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After doing the math, some old timers joked with Nick and I about how close we came to qualifying for a new record.Without rounding, the speed of our last pass was 184.12438 MPH. Again, without rounding, our record was 184.12483 MPH. In other words, we missed qualifying for a new record by .00045 MPH! We were told by Dan Warner that he had never seen someone come this close before in his 51 years of land speed racing.
Screw the record, I was just grateful to have walked away unscathed from a 193 MPH spin. Unfortunately though, Project 240SX LSR was damaged during the spin. When Project 240SX LSR rotated sideways at over 190 MPH, the pressure build up underneath the hood caused it to buckle. If the hood hadn’t buckled and relieved the high pressure, the car would have likely flipped. The would have been disastrous to say the least.
In addition to the hood, the parachute mount was also damaged. When the parachute deployed during mid spin, its tethers wrapped around the parachute mount and almost ripped it clean off the rear bumper.
Although cracked and mangled, John Kuchta (aka: The Sheet Metal Whisperer) was on hand to massage the parachute mount back to life so we could make another run. This guy never ceases to amaze me.
After the repairs were completed, we took Project 240SX LSR through tech where it was scrutinized. By the time we got through, racing had shut down for the day. Since we were one of several cars that spun consecutively, the USFRA felt that the course conditions were responsible and decided to move the course for the next day of racing.
