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« Last post by Stan Back on May 03, 2024, 08:48:29 PM »
Well, here goes -- after all these years . . . a little background . . .
The car we're involved with is the #3076 D(orC)/Street Roadster (San Berdoo Roadsters), a car I owned for 57 years.
One morning in August of 2002, I made my first SCTA run. It was to qualify for the long course. We did. Made over the D/STR record speed that afternoon and backed it up the next morning. It's a "real" 28 Model A Roadster. Got doors. Got fenders. Proud of it.
Set C and D records 6 more times up to 2009 at both El Mirage and SpeedWeek (Yes, that's the best way to spell the event to protect your "name" -- all in one word). I spent over 10 years being the Bonneville program editor -- which, among other things, making phone calls to entries across the globe who couldn't tell their Motorcycle from a Comp Coupe.
C/Street Roadster is rough, highly-competitive. If I remember, there've been times with more than 10 entries competing in that particular class. Had a great time. So, as a driver, in 2008 I bumped the record up to 210 and change and knew that was about as fast as the car could go without spending lots of money. I saw the writing on the wall with "Street Roadsters" with plastic bodies, smoothed Coupe' Pillars, non-functioning doors, headlight lenses lapped over the headlight buckets, laid-back grille shells and more. I decided to retire. I'd done so much more that I thought I would and didn't want to spend the bucks to maybe keep up with the newer cars.
After a while Willie Martin asked to join the team and he'd help with expenses and maybe break my still standing 193.390 record. So here we come to 2016 and he runs 194.194 better and we go to Impound.
DW comes in with a new apprentice (MRK) who I did not know. He's closely watching the affair while DW conducts the ceremonies.
"Those back fenders look too wide."
"Better ask Henry about that." (Why in the hell would I widen the fenders -- there're the widest ones in the category?)
"Henry who?"
"Henry #$@& Ford -- he made them."
"The fuel tank is too low."
"It's in the same place it's been in years."
"Here's the rule -- the fuel tank must be above the top of the frame rail.
"It's above the frame rail -- here's the ground, above is the frame rail, above there's the bottom of the fuel tank, as it's always been. (I'd guess that was there to prevent a larger incident if a car's frame rail dropped to the ground.)
"It has to be above the top of the frame rail. I'll get Russ Eyers to come over here.
(5 Minute Break)
Russ comes over, DW explains it to him and again reads the rule adding the words "top of the" frame rail and says, "I'll read it to you Russ." Well, how in the world would Russ have known every word or phrase of every rule in the book. He agrees that it is a little lower than the top of the frame rail.
So we're told that we're done. No fuel check, no displacement check, just told that when you leave Impound there's no way to protest. That's the end of the story.
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