Here are a few videos from World Of Speed event 2007.
{mgmediabot}images/stories/video/Markley.wmv|true(Markley Lakester making a 274 mph pass - Click Here for Video)|640|480{/mgmediabot}
{mgmediabot}images/stories/video/TurbineBike2.wmv|true(Turbine Bike at the line, initial fire up and slow start - Click Here for Video)|640|480{/mgmediabot}
{mgmediabot}images/stories/video/Vesco.wmv|true(Team Vesco making it's first pass down the salt since Rick Vesco rebuild - Click Here for Video)|640|480{/mgmediabot}
{mgmediabot}images/stories/video/Creel.wmv|true(Roy Creel making a record return pass with his V4/GCC - Click Here for Video)|640|480{/mgmediabot}
{mgmediabot}images/stories/video/Rains.wmv|true(John Rains looking for traction is his blown Firebird - Click Here for Video)|640|480{/mgmediabot}
{mgmediabot}images/stories/video/Wilson.wmv|true(Aaron Wilson going over 200 mph with this Nitro Powered Buell - Click Here for Video)|640|480{/mgmediabot}

September 15, 2007 Mid-Morning -

We have a new fast time of the meet, the Clark/Smith/Hall/Leggitt machine in AA/BGL, speeds were as follows 2 1/4 - 280mph, 3 - 288 mph, 4 - 303.902, 5 - 308.570 mph and lost about 5 mph exiting slower out the 5 mile. Just about .5 mph under their own record of 309.050 record. Density Altitude this morning is 4020ft, that is what was posted at the ERC trailer.

September 15, 2007 Morning - Pictures

Wow a really cool morning this morning, cool enough a sweatshirt and the heater on for a bit to get the chill off. Record returns were few. Starting with Aaron Wilson, he got the record. He qualified at 203.4 mph on a 178 mph record, his return this morning at 201.7 mph got the record at 202.602 mph. Not enough for the Two Club, he needs a 215+ average. Jeff Bailey on his Buell X1 working on upping his 171.892 mph record just got it with a return of 171.5 mph against his 173.616 mph qualifier, established new record at 172.591 mph. John Rank, Salt Dog Racing, in AA/GMR made another successfull record, upping it to 267.756 mph.. This was an old Rnk Salmen Record. John Stege with the SC-G Sidecar ran just an outstanding run, on the rev limiter the whole way, backed up his 194 mph qualifier went 203 return for a 199.021 average. If he gets this back in line he could make the 200 mph club this meet. The El Camino with Todd Lowe driving upped his record to 188.075 in AA/CGC. Ron Jay running the little 250 Sprint upped his record he already set at this meet to a 89.176 record in A/PG 250.
Back to the qualifiers, one of the first ones was the Nascar tye bodied car, spun it about 6 times again this morning on their first pass today.

September 14, 2007 Afternoon - Pictures -

Well it is a slow day. Biggest news is the Dan Wright Streamliner with the twin engined Suzuki's wrecked. Driver is ok, not sure if it was Dan or Cris driving, just before the two, it got sideways and rolled once or twice. The Clark/Smith/Hall/Leggitt AA/BFL had another 296 mph pass. This is still top time of the meet.

Tom Bryant got the Tom Thumb Special back in order and made a shakedown pass, went back to the line then came back to the pits. Higgenbothem/Allen Blown Gas Streamliner ran a 276 mph run. This may have been one of the fastest passes for this vehicle. Aaron Wilson requalified the Nitro Harley at 203 mph. There was a Nascar bodied car running in the 176 range, then had a spin. That is about it for now.

September 14, 2007 Morning - Pictures -

We only had 7 record returns this morning and this is what happened.

They did move the course this morning and record returns were around 9 am when the first vehicle went down the course. Pits are getting very thin as of this morning. Most of the 130 club cars are gone which thinned it out.

Would also like to report on our Australian friends Richard Assen running a Turbo Hayabusa are doing great. Yesterday they ran 217 mph and 221 mph. They are anxious to put some more boost in it and go faster. Way to go guys.

September 13, 2007 Evening - Pictures -

Well I didn't get around much today, due to the technical difficulties stated earlier. Short on pictures and some runs. I did make my way to Tom Bryants pit. The scene wasn't good. Fuel system problems led to a burnt piston. Parts were being delivered to Wendover airport this evening and they will get it back together Friday.

Ed Mabry brought three bikes, and another that was in their Texas posse. Two of Ed's bikes broke, and the worst was the 605 Blue Triumph bike which had a fire causing burns on the rider. One of his three survived the week, and that is because it was being used for parts to fix the other bikes.

