Well, as of now Mike is almost to Salina, Kansas. He is safe and has had no issues thus far. That appears to be about 2/5 of Kansas behind him. He plans to spend the night in Colorado so he has a ways to go.

Some of our team was passing on at church this morning that they have seen where there was a little rain on the salt over the last day or two but that it had served as a help to level the courses out. What we see in the forecast for next week is low to mid 90’s and sun and no chance of precipitation. Let’s hope the forecast is right!

Mike was relating to me before he left that one topic he would like for me to include in the blog is setting expectations for the runs at the Salt Flats. Remember that, in spite of having had several cars at Bonneville over the last 20 years, Mike has to be considered a rookie. One reason is the expanse of time since he last drove there. The other reason is the fact that he will be driving a streamliner. When he went through his technical inspection in 2018 the officials took him aside and counseled him. Basically they told him they do not normally see a rookie with a streamliner entry. Mike assured them that he does not take safety for granted and was willing to go through the steps to re-quality himself as a driver. Of course, in 2018 the car was brand new and not quite complete and we ultimately had a clutch problem and did not get to make a full pass. In 2019 the weather did not cooperate and we did not get to run. Now this year we still have the rookie process ahead of us.

We are not exactly sure what the prescribed plan will be. However, we do know that he will start with a few runs that are well under the speeds of which the car is capable. They will likely have him start with a top speed of 150 mph. He actually already has the car set up for that situation. Once he completes that run successfully they will allow him to step up the top speed by 25 to 50 mph until they are comfortable with the integrity of the car and his competency as a driver.

You cannot imagine the whoops and hollers I expect to hear from all of us upon completing the first pass even if it will only be 150 mph! At this point these guys have put in the travel time and expense without any of the fun of actually seeing the car do something. We have had a lot of fun in a social kind of way in these last couple of years but are ready to see the car perform. It is not just watching, though. We get to participate!

I can tell you from past experience with other cars at Bonneville that being a part of a crew is exciting. I have participated with Mike in drag racing over the years and did not find much satisfaction in it. There was the endless waiting to get to the starting line. Then the crew has to get out of the way and watch what happens from the starting line. After the run is complete they drive down a separate service road to the other end to help get the car back to the pits. Not at Bonneville! We get Mike strapped in and then we jump in the truck and push Mike off. Once he leaves us in the dust we get to follow behind him. We pick up the timing slips and follow him to the other end of the course. We communicate with him on the radios along the way. It is a lot more like WE are racing and not just him.

This is not to say that the SCTA officials are in any way lax in their standards. They absolutely are not. At the starting line if they detect any issue at all you don’t go. They don’t put up with any foolishness.

Here’s hoping we get to experience this kind of excitement this year . . . in a safe kind of way of course.