Texas Mile land speed racing March 2012 report

[grandpaul]

Limited Triumph content, but still cool...


The wind was favorable (very light tail wind), but we had FOG BANKS move through Saturday and Sunday mornings that shut down racing for 1/2 hour each day.

It was hot, but not TOO hot, right at or just under 90.

A new track record at 260+ was what I HEARD, I only SAW 257.7 from the Hennessey Ford GT40

More info at: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=htt...QGrVNE1AQFVq6Js2GwFOjymN9FVy7sAiVJ7d8OHWcsQ1g

Bikes were inching up to 250s, previous record holder at Goliad (287+) went down after a 240+ run, not hurt bad (bike barely scratched as he laid it down at the very far end when he caught a cone).

Karl Gunter went down after a 221+ run, and was airlifted out; 60+ year-old rider, hurt pretty bad but is recuperating and should be okay (bike was trashed, no photo).

A really cool German 3 cylinder turbo diesel bike with CV transmission and single-sided monoshock swingarm pitted next to me, so I did some pit crew assistance for them over the course of the weekend. They started at 94+ and inched up to 96+ before leaving early to prepare for Baja. They had alternator issues they need to sort out. Very trick bike.

Only BritBikes I spotted were a spectator's modern Rocket 3 and a racer's nifty old '57 Triumph 500 sidevalve "pit bike".

One squid went down outside the front gate when he plowed into the back of one of his fellow squid's bike; trashed his own bike, but only cut a finger.

All in all a great race weekend; long hours, hot and humid, but great cars & bikes in the pits, in the staging grid, and making the 'Mile.

Link to all photos: http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/slideshow/24072216

 

[hemibee]

I'm pissed. After not being able to rearrange my schedule so I could make it over there, only two of us showed up and were sent home. I've got a few choice words for the four no shows. Next time they do it by themselves, this is the second time I've volunteered to help them and not be able to do the work because we didn't have enough folks with strong backs and weak minds.


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[devo]

Great stuff
thanks for sharing Paul

 

[rudedogg13]

Very cool.

 

[DaveM]

Very nice Paul just going to have a look at all the photos now

 

[Rocky]

Thanks GP

 

[otherwise]

MPH or KMPH? :anyone:

 

[shanered6]

MPH or KMPH? :anyone:

i think our american cousin's use mph ......

 

[shanered6]

nice pics ! and a good wkend out .

 

[CarlS]

Good report and good pics. Thanks, Paul. Surely wish I could have been there.

 

[grandpaul]

DEFINITELY MPH!!!

fast stuff.

 

[hemibee]

Paul, I hope you don't mind... I thought I would add some photos and write up from a member of our local forum that was also there working the event.


Warning: photos of exotic cars and fast motorcycles may cause blurred vision, excessive sweating, shortness of breath and high blood pressure. Proceed at your own risk.


I spent last weekend at the Texas Mile, a top-speed, standing mile shootout held twice a year at Chase Field, Beeville. The event was held up in Berclair until the Navy reclaimed their landing field last year. This was the third time to be in Beeville.


CMA (Christian Motorcyclist Association) has been working the mile for at least four years now. You'll see us at the gate, taking your money ($15 for a spectator pass for the weekend), and giving you a wristband. We'll be at the starting grid with coffee and ice water, at our ministry tent, directing spectator traffic and at the finish line, handing out the timing slips.


We have CMA volunteers show up from all over the state. This time we had an all-time high of about 40 on hand at one time or another. Word is getting out. The Mile is a lot of work and sun, but also a lot of fun.


On to some of the pictures and stories, though I didn't take a lot of pictures this year.


The weekend actually starts Thursday afternoon when the Texas Mile staff shows up from Houston and starts setting up. The racers start arriving and we generally try to have 3 or 4 people on hand to meet them at the gate and check them off the list as they come in. The racers still have to register at the Texas Mile tent.


One thing that caught my eye on the registration list was a diesel motorcycle.

This thing is a Track, manufactured in the Netherlands, and has a 3-cylinder, 800cc engine. I think top speed is about 100. He ran it a few times, but I never was around when he did.


So much for Thursday.


Friday, the racing lit off at 8:00 AM, but there weren't many runs made Friday morning. A biker went down hard after a 220 mph run and stopped things for about an hour, then a car engine came apart, then the fog came in. The racers understand that's just part of the game.


Some of the cars and bikes lined up at the starting grid. The variety is always amazing.

The Corvette, no. 71, belongs to the Crawfords, some of my favorite people at the mile. They're from Hatfield, Arkansas, hometown of CMA, and I see them everytime at the mile. Lee is about 75 now. His Corvette was topping out at about 162 mph. He and his daughter had a friendly competition going to see who could get the best speed out of it. I think Lee came out best.


A Nissan GTR. There are usually several at the mile.

A 1963 Corvette, just beautiful:

There were a few circle-track cars on hand. It was funny to see them with parachutes hanging off the back.

 

[hemibee]

There weren't any Lamborghinis running this time, but there were a few Porsches and Ferraris.

And a carbon-fiber bodied Viper that gave me goosebumps every time I saw it.