One of the 300 mph + hopefull streamliners is on the way home from a single pass at the event around 240 mph. Driver had to return home so they will be pulling out for the rest of the meet. They worked hard on this liner the first day, and didn't really have a huge problem during the run, I heard it was just a bad tune up, no hurt parts. They also brought a second 300+ capable streamliner, but it never went to the line.

The Turbine bike ridden by Garren Frantzen is done for the meet. The fastest pass for the bike was 158 mph. They had a problem of getting too much salt in the turbine to continue running. The stated they would be back with another turbine bike in future that has a bigger turbine and two speeds, and obvioulsy a fix for the intake.

The ante is up on the fast time of the meet with the Clark/Smith/Leggitt AA/BGL Lakester running 296 mph in the second mile.

Rick Vesco made a second pass with the #444 V4/GS on the Creel/Buck record of 204 mph running 194 mph in the third timed mile.

Not much in the impound tonight only 7 vehicles total. Aaron Wilson on the Nitro 1650cc APS/PF pulled out of the trailer with a 207 mph run. John Rains switched classes to the E/BGC and ran 264 mph on his own 257 mph record from Speedweek. Utah Valley State College with Tod Low driving qualified on their own Speedweek record of 151 mph with a 170.195 mph run with this 1969 El Camino in the AA/CGC. MRJ Racing with Mark Miller behind the wheel put up a 220.184 mph qualifier, I am unclear in the classic class for this vehicle with their 1980 Camaro. The Creel/Buck V4/VFCC ran a 157 mph qualifier. Speed Dreamin E/PP #6233 pickup went 120.956 mph. Bob Ragsdale, ear shattering, C/CBFALT Blast from the Past Studebaker went 228.873 mph.

September 13, 2007 Early Afternoon- Pictures -

Well got just about everthing downloaded to spare computer to start being fully functional. The video again, will probably not happen. I just uploaded 100 pictures from yesterday.

September 13, 2007 Mid-Morning- Pictures -

Ok on to the record return runs this morning. This is most of them I missed a few. Stege Machine APS-SC 1350cc sidecar had a down run of 173 mph and returned at 170 mph giving him a 172 record. Jeff Bailey in APS-PG 1650cc Buell X1 had a down run of 171.703 mph and returned at 172.082 for a 171.8 record. Susan Wilson on their A-PG 1350cc bike down run of 166.010 and returned at 164.1 for a 165.3 mph record. Disorderly Conduct D/STR went down at 195 mph and returnd at 198 mph for a 197.001 mph record. Tim Schoeney Phase IV Motorsports H/FMS went down at 133.028 mph and returned at 134.7 for a 133.8 record. John Rank Salty Dog Racing in AA/GMR went down at 267 mph and returned at 265 mph for a 266 record. John Rains went down at 258 mph and returned at 270 mph. Dan Webster running XF/BFCC went down at 181.167 mph and returned at188 mph for a 184 mph record.

September 13, 2007 Morning -Pictures -

Well the hits just keep on coming for Landracing.com. Last night I tried to update the site and my motherboard power chip broke. This is where the power cord connects to the laptop. So went down to the Pilot to find some soldering tools, and at 5 am this morning I gave up. I took the motherboard and frustratingly stomped on it. So that ,laptop is dead for good. I just happened to have my race laptop in the truck. Well this laptop is old. No internal wireless card. And Pilot does not sell a wireless cards. Got to the pits, borrowed Aaron Wilsons laptop, downloaded needed software for my wireless card I use to do the updates. You may ask where were my install disks are, well they are in the race trailer with the broken race bike. So long story, but short version is im back in business for text updates and today while runs are being made ill download the needed software for pictures. I also have the morning return runs that i'll update when I get the borrowed computer back to Aaron.

September 12, 2007 Afternoon – Pictures -

Well I sure wish I had some super exciting speeds to report, however I don’t have much.

Charles Markley has had some close speeds to the Hammond record of 280 mph. His first pass was 274 mph and a second pass of 271 mph and now a third pass of 270 mph. They are close just not there yet. I believe that is top speeds for the meet so far.

Speaking of the Hammonds, they suffered catastrophic failure for the second meet in a row. This is a rare occurrence for the No Nitro Hammond team.

Freedom Harley Davidson V-Rod entry with Gary Mitchell piloting the bike had an accident just before the 2 mile marker. Seems like a rear tire went flat, got into a uncontrollable wobble and went down with the bike. Rider suffered some broken bones, and was transported to Salt Lake City Hospital. Rider is ok.

