NASCAR at Bonneville ?

[WZ JUNK]

Has anyone ran a NASCAR car at Bonneville and if so, how fast did it go?  I get a lot of lip locally about what is the big deal about going 200 MPH at Bonneville as NASCAR does it most Sundays on a round track.  I would like to know how they do on the salt.

[k.h.]

Yesterday I was reading that the new head of Bugatti often hits 300 kph on the Autobahn in his McClaren on his way to work.  

It's probably all relative, but in relation to what I do not know.  The grass is always greener somewhere else.  Still, it makes for discussion.

[Bob Beatty]

The late Mark Dees brought a NASCAR Cup car to B'ville in the mid to late '80's.   355 CI with dual 4bbl carbs.   Tires were Goodyear Daytona's.   Went 226MPH +/-.   David Halderman driving.

[Sumner]

Last June, Rusty Wallace, just to get a ballpark idea, ran a test at Talladega without a restrictor plate on the carburetor of his Dodge. He clocked laps at 228 mph. And that was after an 18-year layoff from development of unrestricted engines for the giant track. Had the development been ongoing, along with matching aerodynamics, who knows - 250?

John I found the above for you.  Of course Talladega isn't at 4500 feet and of course we don't have the same kind of money they do for our motors.

c ya, Sum

[JackD]

Comparing bananas with pickles again ?
Just imagine all the things they have in common.

[k.h.]

Neither the McClaren driver, nor the magazine writer's last month article on testing the new turbo Bentley at a cruising speed of 170, with a burst to 200 on the Austrian Autobahn, were wearing safety gear.  Helmets may not properly accessorize business suits.  What with the EU, it may be illegal to crash.

So, is 300 the new 200?  If so, it may be tire question time again.

[WZ JUNK]

Still I would like to see one of the current top ten drivers and his car(setup for a high speed track) make a pass along the black line.  I would be interested to know how the top speed at Bonneville compares to say the top speed at Daytonna.

[John Beckett]

Had a Busch car, with some magazine editor behind the wheel, run 220 MPH at Maxton.

JB

[SaltRat]

McLaren, you know, like chebbie.

Still I would like to see one of the current top ten drivers and his car(setup for a high speed track) make a pass along the black line.  I would be interested to know how the top speed at Bonneville compares to say the top speed at Daytonna.

[Stroker]

I think they were referring to one of these...

The McLaren is powered by a BMW 6.1 Liter V12 engine producing 627 hp with a 0-60 mph time of 3.1 seconds and a top speed of 230-240 mph.

The original McLaren F1 was started in 1991 and 64 cars were made. The LM model was introduced in 1993 with 5 cars built. The GT model had 3 cars. Finally, in 1995, the GTR was introduced, and over the next 3 years, 28 cars were built.

Unfortunately, production stopped in May 1998 after only 100 cars were built.

Reputed to be the fastest legal road car in the world....

[rosemeyer]

The head of Bugatti is Dr Thomas Bscher who used to race a McLaren F1. His regular 'use' of a McLaren is to compare it with the Bugatti Veyron due to be launched this Autumn.
At 240mph, the McLaren F1 is no longer the fastest 'production' car.
The Porsche GT2 '9ff' reached 241mph.
Since the Swedish Koenigsegg CCR did 242mph.
Lately, the Bugatti Veyron achieved 248mph during official homologation tests, in strictly standard form. Its power is close to 1000hp.
All these cars are road legal and commercialised.

[Rex Schimmer]

Back in the mid 80s I think that it was Road and Track magazine got a current NASCAR GN car and an IMSA sports car at the Ohio test track, which is a 7 mile banked oval. The "stocker" was Tim Richmond's Chevy Monte Carlo and the "sports car" was Al Holbert's 962 turbo Porsche.

To make a long story short, Holbert screwed the boost knob through the floor and went 238, (and blew the motor!) Richmond went 256! Of course they did fill all of the windows and lowered the Monte Carlo to about 1 inch ride height and I think that they ran a 389 cu. in. "qualifying" motor but still if you remember the mid 80s Monte Carlos they were really bricks! The sporty car guys went home with their tails between their legs.

Around 1980 I was at Daytona for the IMSA Paul Revere 250 which ran at the same time as the July Firecracker 400 and Peter Greg, the IMSA "hot shoe" at the time, was going to show the Nascar guys how to go fast around Daytona! He had a Porsche 935 turbo (a 911 with a sloped nose and a big wing) and it was probably making 750+ hp, he had Moon wheel covers, lowered to the ground, the wing was trimmed to almost flat and he went 196 and sacred the holly sh-t out of himself. Cale Yarbourgh was on the pole for the 400 at around 198!! Again remember that the "stock" cars of that period looked like bricks.

It would be fun to see a 2005 Cup car with the unrestricted engine go for top speed, if they could make a brick go 256 the latest models could really be impressive.

Rex

[landracing]

Yeah be real interesting to see how fast they would go on salt  with tire slip. Great setup for pavement but not salt.

We can see how good ole boy traction control works for them.

Jon

[Godzilladude]

At the Texas Mile, someone showed up in an ex-Jack Roush Busch or Winston Cup car, it was a hoot. He couldn't get the slicks to hook up, kept busting them loose at each shift, which led to lots of bogging, slow downs, etc.. He never had a clean run. And even at that, he ripped off one 210 or so. Not bad for a standing mile.

[bobh]

It was fun even though it didn't hook up that well. Maxton isn't any better. To bad the car is a brick compared to what they run now.