The Bonneville Speed Week 2019 Aftermath

Learning by doing is a good thing because it moves you forward. Knowledge can be acquired in various ways, but one of them is definitely; practice. So even if we only got one chance to race this year (and a couple of test races down the rookie race lane) we got a deeper understanding about Landspeed racing in general and Speed Week in particular.

We had the time to get to know other races, while we all waited for the racetrack to dry up and we experienced how slushy the salt can be when the weather gods is against you.

People who really knew, explained how the Bonneville Salt Flats dry up every spring, how it differs between the years and how the flats gets a hard raceable salt surface. Finally, we got a little bit humbler. At least when it comes to reaching +200mph on the Salt.

To reach our goal, a lot of stars needs to be in their right position. The race car must work perfectly. The tow truck must be perky and all drivers needs to be cool, focused and happy and in addition, the race track needs to be better than good. Then…

Nevertheless, at some point in time we pulled up the 449 Amazon on our trailer...

...and headed out in the Wild West. As usually, new places was found.  Places like Ely where hotels like Hotel Nevada, provided a nice atmosphere.

After a couple of days in epic landscapes, we were back at Erik and Ruth's Place in California. We met Nisse The Camtwister and his team and we all had the same task. Wash, clean and fix technical problems and pack.

Cleaning strategy after Bonneville Speed Week:

Clean rigorously. Crawl under the vehicle. Start all over again. Repeat the proceedure five times, minimum. Spray the anti-corrosion fluid of your likings in all cavities. 

When the race car and our Suburban finally were nice and shiny, we cleaned up the electical system as well to avoid future race disturbance.

Eventually everthing came to a happy end.

The Salt Slush Racing Team got more experianced. The 449 Amazon is better than ever and Anders, Eriks and Ruth's son got a Salt Slush Tee.

And yes, there was a really nice after race party too!

Rocket Ride

- If says Rocket…just seal the deal. That was Magnus words of wisdom, when Carina asked for advice. As it turned out, he was right. The Ariens Rocket Rototiller is a good thing to have. Because when it eventually start up, it's a powerful...destroyer. 

Years passed and Magnus advice was softly pounding my brain. Then suddenly, in the middle of the desert, when I was in despair, it was standing there. Like a vision. Right beside me. A 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket just sat there softly in the sand. Waiting.

 One year later I learned that it was for sale and yes, I bought it. But why? A no-brainer. It was a Rocket. A Rocket 88.

So what's so special about a rocket? What makes it magic? 

Well... it's aiming high, it has speed, it's there to find new places in new space. Like a meterior it will bring change. Of some kind.

Once upon a time it was groundbreaking. The Oldsmobile Rocket 88 entered the scene in a time of hope and blind naive believe in future and technology. Similar like today. It created the first muscle car craze and initiated a performance race that lasted for decades.

 As a consequence, the first Rock'n Roll song was about the Rocket 88.

Rocket 88 came with a overhead valve V8 with 300% more power than the average European car and 40% more than Ford V8 in US. On top of that easy to tune. Consequence; It won NASCAR and Le Carrera Pan Americana 1949. The Oldsmobile sales went ballistic. I'm not surpriced,

Yes, people were tempted to use this power source in even lighter vehicles.

The Rocket 88 Commercial: Go fast, aim high with rocket speed.

Go to the Moon! Even to March!

At this point in time the grey hangover of the 70-ties were still far away.

Epilogue: Magnus is correct. If it's called Rocket search for the wallet. It's good for you.

Later on, new fast forward looking words entered the scene.

Supercharged and Turbo are two of those.

We know all about it.