George Nielson driving the big Highway Hauler Ye Ole Dragon make a spectacular start, leaving the long black smoke cloud, only managed 98 mph. Pulled theright and believed he left parts on the course.

The Turbine bike made its first pass of the meet, it was nothing earth shattering but did the required first stage of licensing going 140 mph. I will have video of that up tonight.

Susan Wilson riding the NRHS A-PG bike has a great run of 166.5 mph on the 1997 Vance Breeze record of 163.8 mph. They stated it was just a world of difference on course conditions from the BUB meet, you can actually twist the throttle and it will go.

Rick Vesco got to make the first run in the newly rebuilt Vesco Family Streamliner number #444 car. Running the same type of engine that his dad, John Vesco, ran in the car. It is in the V4/GS class with a record of 203 mph Creel/Buck record. His first pass for the newly rebuilt car was 184.989 mph. Also will have video of that later.

The multiple tow rigs that got stuck pulling out a motor home during Speedweek, really did a number on the salt on the right hand side of the course. When that happened there was already corrective action in the works to repair that area. I don’t know the exact details of the resolution, but I do know that dump trucks full of salt from the mining company, will be brought out to repair that area. So no matter what the rumors have said or are saying a resolution is already been made.

I hope to have more to say later tonight. I will make a pass thru impound and find out who has made some qualifying passes for records.

September 12, 2007 Morning – Pictures -

The morning here is just marvelous, cool temperatures and a light breeze. The 9 am drivers meeting was short and sweet. Racing started approx 10:30 am with vehicles going down the course. The course is as good as speedweek, so the fast cars that are here should be able to put down some pretty good speeds.

Rick Vesco has finished the restoration of the #444 car. Named the “Little Giant” he is using his dad’s 175 inch model A ford Engine. Rick Vesco is the driver of the car during this meet.

Just a couple long course passes so far during the meet. Larry Deitrich with his 2004 Infinity G-35 coupe had a pass lower speed then expected from Larry, who is battling a pretty bad cold, went 206 mph in the last mile. I think his expectations for the car is 230 mph plus.

John Rains who rarely disappoints, running E/BFALT, with his 1989 Pontiac TransAm had a last mile speed of 260 mph which qualifies him on a 248 mph record which is his own record.

As the events happen I’ll try to put as much info as I can out during the day. I would suspect every couple of hours

Tuesday Spet 11, 2007 Evening

Well it looks like the course conditions are pretty darn good for the event. Motorcycle racers who attended the BUB race say the conditions so far are twice as good as what the had the week before. USFRA officials are using the Course #2 from Speedweek, which they felt was the better of the two courses.

The pits filled in very nice so far with entries. The amount of entries is not exact, but looks like about 100 LSR race vehicles and about 100 other entries in various categories. (130 club, 150 club and barstool vehicles)

The inspection lines seemed to go pretty fast. There have been a few virgin entries at this event on the car side, as well as a few new bikes. Jon Wennerberg was the sole motorcycle inspector and was a little overwhelmed. Officials asked if I could step in and help Jon to get a few of the inspections done. There is one bike in particular that caught my eye and it is I believe the first Turbine powered motorcycle on the salt ever. This vehicle is named Project TigerFire. The 300+ hp Rolls Royce turbine engine is the powerplant and ridden by Garron Frantzen.

This particular bike does have a production run of 17 bikes, and is the prototype bike that was platform for a similar bike Jay Leno has. Garron fired the bike up in the inspection area so the lanyard could be tested for the race officials. I wasn’t expecting what I heard, and unbelievable roar from the bike makes it one of my favorites on the salt. Just across the way from this bike in the technical inspection area was the John Rains vehicle and the Seth Hammond vehicle, when the bike fired and roared to life with the high pitched whine, you should have seen all the 200 mph hats pop around the corner to see what hell was going on in the bike area.More to come as Wednesday is the first day of racing.

Tuesday Sept 11, 2007 Morning

World of Speed is upon us, with today being inspection day for the racers. Wednesday is the first scheduled day of racing on what the USFRA officials is a good 7 mile course. Landracing.com will be there to cover the event.

I missed the BUB event last week due to ECU problem on the motorcycle. It has been one hell of a ride this year so far, and mostly the ride has been off the bike. This is the year of years for me paying my dues; either from my stupidity, bad luck or as some of the veterans say paying tribute to the salt gods.

