Landracing Forum
Loring Timing Association (Maine) => Loring (AFB) land speed venue => Topic started by: 55chevr on January 06, 2024, 09:42:24 AM
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2009 Maine Event. In the pit area we see team Murphy-Slattery Racing's entry number 548 Ford Mustang. Driven by William Murphy to a record speed of 129.772 mph in class F/CBGC (3 Liter/Classic Blown Gas Coupe). Bill set this record at the Inaugural Loring Timing Association event with this small motor 1966 Fastback Mustang and it still stands.
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So you're saying someone should come and break it, right?
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I took it to mean that it was a strong record to break, not disparaging its length of having it.
(For example, my buddy Steve Batchelor's C/Classic Fuel Altered records of Bonneville at 243 and El Mirage at 213, both set in 1992, ain't an easy thing to surpass, now 30+ years in the book. Looking at the B and D records in those categories will confirm that. The El Mirage record surpasses both the A and B records.)
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I would think that some of the 2JZ-engines and such could explode that record but not a lot of folks pursuing smaller displacement records.
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2015 Spring Event. In the hot box ready to run we see team Victory Racing's number 1707 streamliner. Driven by Burt Brown to a record speed of 163.161 mph in class G/GS (2 Liter/Gas Streamliner). Burt had transmission shifting problems and never got a full clean run with this 122 cubic inch streamliner. If I recall correctly, they locked it into 3rd gear and made a pass without shifting to get the speed. As sleek as the aero is on this car the speed potential is almost limitless. Stacy Robey photo.
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It's had a Mercedes OM606 diesel in it for a while & last ran it in 2017 at WOS & set a soft FD/S record of 212. It had a healthy 300+ pass in it but the salt was so rough I could see daylight under the tires after it came off the push truck so we decided to call it like so many others did at that meet.
Burton is so busy with his business that it is on the back burner for a while.
Sid.
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Thanx to both the former posters -- I look forward to every one of them.
Stan
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I was wondering where it went. Seemed to disappear after running at Loring. This crew worked their butts off to get a run in. I agree that 300 is well within the potential for this streamliner. Would love to see it run. Burt and his crew were the most patient bunch I have ever seen when nothing was working right.
Joe
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That body looks like it owes Jack Costella a tip of the fedora.
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There certainly is a connection there, it was built by Jack's cousin for somebody else. Names elude but the guy who owned it lived in Boise & passed away without finishing it. His wife put it on Ebay for sale & that's where Burton found it, it was an unfinished roller body & chassis. Dan Warner put Burton in touch with me here in Idaho to see it I could help since Burton is in Wisconsin. A long story short, Burton flew out to SLC, got the shuttle to BFE-nowhere I-15 Idaho where I picked him up at 2AM in a snow storm. That's a story in it's self & was the first time we'd met. Next day we took my truck & liner trailer to Boise & loaded it up. It spent the next year & a half in my friends hangar here in Lava before he finally got to take it home.
I spent better than 24hrs in a truck with Burton in September last year towing the Salt Cat Jag from Wisconsin to the Blytheville ECTA meet, it's now owned by Marty Schimke who also has a Buick straight 8 lakester & we ran both cars there. Burton is so busy with his business he spent 10hrs of the 12hr return trip on his laptop & phone.
Me! I brought home my 3rd dose of the China virus. muutt
Sid.
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Sid,
The amount of work that went into the engine installation on that car was extraordinary. Burton said he has over 3000 hours in the mechanical work and I don't doubt it. His crew worked non-stop for days at Loring, which I am guessing was the first time out for the streamliner. They encountered just about every issue possible and never lost focus. When it wouldn't shift. They locked into 3rd gear and pushed it off to get a run in.
Joe
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Yeah he had lots of time & money in that combo trying to get it to work & fixing breakages & he didn't even own it. The junkyard Mercedes diesel he has in there now was a step in the right direction.
Sid.
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2016 Maine Event. In the hot box preparing to launch we see Connecticut team "Ron's Hobby Shop" entry 8150. Driven by Ron San Giovanni Jr to a record speed of 179.483 mph in class XF/BFRMR (Flathead Ford/Blown Fuel Rear Engine Modified Roadster). In Stacy Robey's photo, we see Steve Van Blarcom and Ron San Giovanni Sr assisting Jr with the belts and canopy. This belly tank nosed / roadster rear end car has set a huge number of records at Loring, Maxton and Bonneville using a variety of flathead Ford engines. Ron San Giovanni is the renowned expert on competition built flathead Ford engines
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. . . and Ardun hemi-headed flathead Ford and Mercury engines.
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2016 Maine Event. In the hot box preparing to launch we see Connecticut team "Ron's Hobby Shop" entry 8150. Driven by Ron San Giovanni Jr to a record speed of 179.483 mph in class XF/BFRMR (Flathead Ford/Blown Fuel Rear Engine Modified Roadster). In Stacy Robey's photo, we see Steve Van Blarcom and Ron San Giovanni Sr assisting Jr with the belts and canopy. This belly tank nosed / roadster rear end car has set a huge number of records at Loring, Maxton and Bonneville using a variety of flathead Ford engines. Ron San Giovanni is the renowned expert on competition built flathead Ford engines
Great memories 2016 was our first year heading West to Speedweek. The tune up we worked on at Loring helped us establish two very fast records on the salt. By 2017 with our race ARDUN in the car my son and I both entered the 200 MPH club at Bonneville. The time spent running at Loring each year is a big part of our success.
