Introduce Yourself is one of the best posts ever. I would enjoy it if people would tell where they live. We never know when we may be in their area and need a tow bar.

It's difficult to believe that a rocket launcher could have such a marvelous idea.

Thank You, Michelle Lueders.

FREUD

[GearSpeedKelvo]

I'm Kelvo from GearSpeed Motorsports Philippines.I'll be organizing and building the FIRST Philippine Land Speed Race Car.It will also be the FIRST race car of GearSpeed Motorsports.

[Dr Goggles]

Yeah OK
James Stewart is my name , any joke you care to make about the name will be gladly accepted as a PM , this forum is like a bar now if ya wanna fight ya gotta take it outside so PM me all the Jimmy Stewart jokes......I know you old timers will have a few but I'll wash yer car if I haven't heard it>>>

I am a musician , a guitarist and songwriter ..it used to pay all my bills but I'm not so goodlooking anymore.., I have long been fascinated with cars , restored them , ruined them......got involved in the salt stuff because I just felt that so much other car stuff is kind of , well, meaningless..........I've done just about every job under the sun , delivered papers , picked fruit ,theatre teched in hospitals , animal anaesthetist , labourer ,ran a car resto gig for a while..worked in youth welfare now I work in the drug and alcohol treatment sector and ride a motorbike but I'm not a "bike guy".

I live in the suburb of Sunshine in Melbourne , Australia and no you can't get here by bus......but if any of you are passing by this way let me know......

I came across this forum a couple of years back courtesy of Hawkwind from the DLRA and have to thank Jon for all the work he does and everyone who's ever chipped in with advice for us.

Reverend Hedgash and I had started building our bellytank ( Build Diaries , Australian Bellytank) and we were desperate for information , this was more than we ever hoped for with helpful advice and some great entertaining writers and story tellers . The ebb and flow of various members has been a story in itself and in more ways than one seems to mimic the sport of land speed .

There are counterintuitive aspects to Land speed and this forum has saved a lot of people a lot of development time and money because as one of the great sages says
" don't make the same mistake the first time"...

I love everything about the salt , the characters ,the variety ...the fact that there's little point in "cheating"....I particularly like the oddball and lateral thinkers , sure I like a blown V8 but there is so much more .Burkland to Buddfab I like just about all of it....my favorite car was the Brown-Hooper bellytank from the early fifties....

I love the "give it their all " guys ( I guess I'm one) with the No budget , no money , No Worries! who see this as something incredibly important  , because we all know ....it is.

so ,um ,how was the spelling Slim?

[F104A]

   I use the nick name F-104A because I just happen to be the proud owner of an F-104A. It doesn't look the same anymore because it is painted red with a big Eagle on the side and it's missing its wings and horizontal stabilizer. It does go fast though!
   My name is Ed Shadle and my son Cam and I went to Bonneville for the first time in 1989. We went as part of a crew for the #449 bellytank owned by Gary Calvert. While there, we met Bud Jones who was pitted next to us and was all by himself. He asked if he could get some help so I volunteered. One thing led to another and the next year my name was on Buds car as crew chief. By 1993 I was driving Bud's lakester and also built my own B/STR out of a 27T on deuce rails. Cam and I bought Bud's lakester in about 1997 and we've been running either the lakester or the roadster ever since. I made all the Muroc and a few El Mirage events as well. Love the dirt!
   In the late 40's and early 50's I used to ride in the my uncles stock car (32 5 wdw) while being pulled behind the 49 Lincoln on the way to the stock car races in little towns in North central Washington like Omak, Republic and Wenatchee. In 1955, after we moved to the coast, I built a soapbox derby car. In the late 50's I drag raced at the local airport (50 cents and you could race all night against anyone). In the 60's I went off to the Air Force and later secured a job at IBM as a field engineer. I got crazy in the 70's and decided to break my bones on dirt bikes (OSSA Stilletto)  with scrambles and cross country racing. Having my own little 32 Ford 3 wdw, a 33 Ford 3 wdw and a few other cars in the stables plus building my own Beechcraft Skipper from two wrecked Skippers, keeps me pretty busy. My wife and I have also been involved with Greyhound rescue since 1992. We also spent many years campaigning barrel racing horses and believe it or not, I shoe my own horses.
   In 1995 I somehow got the idea that I could build a car to break the record of 634 MPH. That turned out to be a bust so in 1997, when Andy Green/Richard Noble bumped the record up to 763, it just seemed like someone ought to go after that record. That is when I joined with another crazy guy, Keith Zanghi (former alcohol funny car guy) and bought a junked out F-104A, named it the North American Eagle and began the biggest most complex project of my life. Up to this time, we've conducted a total of 19 test runs at a local airport, Edwards AFB, El Mirage and last October, the Black Rock Desert. So now, we're getting ready to start going really really fast. If you want to keep tabs on the project, our web site address is www.landspeed.com.

[PorkPie]

Introduce Yourself is one of the best posts ever. I would enjoy it if people would tell where they live. We never know when we may be in their area and need a tow bar.

It's difficult to believe that a rocket launcher could have such a marvelous idea.

Thank You, Michelle Lueders.

FREUD

Freud,

if you ever need a tow bar in my area (Heilbronn/Germany) I will be glad to give you a hand and a welcome at my place.....smile.....wait for that this happens......

[depdawg]

Hi to all, depdawg, aka mike henson here, in sunny south flordia. At 62 I still have the bug to drive the black line. Been to the salt, with pals that have cars, and just love it. I dont know about trying a record, but just to drive it, then more decesions, want to first try with a inline six, then move on.
Drag raced in Detroit, as a kid, then moved to so cal, and back into street rods, still have a street car, but want something more. First time to the salt and dirt we a dream come true, went to the 50th at Bonne, what a group of guys. I was able to meet and find out things you can not do in any other form of racing. Thanks. Still learning after all these years.

Thanks

[jdincau]

deleted

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Dr. G, don't you go and get me in any trouble -- I can do that all by myself.  And next time I see a mis-spelled word in something you've written I'll realize it's there to add a bit of spice to the sauce, not for any other reason.

[Woodstock]

My name is Bruce Bliven and go by the handle of Woodstock.
Been a lurker on this website for quite a while so decided to step up and join in.
Have followed LSR for many years and finally got the chance to go to Bonneville as a participant in '99.
Went to Speedweek with a Kenworth T2000, yes the big toys, and raced in the highway hauler class with the Flatout Redracer name.
We were a bunch of Kenworth engineer types who were given the chance to build a truck that CFI would race under the crazy driver of Glenn Brown.
It was an experience never to forget and as we were introduced to "The Salt Gods" on every pass we made with the truck.  Even managed to get the truck stuck in the staging area on the long course...providing some chuckles for the old timers!
Our first pass off the trailer was the fastest with the question to Glenn as how did it go?  His reply was in his Missouri drawl, "Just like going to the grocery store".
The team finally set 2 records At WF that year and still retain one of them which we are still proud of.
I live in a little town in NE Oregon now called Enterprise and hope to make it this year to observe Speedweek.
Jon and mods keep up the good work.... a great website that can't be dupicated or replaced.