2004 Speed Week, 1149 B/STR

198.915 MPH

Wednesday, August 18, 2004, Ted Allan drove N49 to it's fastest ever speed yet. The crew was thrilled, but also disappointed, we struggled for the entire week trying to break the 200 mark and didn't succeed. We'll just have to get our act together for 2005. Speed Week 2004 did have some great high points though. We qualified two new rookies to their C level licenses, and made 11 passes with North of 49, topped off with bringing the truck home intact.

August 11 2004 We headed to the salt early, and spent a few days helping to prepare the venue. Our primary job was pothole patrol. We hooked up with Dave Bloomberg (The Avanti Kid) and spent a few days patrolling the courses filling and smoothing potholes. The photo here is Dave and I fixing a hole on the short course. The Potholes develop as the trucks drag the course to smooth it. Now and then the weight of the trucks will break the crust. The salt crust is about 3 inches thick, and floats on a mud flat. The surface of the salt is hard, but made up of small crystals, the deeper into the crust you go the larger the crystals get and the harder the salt gets. In some places under the crust there are streams flowing and hollows, this is where the trucks break through. We would pack the cavity with salt that had been scraped from the surface by the dragging trucks. Then we’d water the spot, getting it good and wet. The heat of the day would then do its part, evaporating the water and allowing the salt to form a strong crystal structure.	August 11 2004 The set-up days were a lot of fun, we started about 9 in the morning and the broke for lunch at around noon. The crew was made up of roughly 30 people although it grew slowly day by day. This is the crew breaking for lunch on Wednesday 11 August. The only shade available those days was the canopy of this motorhome and hiding behind vehicles. Generally we worked until 3 in the afternoon and then called it a day. In the evening we gathered around the pool at the Econolodge. There are pictures of the gang on the SCTA-BNI website.
August 12 2004 On Thursday dad got back to one of his favorite pastimes, sharing his roadster. This time Bob ”Prozak” and Judy Sykes took it for a drive. Dad really enjoys putting folks behind the wheel of his roadster and letting them feel what a flathead powered hiboy is really like.	August 13 2004 Thursday evening the rest of our crew had arrived in Wendover and Friday morning we were allowed onto the salt to set up our pit. This is another perk of being involved in the set up crew. During the previous work days we had been allowed to mark off a pit location, we chose a prime “ocean front” (track side) location facing the long track at about its 3-3/4 mile point. Friday morning we rolled out with the trailer and began setting up. The trailer sure looked good when it showed up with Jeff Norwell’s new artwork adorning its sides. .
August 13 2004 We parked our toys and got to work setting up. This shot is from our pit location looking toward the center of the pit area. The pits are one mile long and four rows deep. This area would fill with competitors over the course of the next couple days as a bustling town rose out of the salt.	August 13 2004 While we worked to set up our pit and our own shade, Ted, Dianne and a few other crew took 1149 down to the inspection area at the far end of the pit. That way we could get through the inspection process early. There are four car inspection bays and 2 for cycles. With 340 entries they were plenty busy all day Friday and into Saturday morning. Our pit underway the lunch tent still to go up, it wouldn’t look this empty again until the following Friday.
More Friday August 13, 2004

N49 Land Speed Racing Club

"North of 49" at Speed Week 2004

Speed Week 2004, Day by Day

198.915 MPH