TV's Jesse James fraudulently claims besting BMW's FIA ratified world record

[McRat]

Thinking of hydrogen as a "clean" fuel is a bit scetchy.  Commercial hydrogen comes from refining petroleum IIRC.  Sure it burns clean, but what happened to the all the carbon that used to be attached to it?  It still gets burned, so the net outcome isn't much different than just burning the gasoline to begin with, it just moves the tailpipe.

Most hydrogen is made from natural gas.
Why there is so much hype about hydrogen as a fuel and not natural gas is beyond, me but I guess you don't get grants to research a fuel that is already used for vehicles.

I stand corrected.  But yes, they would be better off just burning the natural gas as far as "clean fuels" goes.  You can make diesel from natural gas too, I have a 55g drum of it sitting here that I need to test sometime.  Rumor has it that it makes a little more power than pump diesel.

[Lil HP]

Some good info here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen

[High Gear]

McRat.

You are right as usual. It is up the powers that be in the sanctioning bodies to share/recognize the rules/standards of others. And that will never happen.

Gary

[bak189]

Back in the late 1960's....early 1970's I worked for Pacific Lighting Corp. while there was involved in
Dual Fuel Inc. in R&D work in making vehicles run on compressed natural gas.......we did a lot of work
on making busses (diesel) run on CNG.....in fact many cities at this time still use CNG for their local transportation needs.  If set up properly CNG will give great power in both diesel and petrol engines.......and it is very clean burning.

In regards to Mr. JJ, I have met him several times in past years, and he has alway worked very hard being the "All American Bad Boy"....I know he is in "show business" so the persona he presents is part of the "business"  I fully understand that.....However, in working the Custom Chrome Show in Germany, Mr. JJ was to be the big attraction and when interviewed on the podium by the promotor of the show
he made a complete a##&s out of himself to the point that the many Europeans attending the dealer show just walked out of the interview hall......any respect I had for the man and what he has done....or will do in the future... is gone.  

[Stainless Two]

Ben Jordan did run a hydrogen vehicle at the salt.  I am sure that Stainless can recount the experience, (and the general panic...LOL), that resulted.

[RogerL]

BAK189,

if you are interested in CNG, check out my website www.lessmanracing.com. i ran a 311 with a peak speed of 324 last September with at least one dead cylinder. think we have the problem fixed, engine is due back at my shop in a couple of weeks and we will be getting ready for the WOS in September.

Roger L

[panic]

hydrogen car at Bville and MAKE HIS OWN FROM THE SALT WHILE THERE

Sodium chloride > hydrogen requires nuclear fission.

[Speed Limit 1000]

Ben Jordan did run a hydrogen vehicle at the salt.  I am sure that Stainless can recount the experience, (and the general panic...LOL), that resulted.

The car was driven by a USAF Tsgt. in 1981

[desotoman]

How does that famous song go, oh yea

Hooray for Hollywood !!!!


Tom G.

[RichFox]

hydrogen car at Bville and MAKE HIS OWN FROM THE SALT WHILE THERE

Sodium chloride > hydrogen requires nuclear fission.

I take it you mean that to cheaply produce large quantity's of hydrogen from water cheaply  you would need nuclear fission. And not actually what you said? I just watched some guy make hydrogen and oxygen from water and salt and a battery on the science channel. Demonstrating how to make rocket fuel on Ganymede.

[McRat]

How does that famous song go, oh yea

Hooray for Hollywood !!!!


Tom G.

I've raced at a few diesel events where they had TV coverage, but it seems everytime it doubles the length of the event.  And should you get interviewed, there is only a slim chance you'll be on the air, and it stops you from working on your stuff.  They'll film 8 hours of stuff for a 22 minute show.   But it certainly helps on a race resume if you can list media coverage, so I still get my hopes up.

If anyone saw "Dateline"? a couple days ago about Ari Squire crushing that kid under a truck to pull an insurance scam, they wanted to interview me since I did the tuning for his sledpulling truck and talked with him quite a bit before the killing.  I declined to be interviewed, because his murder of that innocent kid had nothing to do with motorsports.

[1212FBGS]

i guess there is a little pissing maych going on over this deal.... i got this email a couple of days ago...

----- Original Message -----
From: LandSpeed Louise
To: News Alert
Cc: tom.kowaleski@bmwna.com
Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 10:54 PM
Subject: TV's Jesse James fraudulently claims besting BMW's FIA ratified hydrogen-powered World Record Speed Record

TV's Jesse James fraudulently claims besting BMW's FIA ratified hydrogen-powered World Record Speed Record
Cable TV personality Jesse James claims he set the world record for hydrogen-powered vehicles on June 16th on the southern California El Mirage dry lake.

