Bonneville on TV

[McRat]

Remember, Even Monica Lewinsky wouldn't be famous for what she did if it weren't for the Media. DG

I wonder what channel her special would be on?

Home network - "Shocking Dry Cleaning Stories"

CSpan - "Hard to swallow politics"

[landsendlynda]

Remember, Even Monica Lewinsky wouldn't be famous for what she did if it weren't for the Media. DG

I wonder what channel her special would be on?

Home network - "Shocking Dry Cleaning Stories"

CSpan - "Hard to swallow politics"

That is just sick!!!  Funny, but sick!!

[Walter]

I looked all over the TV schedules and did not find one other program covering El Mirage or Bonneville this year.  Would many of us liked to see this show handled a bit differently?  Sure. 

The bottom line is the Bonneville '08 had television coverage and for that we should all be thankful.

I listen to folks complain now about the quality of the coverage of outdoor motocross on TV and recall the days when all a fan could see was a 15 minute chopped up segment of the US GP at Carlsbad 6 months after the event mingled in with the wrist wrestling championships from Petaluma and competitive flower growing.

It is definitely appropriate to make some constructive suggestions on how to make it better...just don't lose sight of the fact that it made the tube at all.

[Sumner]

......... They for sure overdid the crashes but they had to show that this sport is more than driving fast in a straight line and that there are risks involved.  .........

I enjoyed the show, but like you and others mentioned I think the coverage of the crashes gave the sport a black eye that it doesn't deserve.  They showed the one car crash over and over again and then went on to say something to the effect that "that this happens all to frequently".  To make their point they showed numerous other car crashes, but I don't think any of the other car crashes they showed happened this year and in reality happened over many different years.  Then it was late in the program before they showed the driver to be unhurt, for which we can thank SCTA mandated safety equipment, but I don't think SCTA received much credit for the fact in the show.  In fact how many thousands of runs were made last year in complete safety.

c ya,

Sum

[Freud]

Quoting Tzoom:

Blasting them with disrespectful vitriol will scare them off and we will never be able to see good, representative coverage of any of the events.  My $.02    

When you want to see coverage from the Salt that holds a much higher standard, get the DVD done by people that know B'ville, the racers, the facts and presented it at the level that we should expect.
WORLDS FASTEST MOTORCYCLE   The Day the Bonneville Salt stood Still by IGNITION3.

After you watch that presentation you may understand why some people are dissatisfied.

FREUD

[Bret Kepner]

Bret, one correction, Cliff's accident was at the Bub, not speedweek.

Unlike the small inaccuracies in the show, there is no excuse for this one. My own stupidity has handily nullified any criticism I've made and I shamefully retract the statement. My apologies to all.

[racergeo]

   When deaths occurred from street racing, the media referred to it as "drag racing". Because over the years many of us have called the local stations and explained to them why organized drag racing was originally started, we seldom hear that term and they refer to it as street racing. I think many of the criticisms made here could be considered "call ins". It's not that we don't want another program by these producers, but maybe they could call someone in landspeed racing community (Brett Kepner?) to critique the program for accuracy as they go along.
   A friend of mine alerted the local newspaper that I had built a car to attempt a landspeed record and they arranged a meeting, made an hour long interview and took some pictures. Although I was flattered that I got a little media exposure (front page picture and story), they made so many mistakes and inaccuracies I hardly recognised the story. Among the mistakes were placing the salt flats in southern Utah. When I motioned this to the reporter he said, "No big deal; it's still in Utah," and I had to point out that many car guys dream of going to Bonneville and southern Utah is a whole extra day's drive! And for some reason his editor made him put in a bunch of story about Andy Green and the supersonic record implying it was set at Bonneville. When I set the record they asked for a story, but I insisted on reviewing it for accuracy. He acted like it was a tabu in journalism to have your facts verified. He finally relented and I had to correct several mistakes. Underscored what my grandpa always said, DON'T BELIEVE ANYTHING YOU READ IN THE NEWSPAPER.
     I had the good fortune to get a little spot in last year's SCTA Speedweek DVD and my car was shown making the record run and the back up run. Every person that saw the DVD, whether they followed racing or knew absolutely nothing about it, thought the most impressive part of my coverage was seeing and HEARING my car on the salt between the 3 and 5 mile under WOT with the background a blur. The 4 million dollar hydrogen car running along silently wasn't too impressive.
    The program I would like made is one about the "Greats of Landspeed Racing". Although we could debate who they are, the obvious ones that come to mind are ones whose story would not have to be supplemented with trick photography or words that are overly superlative. Their stories stand on their own as incredible adventures that, if properly done, would keep the audience spellbound . They are Tom Burkland and family, Jack Costella and Seth Hammond. These stores have the crashes and speed and sound that create a story that would be exciting for any audience to watch, but more importantly, showcase the diversity of classes and construction techniques in landspeed racing as well as the all important determination and commitment necessary to succeed. These three would provide enough material for a mini-series.
    In short, I enjoyed the program (especially imagining I was there in about 90 deg. warmer temp.) but felt it could have been done a lot better with more input from the SCTA and others with alot more LSR knowledge.

