Great weekend of Racing Studebakers

[SilverHawkDan]

This past weekend Dave Bloomberg and the Avanti Kid racing team along with the Bucket List Dream team raced their Avanti's at El Mirage with mixed results. The Avanti kids lost an alternator and due to support truck issues experienced an automatic shut down on the last run. Ran 171 with ease.

The Bucket List Dream were able to get thier "Rookie" driver certified. He didn't earn a license yet but he is officially a driver. He even got wet. He thought he saw sparks that turned out to be radiator water spray and hit the fire bottle. I will try to post the video as it is very instructional for all people who are racing with a head and neck restraint system. Panic can kill you. Look for pictures and more later.
Dan

[starliner62]

I'm waiting patiently for pictures, videos, drawings, etc.......

[SilverHawkDan]

Jamie and others,
It looks like I will not be able to load the incar video as it was recorded in HD and is a very big file. So it is going to go on You Tube and I will post a link to it. Here are some pics from last weekend:

Here is a shot of the two World Record Holding Studebaker Avanti's sitting side by side at the starting line. This might never happen again. A lot of racing history there.

Here is Dan wiping down the windshield right before the run. The conditions were really bad. High winds blowing lot's of dust all over the place.

The two Avanti's sitting in the pits. Dave's car suffered a failed alternator but after repairs things are looking good for Bonneville in August. The Bucket List Dream suffered from too small a carburator. Even with the biggest jets made it was extremely lean. So if the car is raced again with Sonny's engine a new carb is in order.

There were four Stude's there. Three got to race. One went home on Friday afternoon after failing tech inspection for the seat and seat belt set up. He should be back in June.

[SilverHawkDan]

Opps! Forgot to post the results.
The Avanti Kid went 171, 147?, 160+ and shut down on the last run.
The BLD car went 114 on the first Rookie run. They limit the rookies until the prove they can handle the car safely. Jon ran 104 on the second run. He aborted the third run, no speed recorded.
It would appear that the BLD car ran strong in first and second gear and even to the middle of thrid gear. Then the lean condition caused the engine to misfire. We may never know how strong Sonny's engine is at Land Speed racing as it is slated to be returned to him in South Carolina next month. After having driven the car at Bonneville and after the repairs and upgrades that were performed on the engine it was clear to me that the engine was much stronger especially after 3000 rpm, after the repairs. So 160 or 170 should be within reach.
Dan