The claim is without merit since the activities were conducted without benefit of any motorsports sanctioning authority. The vehicle was neither inspected, nor certified and all the timing personnel were on the James TV payroll.

World speed records require two runs over a one-mile course within one hour. James was 5,148 feet short -- being timed one-way for a total of 132 feet; he made only three or four passes over an eight to ten-hour period. Any world record holder will tell you it’s quite a technical feat to hold speed for a full mile.

The baseless speed stunt was reportedly for "the season-ending episode of James's TV show, Jesse James is a Dead Man." The episode is set to air in early August.

James claims to have bested the FIA ratified BMW HR2 record of 185 mph. The BMW HR2 race car set 9 international and FIA-ratified land-speed records for hydrogen cars at the Miramas Proving Grounds in France .. The BMW HR2 is one of the few hydrogen cars developed with internal combustion engine (ICE) technology instead of fuel cell technology.

Mr. James efforts count for absolutely nothing on the world motorsports stage and amount to little more than a self-promoting “TV racer” PR stunt since he chose to ignore the sport's sanctioning rules that have applied to all records certified for the past 80 years.

When contacted to explain the fraudulent claim, James responded with a short crude retort that reminded this writer that vulgarity is indeed the refuge of a destitute mind.

 Speedy Regards,


"LandSpeed" Louise Ann Noeth

 
Studio: 314.692.0247 C.S. T.

Mobile: 805.312.0893 C.S. T.


Member: Society of Professional Journalists, American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters, Motor Press Guild, Society of Automotive Historians, Western Automotive Journalists, Society of Land Speed Racing Historians

www.landspeedproductions.biz

 
"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body; but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!"
P Please consider the environment before printing this email.

[Speed Limit 1000]

Ben Jordan did run a hydrogen vehicle at the salt.  I am sure that Stainless can recount the experience, (and the general panic...LOL), that resulted.

Look to the left Ben's little Abarth that ran Hydrogen. Mechanical injection, turbo and timing to TDC I sure miss Ben. He was a real interesting person. One of a kind.

[Gwillard]

hydrogen car at Bville and MAKE HIS OWN FROM THE SALT WHILE THERE

Sodium chloride > hydrogen requires nuclear fission.

I take it you mean that to cheaply produce large quantity's of hydrogen from water cheaply  you would need nuclear fission. And not actually what you said? I just watched some guy make hydrogen and oxygen from water and salt and a battery on the science channel. Demonstrating how to make rocket fuel on Ganymede.

If you want to get hydrogen from sodium chloride you would need to break down each element into it's sub-atomic particles, i.e. electrons, protons, etc. They could then rearrange and some hydrogen would result. Nuclear fission would be one way.
Producing hydrogen from water merely requires passing an electric current through water. Sodium chloride dissolved in the water enhances the effectiveness. But it is still a very energy inefficient method and you would still need a way to pressurize the gas in order to carry it onboard.

[velocity]

The point of this thread was to inform the LSR community of a liar and a cheat. To claim and vigorously publicize a World Record, any record, without benefit of independent sanction and observation, is to insult the efforts of all those who were willing to be judged by their abilities on an even playing field.

Having watched some people go to their deaths attempting to set a record, the idea of staying quiet while some TV personality hijacks the sport's integrity is not possible for me.

Let's be clear, I have no axe to grind with the man, the machine or the fuel choice. I have long been an advocate of hydrogen, writing a national award-winning article in 1986 about its virtues if the cost factor could be overcome. Had James claimed he had exceeded the current FIA World record with a one-way pass then this discussion would not be taking place and we might instead be wondering if he could set a record. Instead, he chose to disrespect every speed record holder -- World, National and BNI International -- by claiming "membership" in a place where he hasn't even visited.

Case in point: Ohio State University's (OSU) Buckeye Bullet exceeded Pat Rummerfield's White Lightening electric World Record but OSU never claimed a world record. Instead, they went back and ran under world record rules and prevailed. Rummerfield, in the meantime, was so impressed with the team's integrity and show of speed that he publicly announced that the Buckye Bullet Team was indeed the fastest even if they hadn't yet set the FIA World Record.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is how fair play works, with integrity and honesty, not grabbing what you want and shouting it to the world because you have well-financed PR machine to do whatever you please at the expense of others.

LandSpeed Louise Ann Noeth