| The "Salt bug" bit!
After shaming Jim into going to the salt flats, with the threat of death.......I was amazed how the weekend
went. After the long trip from Indy, through Denver and then the 2 hour drive 110 miles west of Salt Lake City in a rental Cadillac, we finally arrived on the salt. After 2 hrs of seeing nothing but salt, we should have been conditioned for what we were about to see of the terrain, but the racing surface was different from what we saw on the trip. I have never seen a place so bright and spacious, with this surface that sticks to everything. Several times I took my sunglasses off, just to check if I had them on, and sure enough I did. Its just that bright! I had been there in 1992 with a couple
buddies, so I had some idea of what to expect, and had also been there in 2002. That trip had been a complete wash due to heavy rains the previous 3 days, that left about 2 or 3 inches of water for as far as the eye could see. That year my son and I never saw a wheel turn and got to spend the entire weekend in the
casinos, and believe me, I'm not that lucky to spend that much time gambling. Anyway, back to our first year together at the salt. I seemed to notice a feeling of silence when arriving and as we toured the pit area and saw and heard the cars taking off and running wide open. It was almost as if the guys were not having as good a time as I had promised them. Little did I know they were having a ball, but were just amazed at what they were seeing and feeling. Even Jim Linder, the Injection Guru seemed to be at a loss for words...which is unusual to say the least. You need to understand that Jim has worked and played with cars for the bigger part of his life, and to me, seems to have done it all. He also travels to many states to teach various automobile techniques to hundreds of students, so to see him just looking and taking it all in was something I had never experienced. Obviously the wheels were turning and thoughts of coming back were there, but also to return as a major sponsor and also to bring back something to compete with.
Year 2... bit again, harder this time!
On our second year back to the flats, we had a couple of new guys along for the ride. Mentioning going back again, an old friend of mine, John Bacher overheard me at the Indy Hi-Winders Car Club meeting and expressed the same remark that most guys say,, I have always wanted to go out there, and asked if we had room. I told him I would find out and let him know.. After mentioning it to Jim, he also knows John and said fine, so I called him and told him he would be welcome.. He showed up the next day with the flight money. Seemed to me he didn't want to get left out. Jim also invited a friend of his Walt Hergenroether that owns a repair shop on the west side of Indy. Same
comments from him and now we had 5 heading west. This time we flew thru Vegas with a 3 hr overlay, then to Salt Lake City, then to Wendover, Nevada, which made for a very long day, about 12
hours., and we did take the same route home 2 days later. We made it to the racing surface around 1 in the afternoon, and did get to see several cars and bikes run, before the 60+MPH winds shut the course down for the remainder of the day, which happened all the days we were there. The sun was as bright as usual and the temp in the lower 70's which made it very comfortable to walk, talk and see what was going on, not only in the pits, but on the course. I had been in contact with Ellen Wilkerson which is an officer in the Utah Salt Flats Racing Assn. and I had mentioned to her that Jim Linder might be interested in getting more involved than last year and wondered if any
sponsorships were available.. She said the main event was sponsored by Lincoln Electric, the same as the last several years, but that the 130 MPH club was looking for somebody to
sponsor it.. She contacted Jim, and he gave the approval to be a corporate
sponsor at the salt flats event. Like I said, he was bit harder this time. I noticed the same thing happening to the 2 new guys,, lots of silence and wide open eyes. We ran into several people that we had met the year before and as usual made us feel very welcome. Even the contestants that we didn't know were more than willing to explain
their car and powertrains to us. Jim seemed to understand what they were saying, but I will admit, I left several cars scratching my head. The variety of vehicles that they run there is
unbelievable,, from a new Cadillac to a 52 Crosley, and everything in between. I
had always thought all you would see were the streamliners like are in all the magazines, but that is not the case...If you have ever heard the saying "Run what you brung" this is the place for that, as long as it passes safety inspection, which can be tough, so better read the rule book,,,, closely! We were up early Saturday morning and headed to the Salt Flats
Restaurant where ever breakfast on the menu is $5.00. Sure makes adding up the bill easy. The place was packed with racers from all over the country, fueling up on
cholesterol for a long day. As soon as it was light, off they went one after the other with speeds being broadcast on the salt flats radio station, which sure helps to know what if going on with each car running. Again around 1 in the afternoon the winds returned and shut the place down for the rest of the day. We decided it was time to take down our canopy and that was a trick in 60+MPH winds. Don't believe me,, try it sometime. We have all heard the story about the monkey and the football,,, well there it was, live and in color. One interesting thing I did notice was when we took the stakes that held down the ground cover, the
immediately filled up with water, so just below the surface is very wet. I talked to a regular
competitor Dave Sarno that holds several records in his Camaro, he mentioned that a young couple had asked him is they could put there fathers burial ashes in his
parachute and spread them on the racing surface. He agreed, but the winds would not let him run, so the couple did the
honor themselves. To me, that was a very touching honor to there father. We all should be so lucky
3rd day home...
Once again, made the Cafe stop, guess what, everything was still $5 a plate and hit the event. Had to be back in Salt Lake City
kind of early, so only got to see a few cars run, pick up some souvenirs, say good by to Ellen and her friends, and we were heading for that long trip back east...I had another 12 hours on the way home to think about our times together and sharing things we all love,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,CARS
I don't think there has been a day go by, that I haven't thought of, or mentioned the place.. It sure has the ability to get under your skin,, and that's great.
TERRY ENGLE
INDY |
