News from the salt

Burly has been kind enough to update us on the happenings at speedweek at Bonneville!

So in his words:

just returned from a couple of days at Bonneville for the annual SCTA/BNI Speedweek and the salt was in excellent condition. Speedweek is the BIG event with over 500 entries but is only for high speed racers. Five VW poweredentries competed and while the race is still going on, I thought you might like some news on the event.



Bob Stahls 157 MPH fuel injected Bug had the misfortune of a missed shift at 130 mph plus when his son-in-law was making a licensing pass. Hitting second from third instead of fourth resulted in a blown motor and three spins. Fortunately the car did not hit any salt pockets, did not roll and was undamaged except for the motor.



Keith Pedersen likewise experienced a motor failure in the Manghelli/Pedersen Rabbit Pick-Up but it was while they were going through the speed traps at over 186 miles per hour ! Even with the problem they were elated as this was a twenty mile per hour jump from their record speed set last fall at hte World Finals and indicates more speed to come. Perhaps they will be the first under 2 liter street VW over the 200 mile per hour mark in the near future.



The Burns family came from Tennessee with the Ghia to try out the salt. Talor made a first pass at 121 while spinning through the lights after experiencing handling problems. After adjustments, brothere Zach made runs in the mid-one twenties. Talor returned the nex day to go 133 and then Zach took the Ghia(2.0 big block with dual carbs) to it's top speed of over 142 miles per hour. Needless to say, they enjoyed a great first Bonneville adventure.



The Chilsons, father Bob and son Dan resolved last years transmission problems in the water cooled lakester and at last note had made a pass just a notch over 200 miles per hour. Hopefully the rest of the week will see even greater speed.



Long time racer Larry Monreal was back out on the salt with his sons and Jim Bradshaw attempting to set another VW record with the turbo Rabbit powered Ghia. Larry had been racing at Bonneville for sixty years and was the featured racer in this years Speedweek program with a nice two page article. At eighty four years of age, he is still very active in overseeing the racing operation and was rewarded with a trip to impound and a possible new record. We will have to wait out the rest of the week to see if he was successful.