Ronnieroadster
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Ron San Giovanni and the "Ron's Hobby Shop" team built the "Mistress" from a pile of steel tubing and an aluminum aircraft drop fuel tank. Then over a number of years they refined and engineered the car from a Lakester to a Rear Engined Roadster. A tremendous amount of work and engineering went into design and construction to get to where it is today. Just compare the at speed photos. Top is from 2012. Bottom is from 2023. Look at all the metal work. Outstanding. If you get a chance to see it with the skin off look at the outstanding attention to detail they have achieved.
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I had a hand in this one too! :-D
Sid.
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Who would look at that and say "roadster class"? :roll:
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Who would look at that and say "roadster class"? :roll:
SCTA rule book.
Sid.
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Who would look at that and say "roadster class"? :roll:
Look closer there's a 27 Ford roadster body on the rear! Thus Rear Engine Modified Roadster.
Heck when me and my crew helped you years ago at Loring when you had no help you should have looked at our car you would have seen that little detail plus you would have seen the gas burning stock block Ford flathead that runs over 200MPH at Loring and Bonneville.
Ronnieroadster
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Jack, graft a roadster body on the back of your lakester and you will have a REMR... if it's a removable piece you can run it sometimes as a lakester and sometimes as a roadster... as the mood suits you :roll: lol8 :laugh:
:cheers:
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Jack, graft a roadster body on the back of your lakester and you will have a REMR... if it's a removable piece you can run it sometimes as a lakester and sometimes as a roadster... as the mood suits you :roll: lol8 :laugh:
:cheers:
Jack has one problem its not so easy the convert to REMR the rules require a minimum wheel base of 140 inches. Think Jack lakester is a bit shorter.
Ronnieroadster
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I'm well aware of what's being done according to the "letter of the rules". I was just ruminating about the disappearance of "spirit of the rules".
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I appreciate your perspective. There is no section of the rulebook that describes the spirit of a category. Arguably some of the most innovative builders were considered 'impure' by their competitors at the time.
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"spirit of the rules" What the heck dose that mean?
There's no such thing in the rule SCTA book. I suggest you read under Section 1 General Competition Requirements what's written in 1A Technical Inspection.
Also as a history lesson Rear Engine Modified Roadsters a very long time ago {middle of the last century} certainly used surplus body's of a style similar to our very fast race car. :cheers:
Ronnieroadster
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Jack has one problem its not so easy the convert to REMR the rules require a minimum wheel base of 140 inches. Think Jack lakester is a bit shorter.
Ronnieroadster
Why does grafting a bit of roadster body onto a lakester make it unsafe unless you extend the wheelbase?
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Rear engine roadsters were disallowed for years after some bad wrecks. The wheelbase requirements do help make them safer and someone built one and ran time only during the ban to persuade the SCTA to allow them again with modifications to keep them stable.
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The rules are WB 140 to 190.... Modified Roadster has WB rules as well, minimum per engine size to 190 Max.
So if the rules look like you can take a lakester and make it a REMR it's because that's the rules. They make them, we just follow them if you want to run Bonneville...
Ronnie recognized that several years ago and made it work...
Jack could as well, he might have to make a different frame, or figure out a way to mod his, but he could....
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2022 Maine Event. At speed we see the Massachusetts team "Braces Greenhouse" entry number 260 Ford Deuce Roadster. Driven by Ed Brqce to a record speed of 145.108 mph in class B/FR (7 Liter / Fuel Roadster). Ed raced a rear engined roadster named "Found Money" for a number of years before switch over to this more conventional "More Found Money" 32 Ford. Stephen Cyr photo
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Ed ran the Deuce roadster at Maxton before he built the rear engine roadster
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2023 Harvest Event. In the hot box we see team Flying 7's entry number 260. Driven by Marcia Barker to a top speed of 138.436 mph in class E/FL (4 Liter / Fuel Lakester ). Marcia and Frank Walka did a restoration on this historic race car. They were able to find a 260 cubic inch Ford V8 in a salvage yard. Original raced as the Drury-Fowler-Holmes-Kugel lakester at Bonneville in 1964. Raced with the then brand new designed small block Ford 260 engine. It was Hilborn injected, nitro fueled and went 203.50 mph. Not a converted aircraft auxiliary fuel tank as most belly tank lakester were. It was fabricated from sheet metal in a similar design The car was purchased from Land Spreed racer Conrad Halberg, who was the custodian of it for quite awhile. Tom Pease (Chevomet) pitched in with the restoration. Last raced 50 years ago, it is a joy to see this part of history going down the race course.
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Marcia Barker posted a brief history of the lakester. It was built 62 years ago and has an interesting history.
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Photo of the "Baby Whale". This was a tiny lakester.
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2023 Maine Event. In staging area we seem team Chevomet entry number 1812. Driven by Tom Pease to a top speed of 179.409 mph in class C/GCC (6 Liter / Gas Competition Coupe). Tom does fantastic work and has an interesting toy hauler,"The sChOOL BUS". He is also a proud 1st Cavalry Division Vietnam Veteran. Welcome home Tom. Marcia Barker photo.