SCTA Season Opener at El Mirage

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SCTA El Mirage Season Opener May 2011 Land Speed Racing

As much as we enjoyed admiring this well restored deuce coupe complete with a tear drop trailer, we enjoyed the crazy stories that the owner shared about it even more.  The owner of this 1932 Ford first bought it 1958, then sold it a few years later, and after failing out of college found it in a used car lot and bought it back.  If that wasn’t a cool enough story, it also survived two divorces where he used a classic T-bird and a “handful of drugs” to appease and distract his ex-wives from taking the Ford during the divorce settlements.  Given a few more minutes of converstation, I’m sure this guy could’ve told us some cool stories about the era of free love, Jimi Hendrix, and his personal involvement in the anti-war protests.

SCTA El Mirage Season Opener May 2011 Land Speed RacingSCTA El Mirage Season Opener May 2011 Land Speed Racing

Plumber’s crack…  Not exaclty the type of cleavage we’re use to seeing at Hot Import Nights!

SCTA El Mirage Season Opener May 2011 Land Speed Racing
Good Year Front Runner tires, also known as “skinnies,” are pretty standard affair on land speed racecars.

The SCTA has some pretty unconventional safety rules.  In particular, 1″ lug nuts and five, 1/2″ wheel studs are required on all cars that compete in classes with records over 200 MPH.  A participant told us that the five 1/2″ lugs were mandated after a car got sideways and the lugs snapped allowing the wheels to fly off.  We remain somewhat skeptical. 

SCTA El Mirage Season Opener May 2011 Land Speed RacingSCTA El Mirage Season Opener May 2011 Land Speed Racing SCTA El Mirage Season Opener May 2011 Land Speed Racing
Land speed racing has a class for just about everything.  This particular Chevy S10 holds the production mini pick up, D class record at 152 MPH. This Chevy S10 was still powered by the factory 4.3 L engine, but flaunted an interesting set of headers.After being inspected and verified for displacement, this engine was sealed by the SCTA.

 

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