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The first part of the course is pretty much flat and straight through the high desert. The road is smooth and in good condition. There are a few sweeping turns but for the most part it is pretty untechnical. This does not mean it’s forgiving. Any mistakes or serious mechanical issues that can put you off the road will put you on a treacherous steeply graded soft shoulder and deposit you into a rocky and unforgiving rock field at high speeds.
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| This 350Z ran solo without a navigator, a difficult task and definitely not something a beginner should try. He has course notes written on this “heads up display” so he could see them easily while driving. |
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| The Z driver doesn’t mess around as his car is equipped with way point notes, several timing devices and two GPS systems to make sure that the average speed is maintained. We would just prefer a navigator! Actually we would really want to be in the unlimited class and put the pedal to the metal! |
Toward the end of the course, the road twists thorough the Narrows, a twisting and technical area through a canyon with elevation changes. A mistake here can be deadly as there is little run off and the unyielding rock walls and fields filled with car sized boulders demand respect.
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| There are chase and observation aircraft that continuously keep the whole course under observation to assure safety and course control. The aircraft are in constant radio communication with the workers on the ground and race control. |
Chuck quickly brougt the Sentra up to 140 mph. This in itself is pretty hard as the stock B12 can only muster about 105 mph and a Sentra SE-R can only muster about 130. At 140 mph the cooling demands on the engine are pretty high and the speed had to be held for about 10 miles to establish a 110 mph average speed. This is impressive considering the SR20 engines tendency to overheat at high RPM. 140 mph is somewhat difficult in this boxy car that was not designed with any sort of aerodynamics in mind or the caution that the unforgiving conditions of Silver State demanded.
The B12 had previously encountered instability at this speed at Bonneville so Chuck proceeded with caution. Fortunately the first segment was run without incident. Upon reaching an average speed of 115 mph, Chuck and Annie dialed it back, running at a higher than the desired average of 110 mph so additional caution could be taken in the twisty Narrows. In the slower Narrows the average speed was adjusted down to 110 mph. Things were looking good for a top finish but Chuck and Annie were looking for a large inflated arch that was said to be across the road at the finish line at a drivers meeting.
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| Before the cars are allowed to the final starting line up, the tires are carefully inspected again. Tires are very critical for safety in this high speed event and they are inspected before each special event and before the main event. Most of the serious accidents that have happened in the Silver State Classic have been due to tire failure. The tires must be in perfect condition to be allowed to compete. |
For some reason the organizers did not set up the arch and the planned last minute speed corrections were not executed properly leaving the Sentra with an average speed of 110.2854 MPH. Although this seems like a miniscule error this was good for a 14th place out of 26 entries. The winning car was only off the target speed by 0.0126 MPH!
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| The start and the long road ahead with one major difference, no speed limit! |
