DISTANT THUNDER IN MOJAVE; LAND-SPEED RACERS FLOCK TO THE DRY LAKE.Byline: Matthew Kredell Special to the Daily News Every summer for more than 50 years, a quiet, desolate town in the Mojave Desert Mojave or Mohave Desert, c.15,000 sq mi (38,850 sq km), region of low, barren mountains and flat valleys, 2,000 to 5,000 ft (610–1,524 m) high, S Calif.; part of the Great Basin of the United States. has been suddenly rocked by the roar of engines, spouting spout·ing n. Chiefly Pennsylvania & New Jersey See gutter. See Regional Note at gutter. spouting Noun NZ a. clouds of ominous dirt in the air for the sake of the simplest of man's needs. The need for speed. The dry lake beds here provide the perfect conditions for the attainment of that need but also exhibit the dangers that excessive speeds produce. Two weeks after the death of long-time racer racer, name for several related swift, slender snakes, especially those of the genus Coluber. All of the racers are nonpoisonous, nonconstricting, day-active snakes. The black racer, C. Bruce Johnston on June 27, more than 300 of his ``family members'' hit the lake bed once again in the quest to bring their variety of custom and stock cars to record-breaking speeds. ``Unlike in most sports, we really are like a family,'' said Mike Cook, president of the Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, Timing Association, which coordinates the races. The family unites nine times each race year, including six times at El Mirage and three trips to the salt beds of Bonneville, Utah. The race year begins in May and ends in November. The SCTA SCTA Southern California Timing Association SCTA Student California Teachers Association SCTA Symantec Certified Technology Architect SCTA Sample Controlled Thermal Analysis SCTA South Carolina Telephone Association is divided into 30 clubs with membership ranging from the 10s to the largest club, the Sidewinders For the 1990s rock band, see The Sidewinders. Sidewinders is a Barbershop quartet that won the 1964 SPEBSQSA international competition. Preceded by Town and Country Four SPEBSQSA International Quartet Champions , with more than 200 racers. Each club holds different responsibilities to ensure the event runs smoothly, such as setting up the cones Cones Receptor cells that allow the perception of colors. Mentioned in: Color Blindness and cleaning up the area after a day of racing. ``We are just borrowing this great piece of nature and we have to leave it the same way we found it,'' Cook said. Each car and motorcycle motorcycle, motor vehicle whose design is based on the bicycle. The German inventor Gottlieb Daimler is generally credited with building the first practical motorcycle in 1885. The motorcycle did not become dependable and popular, however, until after 1900. at El Mirage runs a 1-1/3-mile race against the clock. It is driver and machine against the clock and the record book. A speed trap captures the movement of the machines at the conclusion of the course, using two light beams to read the pace of the cars flying by and projecting it into a computer. Cars traveling over 140 mph are required to use a parachute parachute, umbrellalike device designed to retard the descent of a falling body by creating drag as it passes through the air. The development of modern aircraft has led to many experiments in the aerodynamic problems of parachute design, with the result that the to assist in stopping in the required 1,000 foot area. The fastest entries are streamliners or lakesters, which can sometimes go in excess of 400 mph. The speed record at El Mirage is 307 mph while the slick See SLC. salt beds of Bonneville have aided in a 429 mph run. About 70 different classes of cars and motorcycles - separated by their engine size, fuel type and modifications - race down the dry lake bed. Racers range from amateurs, who spend a little spare time working on a motorcycle, to veterans who come out of their garage only for meals. Professional race-car drivers sometimes come out for the races, especially for Speed Week at Bonneville, which will celebrate its 50th Anniversary Aug. 15-22. A.J. Foyt and Bobbie Unser are two of the racers who frequent this event. While the whole association considers its members family, the outdoor experience is really for fathers and sons, and sometimes grandsons. Cook, a resident of Norco, builds cars with his son Mike Jr. and his father Doug, a famous drag car racer. ``It's great to be able to spend time with my family and do what I love,'' Mike Cook said. Mike claims his Ford Thunderbird The Ford Thunderbird was a car manufactured in the United States by the Ford Motor