Charles Nearburg talking to Bill Summers after breaking the Summers' record

The Summers Brother’s record was for normally aspirated engines.  It have finally been broken after 45 years.  Others have gone fast but were turbo or super charged.  Bill Summers called Charles on the salt and congrtulated him and the crew on breaking the record.

We are still waiting so see if Ack Attack will run soon, and what they are doing to the liner.

Here is a recap of what has happened in the last 2 days from www.landracing.com

Just before the Ack Attack run, the Spirit of Rett liner has broken the Summers Brother record which has stood for 45 years!  We are awaiting the final average of both runs, but it looks like it have been beaten by a fair margin.  The Summers record is 409.344 mph.  More details as we get them.

From landracing.com   “Rocky reports the bike wanted to heel over to the right — even though there was no wind.  He also says “it wants to run!”.  Mike Akatiff and crew are thinking on how to tweak the aero now to correct for the little tilt.  Rocky had to get out of the throttle and back into it to keep it on the middle of the tire.

There was some smoke coming out from the tail section when the bike shut down here in the pits — it’s been decided it was just the heat wrap smoking.

They’re going to think about it — and maybe try to turn the bike around and make a run up the course in less than a half-hour.  The wind is still zero.  I’ve got photos — will put ‘em here after I click to let you folks read this.”

They continued to have some minor problems today, including a bad starter in the front engine.  All of that has been solved and the team is anxious to prove that all the work will pay off with a record breaking run early tomorrow AM..

Of course the weather has to cooperate with no wind or at least no cross wind.

CARS:
Ron Main/George Poteet Speed Demon
Mike/Terry Nish Royal Purple
Charles Nearburg Spirit of Rett
Amir Rosenbaum Speed by Spectre
Lynn Goodfellow Mormon Missile

Bikes:
Top 1 Ack Attack Streamliner

Scott Horner/Jamie Williams Open Wheel Hayabusa
Willie Hodgson Open Wheel BMW 1000RR
Richard Hatfield Open Wheel Lightning electric bike could show up.

For motorcyclists, the big news is that Mike Ackatiff is going to try to take the Motorcycle LSR back from the Bub 7 liner. Denis Manning’s liner with Chris Carr driving took the record back from Mike at this event, and Mike and driver Rocky Robinson really want the record back.

The Ack Attack team have been doing lot of work on the liner and have spent weeks on the new dyno setup that Mike built in his shop. They have a new set of tail doors ready to go and have made many improvements.

Mike is very confident that he has the power and reliability this year to do the job.

The Ack Attack liner has not run yet on the first day of running as this is written. Wind was too high in the AM. Mike wants no wind at all and is waiting things out. The course seems to be in good condition and the weather is good.

The Ack Attack is the only motorcycle stream liner going for the record this year. Denis Manning will not take out his “7″ for a challenge unless he has to. Denis is not at Bonneville this week, and did not run at his own Bub event 2 weeks ago.

Sam Wheeler and the EZ Hook are not here as well. Sam is back in Arcadia CA, continuing to refine his liner and is seeking a major sponsor. Short of that he wants everything to be ready including some driveline changes and maybe a new motor.We will keep you updated as to what is happening on the salt this week.

The IGNITION3 team will be there later in the week to chronicle the Gold Eagle Brands effort to get the lawnmower land speed record back from the British team that snatch it from Bobby Cleveland and his mower last May.

Denis must be really happy.  His liner certainly has potential and looks like the new tires worked well…..Chris is certainly the consummate professional.

Congratulations to the BUB team!!

Denis says he can do the turn around in 40 minutes……so lets see how it goes.  This is a very seasoned crew.  They know their stuff and they have the drill down.  We will see.

Rumors were that it would take months to fix the damage.  I spoke to Denis on the phone a couple of weeks ago and he said he would be ready for the 2009 shoutout…..I was surprised.  Denis sure wants this record back!!!

Mike Akatiff has decided not to run until he has to defend his record.  Sam Wheeler is waiting until next year.