Speedweek was ok, set a record and threw the number three-rod making a nice sight hole into the cases. When they go, they really go and chew of everything within rod throwing distance. On top of that I had a handling problem so when I returned from Speedweek the bike was torn completely down to the frame to check every bearing on the bike. They were all good, so the next step in the frantic install to make the BUB meet only two weeks later was find and install a new suspension system. A new shock was installed on the rear, and machine work was needed to make it fit, a bolt on shock for the application was not even a option. A call to Race Tech and I got some new springs for the front forks and those were installed. Ok now on to the motor, the Carrillo rods I was running in the motor were a one off set and are not a stocking item for the aftermarket rod giant Carrillo. Motor went together with a set of JE pistons and stock rods. And besides the bike falling over during the motor install which ended up breaking an ignition coil, fuel pump, shift lever and stator cover it went pretty well. If you can consider that well. A one day air package arrived from my brother Joe with parts from his bike to fix mine. John Gowetski aided in the machine work and getting parts welded to fix the other stuff that broke. Cool bike is coming together, Stainless arrives from Wichita, Kansas to help finish and accompany me to the BUB meet where I was attempt FIM records. You would think that all that happened so far, everything else would be smooth sailing from there. Wrong. I hooked up a couple wires wrong and fried the ECU just days before leaving for the event. Now this is really starting to suck. A call Friday morning to Haltech and about $1400 later I new ECU was to be shipped One Day Air, Saturday Delivery and AM service. WRONG. A error in the shipping department only sent it on day air with NO Saturday delivery. FU^&*^%%*^ . Monday is holiday, so I wouldn’t get until Tuesday. Entrants were calling me giving me salt condition reports and they were not good. I had on bad handling bike during Speedweek and the honest answer is I may not have solved anything by racing on a bad track. While my wife and her parents were sitting in the garage on Sunday and motorcycle came racing up to the house and instead of grabbing clutch he grabbed a handful of front brake and endo’d the bike right in front of the house. Ok I take this as a sign.I sent Stainless home back to Wichita, Kansas with him returning this past Saturday for final check over and a trip to the Dyno before we leave for World of Speed.

New ECU was installed and vehicle runs, sweet. Things are finally starting to turn my direction and im a happy camper. Saturday night Aaron Wilson, owner of NRHS (http://www.nrhsperformance.com) , offers his dyno for us to use for the bike. Well after the first couple passes and blow radiator hose, we found the motor created a nice water injection system for itself in cylinder #3. Blown head gasket. Well things can’t get much worse then this right? We traveled back to Denver and just parked the trailer at 1:30 AM and we would decide what to do the next morning. Well SHI^&*^. The bike is laying over in the trailer, bent the subframe for the body, oil and gas everywhere. We finally get the bike in the garage and start tearing down the motor for inspection and make a decision. This is Sunday. Well it’s my last head I have for the bike and we found it is warped. Stainless found a friend in Denver that had a mill, and he milled the head. Ok by Sunday night it’s all back together, new headgasket, new surfaces and it sounds very crisp. I call Aaron back and ask to use the dyno again. Which he said sure, but it has to be after 5 pm, due to the business area he is in. So we fiddle all morning, pack trailer and head up is way about 40 miles away. It’s about 7 pm and we pull into Aaron’s place, only to find the freaking bike is on it’s side again. Didn’t hurt anything this time. We get it on the dyno and make the first pull naturally aspirated; we disconnected the turbo charge tube. 6000, 7000, 8000, race gas smells so good, 9000, 10000, blubbered for a second, 11000, 12000 chop the throttle and the bike quits running. Won’t restart. Pulled plugs out and guess what, cylinder #3 again. Not sure what happened other then it’s dead. If I knew the salt gods were after me I would have just installed a couple junk motors, not that these weren’t, and blew them right away and kept the semi built on for later. So naturally this ended our attempt for World of Speed. We headed back to Denver and dropped the trailer, unloaded the truck and found someplace to eat and left town as spectators for the World of Speed event around 11 pm.

So Landracing.com is at the event reporting and taking pictures for your satisfaction, without a race bike. URRRRR. We are just now pulling to the Truck Stop exit for the salt at 9:58 AM. Pictures and some text will come later. Have fun.

Official word from the USFRA is as follows:

Sunday 9/09/07
USFRA volunteers have a good 7 mile course ready to run on. Pit layout, milemarkers installlation and more is ongoing Sunday.
Salt conditions and weather forecast look Execllent for World of Speed.
See you on the Salt!!

9/07/07
Today USFRA volunteers begin grooming the World of Speed Course. Local weather forecast is for dry clear weather with daily highs in the 80's. Salt conditions and weather forecast look Execllent for World of Speed.

{mgmediabot}images/stories/video/Rains.wmv|false(John Rains looking for traction - Click here to play)|400|300{/mgmediabot}