He called his 300 mph runs "the biggest natural high you can ever imagine." Saturday he made his record run of 291.6 against the previous mark of 290 and advanced into the prestigious 200 mph club. Saturday, Nish was sitting in the impound area with a single run of 292.4 and hoping time would not run out before he could make his return run for the record. We were going to change fuels and then run at the 330 (mph) record," said Nish. "Had it held together for just 30 seconds more we would have had the record. On the return run, however, the transmission let go midway through the run. On Wednesday, Nish pushed the car to the brink of a new record with a run of 303.9 mph. Last year he slipped into the seat of the streamliner built in 1957 by John Vesco. Nish, who started oval track racing at the old Fairgrounds in 1959, moved to the salt a few years ago. Racers, however, were simply happy to be racing.īack this year in search of a record were two old veterans of high speed racing - Terry Nish and the Vesco/Nish car. The track for this event was threaded between mud flats to the east and west and a large mud dike to the south. Instead of salt crystals bonding, this year the salt was breaking up, which resulted in a mushy surface. These tracks usually ran from 9 to 11 miles.īecause of poor salt conditions this year, two earlier races had to be canceled. To get any kind of a stable track, officials had to move about 31/2 miles east of where previous tracks were placed. "Only the middle five miles, however, are what you'd call good track. "The track is about seven miles long," says Larry Volk, president of the USFRA. The one thing lacking was enough firm salt to have a complete track. And, probably the most ideal weather conditions - cool in the mornings and evenings, and comfortable in the afternoon. "The most we've ever had." The records ran from a low of 145 miles per hour to a high of 311 mph.This race, too, brought in the highest number of entries ever - 117. The 8th running of the World of Speed on the flats of Bonneville was the best race yet, and were it not for one thing, the salt, it would have been better yet.Ībout 40 land speed records were posted in four days of racing, which, says Mary West, an official with the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association, is an unusually large number.
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