So this week, Denis and the Bub crew headed to Bonneville to see what 7 can do with the new Goodyear tires.

The week started off slowly with a couple of slower runs by the Bub crew, and some minor problems with the engine.  And then at 2:30 PM Utah time, Chris laid down a run that was 362.742  entry into the traps, 367.809 average for the  mile trap, and an exit speed of 372.534  MPH!

That is fast and more than 10 MPH over the record, but they have to do a return run within two hours of breaking the timing lights.  Now the drama begins, and we will give you and update as soon as we know.

I know Mike is on the salt watching all of this.  Sam is back in Arcadia “watching” on the internet……..this is going to be good.

First to run was the 7 liner of Denis Manning.  At just a little after 8:30 AM, Chris Carr left the line for what appeared to be a good start.  At about mile 2 he aborted the run because one for the struts that hold the bike up at rest and low speed did not retract.  They went back to the pits for repairs and repacking of the chute.  Denis had the liner back in the line for another run in no time.  In less than an hour the Bub 7 liner starts another run.  This time the speed is 355.047.  At the 10 mile point only the pilot chute deployed……no main chute.  Chris had to downshift to slow the liner down.  He can’t use the brakes until he is below 60 or less.  He put out the skids and used them to slow down and comes to rest in the muddy end of the track at 11 miles and then some.  Chris knew that he lost all power, but he did not know that he was on fire!  The fire crew arrived and put out the flames.  Word is that an oil line came loose and caused the fire.  The Bub liner appears to be done for the day.  The damage seems to be too extensive.

Sam Wheeler is next in line behind the BUB liner.  At 10:15 he is moving down the course.  Sam goes through the traps at 323.627.  He may just do a return run because he can set an 1350cc class record if he does anything near this speed.  Sam’s bike is acutally a couple of classes down from the other 2 streamliners because its engine is  just under 1100 cc rather than 3000 like the 7 and the Ack Attack.  The class record for 1350 is only 178 mph.

In servicing the bike for the turn around, Sam’s crew finds that the impeller in a rear wheel driven water pump has ruined the pump.  Sam does not have a spare so he is done for the meet.

I spoke with Sam on the phone a few minutes ago and he says it won’t take much to fix things up.  The front wheel worked well and he is enthused that maybe that problem is behind him.  He also said he got great on-board video which is satisfying to me since we have been working on this end of things with him.  Sam is optimistic and looking to run again…….all he needs is sponsor money. He is open to any ideas [hint]!

I also spoke with Mike Akatiff on the phone as he was leaving the salt.  He was happy that he does not have to defend his record soon…….the story continues.   Denis is already scheming repairs, Mike is ready, but will keep fiddling.  Sam knows how to fix his pump problem……see you on the salt!!

Mike Akatiff, the current record holder with Rocky Robinson driving/riding is on the salt, but is not entered in the event and not planning to run.  Mike told me today that they didn’t even bring any race gas with them.  The Ack Attack is on display, and Rocky and Mike are having a good time without the pressure of having to run for the record.  Mike is looking forward to the private meet organized by Mike Cook which will be held later in the month.

Denis Manning and the 7 liner was out there early this AM.  Chris car did a one way run of 351 mph.  This is pretty good for the first run in a couple of years for 7.  It is also darn good with these salt conditions.  Manning overcame some electronics gremlins today and put in a good run.  The Bub crew was on the salt ready to go most of the afternoon, but wind was a factor and when they came up on 4 PM without a second run they were forced to give up until tomorrow.  The FIM allows a 2 hour turn around time for the second return run, so 7 had to run before 4 PM if they were going to try for the record.

Sam Wheeler ran in the middle of the day and did 289.  I have not spoken to Sam, but my guess is that the salt was just not good enough to go any faster.  I know they did leave the salt early to clean the salt out of the wheel wells, which tells me that the salt is still plenty damp out there.

There is only a half day left.  So if anything is going to happen, the fast guys have to be out there early so they can get in a decent return run.

We will be watching www.landracing.com Bub forum early tomorrow AM.