[Stan Back]

Okay -- here's another shot  . . .

Mike -- why are you wanting to see more Bonneville viewing when you got the best seat in the house.  Even tho they saw more crashes than you did, and it was your job.

Yea -- I'm glad my wife didn't see the crash fest.

And, again, why do we want more coverage of our activities?  I know, or think, some pay licensing fees to the association.  But the SCTA doesn't, and can't, have control over what they proiduce.  So we get inaccurate reports such as that one.  And why do so many feel the need to get more people involved.  If we get 600 pre-entries and have only two courses this year, they may take another stance.  How many years did it take to get the three?  It ain't gonna happen every year.

[thundersalt]

Someting else that caught my attention when watching the show (and no one has commented on yet) was when the Ohio State boy's were unloading the steamliner. Not near the carnage of Coddington Canyon but when the shovels came out I thought " I bet they wish that was edited out" 
Please send donations to Save the salt.

[fredvance]

It was nice to see the salt, think about all the good things that happened at Speedweek. You are so modest Scott , you were on long enough for me to say honey thats Scott Guthrie.

[Wester]

I may be mistaken but wasn't she the driver of the Model A coupe shown in inspection?  If it was Tonya, she passed the quick exiting phase of inspection under the watching eye of the cameras without an identification or comment from the narrator.

[Jonny Hotnuts]

It's hard to judge someone based on their manner on raceday, even if they are having a good day.  At our diesel events, some folk get a first impression I'm ignoring them, but that's because I'm often doing several things at once, and trying to come up with a solution for something in the back of my head at the same time.  So far with LSR racing, I've had help from my friends so I can be more talkative to folk who come up. 

I remember well a long conversation you and I had while the sun came up. 

[doug]

bvillercr

If you have ever met George Poteet or Wayne Jesel or any of these guys you will quickly feel like they are one of us common racers out there. In fact, I had the spare Blowfish transmission in my car at the end of the week and I don't even know these guys.

I have never met George Poteet and I'm sure you are correct in your statement, but when I went hunting for a welder to use those Blowfish guys weren't very friendly to me.  They were packing up and disappointed I guess, but just not all that friendly.  

Troy, you ever need a welder look for the trailer with the flaming nut (this goes for anyone). I bring a nice MIG with gas setup.  
I also will have a plasma cutter, compressor and generator to run them.

As far as Poteet goes.....
Never met the guy but I am someone who makes a real effort to talk to anyone that wants to talk....even if I am busy....but even I can recall times I have had to cut conversations short due to circumstances.

I wasnt there and you may be correct that they were not cool to you but they also just may of been having a bad day.

~JH

It could very well be those exact circumstances, that is why I included that they may of had a bad day.  No worries on my side, just won't go see them for any help next time.   

The response you received from them could have been because this ( http://www.radrides.com/home.php  (see driveshaft)) may have just happened.

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Random thoughts on publicity:

Our home-town newspaper has a "virtual" newsroom.  Anyone with an internet connection may go to and through that - to post a story for the paper to run.  I've done so a couple of times.  I write the story here at the house, include some photos, and send the whole thing to the paper.  A few days later the story is right there on page 5 or in Section B or whatever -- but it's printed as I wrote it.  They've done a minor bit of editing each time -- mostly removing any mention of sponsors that I had purposely put in -- even when I've put in Marquette-area sponsor to try to give those folks some extra kudos.

The paper likes having stories about "local" folks and is desperate for some copy to run between the ads.

As for television -- there have been a couple of times when I was offered the opportunity to be interviewed for the news or whatever -- and I've turned them down.  Why?, they ask.  "Because I have learned that you will edit and change what I've said and most likely the sense of what I'm trying to convey -- will be distorted or completely lost by the time the interview is aired.  I'd rather have nothing than wrong stuff.

As to why I'd like to see more Bonneville coverage -- it's because I can identify so well with what I'm seeing, and because the on-board camera footage gives me a wonderful chill when I'l seeing it -- damn near just like making that run myself.

How to make the videos better?  Well, the thing I like best is pretty doggone boring -- a continuous run of the on-board camera's footage, showing everything from the crew prepping the bike (car) before a run and the starter giving the go-ahead and the mile markers flashing by and Ed and Cris coming up to  check me out after the run and even to my support truck zooming down the access road to fetch me.  Heck, last year there's even footage of me after the run -- the bike is on the sidestand and I wander in front of the camera to take off my helmet and leathers and can be heard saying to myself -- "Wow, that was a good run, but I wandered off my line at ..." or whatever.  Let the viewers see and hear as much of a real run as possible.  It's boring to see nothing but white salt coming at your tv scree for a few minutes (save for the occasional flash of orange - the mile markers).  To combat that "dullness" I have the camera pointed slightly away from dead straight ahead.  With the wide angle lens the viewer can see the mountains going past, the pits, vehicles on the return road -- the viewer sees enough to have a much better comprehension of what the rider/driver is going through.

Okay, folks -- back to your own stuff now.

[John Noonan]

A hollow Aluminum drive shaft broke...say it isn't so...