I attended WoS for the first time this year, having been to Bonneville a few times
before -- for Speed Week and for Mike Cook's Shootout.
The WoS event was quite pleasant, and interesting. As expected, it wasn't as big an event as Speed Week (which I always found rather overwhelming, due to the huge
number of race vehicles). But otherwise, it was similar in the setup and the way
it was run.
I want to express my appreciation for all the work it took to prepare the surface of
the ground -- not only the racing lane itself, but other areas such as the staging
lane(s) and the turnouts -- and even the path from land's end to the staging
areas and the pit areas. I have no idea how many "person-hours" that all took,
but figure it was a heck of a lot of them.
And then there were the blue lines, the orange safety cones, the porta-potties,
the timing equipment, the "race officials", the radio announcing setup, the ambulance, the fire truck, the people doing vehicle inspection and impound, the people collecting the fees for racing and being a spectator, the publicity efforts, liaison with the BLM, the vendors, and everything else. I probably failed to mention a few tasks that were also very important, and the people involved. I'd also like to thank those who took photos and posted them
on this forum, for the benefit of other folks who weren't onsite to see all the great
vehicles "in person". I'd also like to thank all the race teams who attended . . . or
tried to attend.
For me, it was quite easy -- as a spectator -- to just show up and pay a fee that
I thought was quite reasonable. I met a few racers, and got a huge kick out of
seeing -- and hearing -- the wide variety of race vehicles (estimated at about 125) that were there.
Fortunately, the weather cooperated. I don't know how the condition of the track
was, compared to how it has been in the past . . . and seeing how thin the salt was did disappoint and scare me. But that's a topic for discussion elsewhere, instead of
in this message.
I enjoyed the meet, and hope to return to see it happen again. Again, thanks to
all the people who worked so hard to make it happen.
I would like to add my appreciation to the entire USFRA team. Thank you for putting on a great event. I second the blue lines for the return road and the chase vehicle turnout. This greatly helped my son, this was his first time there driving the chase truck. :cheers:
The USFRA is the best, friendliest organization on the salt! They were super helpful and accommodating in 2014 when I was finishing up my racing career due to be wailed on by MS, thanks to their help and support I was able to set two more records by the end of the meet. I remain eternally grateful to the USFRA!
I gotta say, the announcer over the CB reading off the speeds has a great voice for automotive sports. Kinda reminds me of 1980's drag racing. 👍
One of the best lines I heard was...."This is what we have here.... vintage oval". 😄
I parked at the 1.5 mile , took video and the narration went perfectly with the car's going by.
I have a ton of video from the whole year, I'm hoping to get started editing in the next few weeks.
I totally agree with the previous comments....
The four people that make up the board of the USFRA go above and beyond to make it first and foremost a racer's event.
They spend countless hours, and months and months behind the scenes preparing for WoS....
Monte Widdison, chief starter for the USFRA is also the course prep king....
3-5 MPH each pass he makes dragging our courses.... Do the math. close to three hours each pass to drag 8 miles.....
And he makes several passes each lane he drags to ensure the salt is as perfect as he can get it....
The track was much better than any of us hoped for........
And every one that wears an official shirt is 1000% a volunteer....
The President of USFRA, Dennis Sullivan is a racer himself but he hasn't had the opportunity to actually run his car for several years as it he has a meet to run...
Special thanks to Pete Belich and the other SCTA officials who took the time to be the impound officials and record certifiers.
It really takes everyone working together to have a successful meet and year after year, USFRA keeps doing a great job!!!
Agree 100% :cheers:
Add my thanks to the USFRA team.
I often recommend that folks take a street car and run the 130 club or do a mild prep and try 150 club. Well the Bockscar developed a little tick in the motor so it didn't make the trip. I have been encouraging my crewmember Alex Wolf to run one of her cars at WoS... her plan was too run 130 Club with her Mini and crew on Bockscar. Well since Bockscar didn't go, I went to crew for her 130 Club attempt with the Mini...
What a hoot! After Alex got in with a best speed of around 138, we entered me for a try at the 130 Club hat. First pass 128.4... not as easy as it sounds and it scared the $hit out of me... I ran on the same side of the track that the long course LSR cars were running on... the first mile was a little rutted, rough and the front wheel drive very short WB Mini jerked and jinked into every little divot that was there. :?
But I got back in the line... :oops: everyone I talked to (including Alex) said the left side where the short course and Club cars were lined up was smooth. So I stayed in that lane and it was straight and smooth... no lifting required, not scared $hitless and ran 135.... that one was exciting but didn't use nearly as much adrenaline as the first. Backed it up the next morning with a 134 and ended up with a 130 Club hat. :wink:
While talking with Dennis Sullivan he mentioned there were only 3 racers with 130, 150 and 200 MPH club hats... Well I have the bookends, and I think BJ Burkdoll also picked up a 130 Club hat for his bookends.
Now I have to work on my 150 Club hat. :cheers:
I again recommend to everyone giving the 130 Club a try... There were multiple cars that were obviously just running for fun, and a couple of scooters... but it's a chance to run on the salt at WOT and see how fast you can go. I can tell you it is not easy, although the John Cooper Works Mini (a 146 MPH car on the paved miles) made it easier, just had to control wheel spin and fear lol8
Big deal.
Are you in the Spin Club?
Spin Club in the Lakester only Stan... I think I like life better closer to the ground... the Mini felt tall and short wheelbased... Oh that's like driving a Roadster with a roof.... But the air conditioning was a nice racing accessory... :friday
I need to thank the gentleman with the blue roadster that was pitted next to me at WOS for offering the use of his tools after my spin out. Unfortunately, we decided that we could not fix the damaged air dam and make the car (blue Firebird) safe to run, so we packed up and headed home. I did get to 205 and got an A license, part of what I was aiming for. I also got the spin out sticker on my helmet. I really appreciate the USFRA folks for running a good meet and doing the best they could with the small amount of salt that is left.