Company. It entered production for the 1955 Ford Thunderbird model year as a two-seater sporty car but, unlike the similar Chevrolet Corvette, the Thunderbird was never sold as a full-blown sports is the world's fastest stock-bodied car, and he has the numbers to back it up. He is a member of the 200-mph club at both El Mirage and Bonneville. While trophies are awarded to the points leaders in each class at the end of the year, the 200-mph club is probably the most distinguished honor in SCTA racing. Members of the club not only need to have brought their machine to a speed past that barrier, but they also have to break the record for that class in the process. Cook and his Thunderbird thunderbird In North American Indian mythology, a powerful spirit in the form of a bird that watered the earth and made vegetation grow. Lightning was believed to flash from its eyes or beak, and the beating of its wings was thought to represent rolling thunder. hold the B-class stockbodied, fuel-powered record at El Mirage with a 249-mph clip and at Bonneville. Another family that has a burning desire for racing is the father-son combo of Mike and Greg Waters. The Lancaster natives are used to putting out fires. Mike, 53, is a retired fire captain and Greg, 33, is just one promotion away from filling his father's shoes. But they haven't been able to control their fire for racing, which is blazing out of control. The car of Wilson & Waters, a navy blue roadster with the grill shell from a '32 Ford and the rear of a '29-'32 Ford, holds records in four different classes at El Mirage. Greg Waters and Dana Wilson Dana Richard Wilson (b. 1946) is an American composer, jazz pianist, and teacher. Wilson currently resides in Ithaca, New York. Wilson's music has been commissioned and performed by such ensembles as the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, Buffalo combine to hold the D-class, gas-powered roadster mark at 202 mph, the C-class at 210, and the D-class, fuel-powered record at 210. Wilson, 68, another fire captain who started racing in the '50s, met Mike Waters while they both worked for the fire department. The fourth mark was added July 12 when Mike got into the 200 mph club with a 206 clip in the B-class, gas-powered section. The classes are indicators of the size of the engine, with the A-class being the largest - and a fuel-powered engine differs from a gas-powered because alcohol is mixed with the gas. Greg Waters appreciates the indoor part of the sport as much as the outdoor. ``This is one of the last sports where you can build something in your own garage and then go out and race it,'' he said. All it takes to enter the SCTA is $30 and a vehicle to race, but don't let that fool you. Once the racing bug bites, you will be spending hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars. Greg has invested about $30,000 and 20-40 hours a week of his time into his roadster. The Waters and Wilson belong to the Super Fours club. Johnston was vice president of the club at the time of his death and a one-time president, so his passing hit club members extra hard. ``Bruce was one of the few original land-speed racers that was still competing,'' Greg Waters said. ``We used to have our monthly club meeting in his garage.'' While Johnson's death brought the dangers of racing back into his mind, Greg Waters is confident about safety. Every competing vehicle is checked from front to rear by technical inspectors before it's allowed to race and two paramedics and a fire truck are available at every event. The risks, however, are not going to stop these riders from experiencing their passion. ``(The accidents) make you think a little bit more when trying to push it to the limit, but we still want to go fast,'' Greg Waters said. ``The accidents of all races in the world combined don't nearly approach the number of accidents in regular driving. So there is a danger in everything.'' CAPTION(S): 3 Photos PHOTO (1-3--Color in SAC Sac: see Sac and Fox. SAC - 1. An early system on the Datatron 200 series. [Listed in CACM 2(5):16 (May 1959)]. Edition only) All types of vehicles, like this truck at top, race against the clock at the El Mirage dry lake El Mirage Dry Lake is a dry lake bed in the Mojave Desert of California in the United States. The lake is located about nine miles (14 km) northwest of the town of Adelanto, in San Bernardino County. bed. Above, Mathias Ponce tows a vehicle he hopes will exceed 200 mph while Bill Davis For the artist, animator, creative director, see . For the baseball player, see .
Myung J. Chun/Daily News |
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