Ah, to spin or not to spin. Well in Maynard's case he's right, he runs a
Roadster. They spin a lot. But not every car and not every roadster even
spin as much as Tommy and Maynard do.
I have only spun my car once. I had just gone throught the four mile at 220
MPH and all of a sudden the rear let loose and flung to the right. That's
back when I had to much weight in the rear. It came around so fast I
couldn't do anything to correct. Just hold on. I went around three times
before I could even reach for the parachute. And it was three more times
before it actually came out and pulled me straight, and that was pure luck
that it came out while I was facing forward. Oh I forgot to mention that I
also tore the complete nose off the car, pushed in the side windows, broke
the spoiler off the rear and hurt the ball joints. Ended my Speed Week in a
hurry. Fun stuff.
Tom Bryant has given some very insightfull information on this subject. Not
all spins end where the worst situation is the parachure is wound around
the car. In '89 I saw a Roadster spin, then blow a tire, and all hell broke
loose after that. When it was all over there was a chassis, roll bar,
driver and half and engine left. Very Scary. As Tom said this LSR stuff is
susposed to be fun, so work up to the speeeds gradualy, get used to your
car, and don't compromise on any safety equipment.
John Beckett
At 10:12 AM 6/29/99 -0700, Keith Turk wrote:
>I was chatting with Maynard Parker last night about Bonneville and he was
>saying that Spins are about inevitable... Thought I would take a sec out
>and see what everyone thought about the best way to drive through one of
>these
>
>My question is Do I have time to get the chute out before this thing
>actually starts? what are the warning signs ... or are there any? any
>driving tips out there?
>
>Keith Turk
>Austin Healey 100 / Bugeye / Box Sprite / Bonneville Land Speed Racer
>Camaro ( D Gas Altered )
>
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