And there were plenty of bikes on hand. Most popular are Hyabusas and ZX-14's, but there was also a KLR with a race fairing running about 120.

A shot of the spectator area at the starting line:

Another GTR:

And some old-school iron:

A Vette at the starting line:

 

[hemibee]

More of his report.

My favorite story at the mile was Marty Ladwig, a drag-racer from San Antonio, showing up with a bone-stock 2012 ZX-14R from the Universal City dealer's showroom floor. Running on pump gas, it had a best run of 195.7 mph. Amazing. I didn't get any pictures, though I did get to hand Marty a number of timing slips on Sunday afternoon that were between 193 and 195 mph. Marty is a very nice fellow. We spent quite a bit of time talking with him at the starting grid.


Here's a youtube video, if it works:


[video=youtube;DBD9LBQ5rRs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DBD9LBQ5rRs[/video]


A bit about the licence classes: When the Texas Mile moved to Chase Field, they instituted speed classes for the drivers. Here's a summary of the classes listed on the top of the box with the various wristbands we were putting on the drivers as they moved up through the classes.

You start with a Class C licence, which is a silver wristband. When you do a pass between 140 and 165 mph, you get bumped up to a Class B with a purple wristband. If you exceed 165, you get yelled at, stay Class C and go around to try it again.


With a Class B licence, a pass between 180 and 200 mph, will move you up to a Class A green wristband. Notice the window is tighter.


To move from Class A to a Class AA unlimited licence takes a pass between 205 and 220, a window tighter yet. You keep your licence level from one event to the next. The idea of the speed windows to move up is that you demonstrate that you have enough ability to hit a target speed, and aren't just going through with your foot down and your eyes closed. It can get a bit tricky if your vehicle only has a tach, but not a speedometer. Most people don't need more than a pass or two to hit the window, get another wristband and move on to the next class. As one of the guys handing out timing slips, I had to see if drivers had their appropriate wristbands and give them the next one when they qualified for the next class.


To further complicate matters, cars have two tech classes at the mile, the basic tech and a 190 tech. Passing basic tech doesn't need much more than a helmet and decent tires. Passing 190 tech requires a full roll cage, 5-point racing harness, fire extinguisher, nomex suit, etc. Vehicles topping 190 need to be checked to make sure they have their 190 tech sticker. We usually bust one or two people an event for exceeding 190 without being teched for it, but I don't think that happened this year.


This fellow, however, driving an SSR set up for Bonneville, had fits. The truck is a pickup body on a Trailblazer frame with a Corvette engine.

I think his truck did 200+ on the salt flats, but he was stymied at the Mile trying to get a Class B wristband. He needed to hit 140 to 165 mph, but kept coming through the trap at 137 point whatever, too slow to get bumped up. He said his GPS speedometer was showing 150 and kept complaining about bracket racing. I didn't see him running Sunday. I guess he got disgusted and went home.


A Champ car that was very quick.

 

[hemibee]

Another one


Usually, bikes are fastest at the mile. A guy ran 275 up at Berclair the last time the Mile was held there, however this time it was the cars. Two of the fastest bikes crashed during the weekend, so that took them out of the picture.

Speaking of crashes, Saturday morning, a group of sportbikers showed up to spectate at the Mile. One of the riders started spectating too early and plowed into the bike ahead of him as they were making the turn on to the property. The Texas Mile people always have a LOT of cops on hand for event security, so there were plenty of them to work the wreck. The bike that caused the accident got a ticket, but the bike in front, which was totalled, collected three tickets; expired licence, expired registration and no insurance. When the wrecker showed up to haul the bike off, he didn't want them to take it and wound up paying the towtruck driver another $150 to just go away. He didn't have a very good day.


This LMR Camaro is a very strong runner.

It seemed like everytime it made a pass, the driver was upset when he got his timing slip. This thing was running 240 to 250 consistently and would show up with steam and smoke coming out from under the hood, dripping oil on the tarmac. That Camaro has dyno'd at 1800 rearwheel hp.

This was his speed on one of his passes (you can see the speed display in the background):

Jennifer Robertson was on hand on a borrowed Hayabusa, running 220, making her the fastest woman at the mile. Several other ladies running grinned when they got their timing slips and said they beat their husbands. I said that was spousal abuse.

But this time, the baddest of the bad was this Hennessey-built Ford GT, with an estimated 2000 rwhp.

I got to hand the driver this timing slip Saturday afternoon. The 200 mph number is the half-mile speed. Final speed was 250.1.

Then Sunday morning, he made a pass at 257.7 mph, fastest of the weekend and a new world record for a standing mile. The Texas Mile people will have to change their logo again.
[video=youtube;-DcO8jg9qUE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DcO8jg9qUE&feature=relmfu[/video]

 

[hemibee]

The last from his report


​And here's a few more pictures:

Th-th-th-that's all folks. Hope you enjoyed the Mile. Next one is October 26 - 28th. http://texasmile.net/index.php

 

[Rocky]

Great stuff!! Thanks for the post.

 

[CarlS]

Darn good stuff. Thanks very much.

 

[devo]

cheers tony
btw, any idea wot sort of numbers the nissan gtr's were running ?

 

[hemibee]

I'll see if I can find the numbers.


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