Bonneville is a pretty mysterious place. It seems like another planet, the weather is harsh and strange but when a car makes a run down the course it looks effortless and ethereal.
In reality, there’s a lot of work which goes in to every run, those that break records and those that simply break parts.
We’ve been breaking more parts than records this week, but it’s not for lack of trying. The crew had the new AA Gas engine in the car, but it looks like we’ll have to switch to the A Gas instead.
Somebody burn some sage or something and chase the bad luck away!
Anyway, while we’re moving motors around, here’s a step by step list of exactly what it takes just to make a single run.
This isn’t just something we have to do for the Speedliner. Almost every team out here has some version of the same checklist. This is a dedicated group of racers.
1.Raise the car on jacks ( These things are heavy!)
2.Test fire. This is when we check all the fluids, the computer, run through the gears, check the tire pressure, etc.
2. Put on the body panels: It takes over 300 Dzus fasteners to button up the liner.
3. Pack the Parachutes.
4. Top off the fuel.
5. Lay out the ramps.
6. Load the car
7. Load the chase car with safety gear, helmets, tools and coolers.
8. Head down to the staging lanes (about 4 miles from our pits)
9. Choose a lane: There’s a special lane for 300+ mph cars. The officials have graciously let us use it all weekend. It’s not easy to get a 38.5 ft streamliner to make tight turns, so after we unload the car, we push it up by hand.
10. Keep the cockpit cool. Unlike a modern Caddy, this car doesn’t have climate controlled seats and it can be really hot in the staging lanes. (This is actually a problem for the crew members pushing the car too, it gets warm enough to burn your hands!)
11. Put the car back on stands and warm the engine. Racing is funny, it can be 110 degrees and while the car and crew are melting, the engine oil is cold. Engine oil needs to be warm to lubricate properly.
12. Fill the intercooler with ice and water. Unlike the engine, turbos need to be kept cool.
13. Suit up the driver. Drivers wait until the last minute to get in the car, because all that fire gear is hot, and the fumes from race cars ahead in the lanes can be unbearable in the tight confines of the cockpit.
14. Strap in the driver
15. Start the car
16. Bleed the intercooler. Like a radiator, an intercooler won’t cool properly if it has air in the system. Once the water pumps are on, the crew cracks two small bleeders at the top of the intercooler and that allows the air out and the cold water in.
17. Stage the car. Staging is a bit informal, cars pull up in their lanes and officials talk to the driver, advise of wind conditions and ruts or bumps in the salt and just generally check the readiness of the team for the run.
18. Turn on the data system. Modern racers are lucky to be able to review details of rpm and tune after a run. In the old days, everything depended on a good ear and an astute driver.
19. Turn on the cameras. The RePlay HD cameras that we run at various points on the car are another helpful tuning tool. Even before reviewing the data, Steve and Courtney can hear the engine, see when the boost comes on and check on the parachute deployment.
20. Wait for the signal. This is the big moment. The starter waves us in and it’s go time.
21 Push start!
Once Kenny is enroute, the rest of the team makes a mad dash to their vehicles and races (uh, within SCTA speedlimits of course) down the return road to meet the car at the finish.
Once Kenny comes off the return road, the ramps have to come out again and the car gets loaded up on the trailer and brought back to the pits (or better yet, the impound).
Wash and Repeat.
