Classic Motorcycle Association

So we arrived in Wendover, Utah, on late Friday afternoon. The Event had to be moved back two days to accommodate the casinos for some obscure reason or another…Our flight reservations would’ve been too expensive to reschedule so believe it or not, it was cheaper for us to set on our asses for a couple of days before the event would get under way. You know what? That was alright with me because I was finally on a real live VACATION!

Yep, you just don’t know how cool it was to be free from my desk and all the madness. Inside my mind I had been slowly bleeding to death over the thought of having to lay-off most all of my staff and scratching to make ends meet. You gotta hand it to all those clever lobbyist that have been so highly paid to screw up an entire nation. I guess I’m just not that smart…

Ok back to the VACATION! It was way cool to hang out with a group of guys that all have a common goal (speed record hunting) and can challenge your ideas and make you dig deep and force the dreams to come alive. The slow start to the festivities was a needed gradual shift of focus coupled with a little blowing off of some steam. Most of the guys took to strafing the traffic in ”Bendover” on the Bonnie bikes and a couple of us headed out to the famous Wendover Air Field to see the huge hanger that the Enola Gay had been housed in. There’s a small but informative museum there and it’s definitely worth the time to visit. When you put it together in your mind about how the world was changed forever by the flight and ground crews who worked in secrecy, isolated from the outside world, practicing to deliver the “mother of all bombs”, it’s time to say a few prayers for determination that we never have to do it again…Amen.

It seems that Wendover has been going through some changes since the last time I had visited there in 1981. There are new giant Casinos that have gone up a scant three inches across the line (painted on the street for Gods sake) into West Wendover, Nevada, and a scruffy little town turns up-scale in a hurry! Neon and unnecessary glitz run amuck to be sure. What you don’t find in town is a Wal-Mart or a Builders Square so you can't comparatively shop for most anything you need. If you don’t see it on the shelves of the Dollar General or Smiths grocery store, you’re SOL. Again thanks to Dyno Dan, we had nearly everything covered except for Dan’s mouthwash that didn’t make it through pre-flight inspection. Too much C-4 in Scope I guess…

So we are just hanging out acclimatizing and watching the other racers pull in when one of the “jaw droppers” of all streamliners rolls in on a very specialized trailer. Jack Costella, multi world record holder and streamliner constructor just happens to stay at the Motel 6 with us commoners. He has the appearance of part mechanic and part mad scientist about him. He wore the exact same combination of well worn coveralls and sportsman’s cap the entire week, undershirt and socks optional. Some eccentricities come with the territory I suppose.

If you have been following my previous articles about my streamliner dreams, you’ll notice that his “radical” designs were the ones I was referring to when I mentioned the incredibly small wheel size used to get a small frontal area. The streamliner he had in tow was a mere 20 inches or so tall and it’s rider has to lay on their belly and look around that small front tire and judge what “straight ahead” should be. It was powered by an 80cc two stroke engine and runs in the 140+ mph range! Yes his radical ideas work to say the least! Another one of his radical designs, run by a considerably higher buck team pulled in the next day or so. Team Bullet. They run Jacks “Nebulous Theorem” “lay-down” streamliner that has also been collecting records ever since it has first run on the salt. This is the same streamliner that would later claim the life of Cliff Gullett, owner of Bozeman Motorsports. It seems that “radical” low and flat bottom ground skimmer design has some teeth when it gets sideways and digs into the salt. He died doing exactly what he loved to do. The price is very high for his family but he was perfectly pursuing his dreams and I can’t argue with that. God speed Cliff. The accident happened on his return record run for 500cc streamliners and he was awarded the record posthumasly.

Back to us soaking it all in and learning some valuable lessons about speed record hunting on the salt.

The place is so vast that the distance from the highway to the pits starts to play with your head right away. I think it was like 6 miles out to the paddock with nothing but road cones to guide you. As you rolled up, the dark smear on the horizon becomes a cluster of vehicles and port-a-johns and as you get closer, it starts to change shape as people and bikes move about. I’m positive that film cannot capture the scene. You just have to be there man.

We were very lucky and secured a place right along the front row and return road. I think from the looks that we received, that we were taking someone else’s annual spot but staking your claim is a skill you learn after attending races for years and you "intentionally fail to notice” that you are bending someone’s feelings. As it turned out, we were very well received as soon as we started to set-up. Everyone there knows a “good piece of kit” when they see it and the afore-mentioned nods of approval started as soon as the bikes were rolled out…That’s when it hit me like a wave that had been building energy as it bore down on me! My emotions got the best of me and I had to fight to keep from openly sobbing.

Maybe three times in my life have I been so overcome, the first time I saw the Grand Canyon, when my kids were born, and standing right there on the very salt that I hope to be racing on for years to come. God help me.

You might think it’s a little goofy to be campaigning these “Royal Painfields” at Bonneville but our effort is no less pure than the space-shot tech streamliners because max speed with what you “brung” is what its all about. Period. Most everyone there knows that simple fact.

More to follow…

Always Racing!
Phil