Speed Week August 2009 was my first trip to the Bonneville Salt Flats. Growing up around cars and being a gearhead, I instantly fell in love with the variety of vehicles and the ingenuity that this type of racing had to offer. It was not the same exact vehicle as everyone else had, or the one with the most money that came out with the record. My second trip was to World of Speed in 2011, where I was introduced to the 130mph club and the 36hp Challenge. I was excited as a VW fan that there was a special place for them to run and be competitive. At the time this was the only place a VW could really compete with the small displacement and dated technology. Once home I began to plan a build to compete in this Challenge. I slowly collected parts and talked with other gearheads on engine design and how we could make power with a 36hp engine. Somewhere throughout these years the SCTA voted and opened the ?Classic? category to foreign vehicles. This suddenly opened a bunch of small displacement records that were obtainable by these air-cooled engines. I decided that I wanted to pursue this direction and pushed the 36hp parts to the side.
2 Years ago, my good friend Chris Mursick wanted to build a 36hp engine. I looked through what parts I had left and I found a set of special Blackline Racing lifters. I had already sold my Okrasa heads, special 36hp stroker crankshaft, and big bore pistons and cylinders. Chris asked what I wanted for these special 36hp lifters. I told him, ?All I want is 1 ride at over 100mph.? Chris and Juan built this 36hp engine and were able to both get in the 36hp ?1? club and even set an SCTA record with it.
Over this last winter Chris asked me, ?Are you ready for that 100 mph run yet?? We made plans that he would freshen up the engine and bring it to World of Speed 2019. This was the first time that I would show up to Bonneville with no engine in the car. We arrived on Friday the 13th and began to install the engine. We wrapped it up and Juan got to tuning and setting up the carbs. By the end of the day we had passed tech and had our plan setup.
I would run first as a tuning run and then Keriann would go second and try to beat my time and get on the Newport trophy for the fastest 36hp of the event. Keriann really wanted to go over 100mph as she was only able to run 96mph before the course was shut down for wind in 2018 while setting the H/CPRO record. We went to the starting line and I got ready to go. My first run was 77.165 mph and the air fuel gauge showed really rich. We jetted down a few sizes and on the second run I was able to hit 102.319 mph and gain entry into the 36hp 100 mph club.
Next it was Keriann?s turn. The air/fuel gauge still showed rich so we changed the jetting again. Keriann?s first run was 99.709 mph. We went to the smallest jets we had and she then ran 99.998 MPH at the end of the day. Just .002 mph off! The next morning, we expected the air to be better so we went back a few jet sizes. Her first run of the day was 99.150 mph. We changed jetting again and got back in line. 98.251 MPH?now we were going the wrong direction. We decided to go back to the original jets I ran with and I added 5 psi to each tire. She was leaving hard off the line and leaving 2 black rubber lines down the salt. On the 5th run the engine bogged down hard and I thought it was going to be a slow run. When we picked up the timing slip it was 98.979. She was excited that even with the bog she was still able to get up to 98.9 MPH. She said let?s run back to line and try for the last run. The wind was picking up and they had already stopped running motorcycles for the day. They were just about to stop cars for the day due to side wind. She got strapped in the car and down the course she went. On the 6th and final run of the event she ran 102.041!!! We were all so happy hearing them announce the speed we all screamed as I threw the CB radio across the van. She did it!
We could not have done this without the help of our great friends Chris Mursick and Juan Cole. With their help and a lot of work we were both able to make it into the elusive Bonneville 36hp ?1? club, have a great trip, and make lots of great memories.
