Wes, wonderful, 0200 or not, I truly concur, well said, thanks for sending it,
I dont feel like the lone ranger Joe
Wester S Potter wrote:
> As far as I am concerned, if you go faster TWO WAYS, timed with
> certified accurate clocks, over an accurately measured course, all of which
> factors are present at Lake Gairdner, El Mirage, Muroc, Black Rock,
> Bonneville, Maxton, Daytona, Pendine Sands, or possibly the spot in Jordan
> where they tested Thrust II or even the lake bed in Africa or the salt bed
> in Chile, you have an International/World record because no one has been
> clocked faster. Call it what you may. I go back to the comment I made a
> month or so back, with Drag Racing we have more ACCURATELY timed speed runs
> in a weekend in the US than the rest of the world times in a year. Why
> should we care what the rest of the world thinks about those records when we
> know they are ACCURATE and legitimate? If your peers recognize what you
> have done then you are the best and you know it and they know it.
> Sure there are lots of racers who are proud of their exit trap times
> and one way runs and I applaud their claims and recognize them. However, I
> don't see Mickey Thompson listed as the fastest man for his one way run and
> from what I heard him say in the early fifties on the salt, Mickey would
> only laugh off the idea. If you had seen his competition coupe with the
> Chrysler and flathead hooked together with links of chain you would
> recognize the fact that he wanted to go fast, any way he could. His 1960
> sponsors were anxious to claim a record but I don't remember Mickey saying
> he was faster officially than the Bluebird. Sponsors can push people to
> claim many things but honestly are they true? Look at the Budweiser Rocket
> car and their "record" claim that was finally paid by their sponsors because
> a respected pilot said it "looked" like they went supersonic. Who believes
> it? Did Andy Green disprove it?
> That is the great thing about land-speed racing ... it is you against
> the clock, and you get a print out to prove it. With no cash prizes for
> "winning," (whatever that can mean in this sport), it is the recognition of
> your peers that makes the difference. There are established rules and you
> abide by them and so does everyone else you CARE about.
> There are people in the sport who are skilled promoters of themselves.
> Some are dishonest and have and would sell their name and soul for cash.
> Some have done jail time for fraud but still are respected for their past
> accomlishments. They went faster than anyone else running in their class
> ... running under the same rules as their challengers. Does that mean we
> take away their records because of things they did away from the race
> course? No! There are people in the sport who have gone faster than anyone
> else one way, does that mean we recognize that speed as a record? No! Why
> should we?
> Thiokol, ninety minutes away from here, builds the primary space
> shuttle "motors." Wonder what they could come up with for straight away
> power and who would sit in front of it to steer?
> It's two in the morning ... I probably don't make sense but I'm going
> to send this and hope the comments are as politically correct as I have
> tried to make this.
> Wes
> ----------
> > From: "John Beckett" <landspeedracer@email.msn.com>
> > To: "Ron Christensen" <ron.christensen@wsapr.com>,"'Wester S Potter'"
> <wspotter@jps.net>,"'Malcolm Pittwood'"
> <MPittwood@compuserve.com>,<Land-speed@autox.team.net>
> > Subject: Re: World, National Records
> > Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 21:42:39 -0500
> >
> > Ron
> >
> > Guess I look at it a little differently. Bonneville is as INTERNATIONAL
> >as it gets. There are competitors from Japan, England, New Zealand,
> >Australia and probably others as well. I think if you questioned Leigh
> >Fielder, after he set his record on the Salt in 1998, I bet he'd consider
> it
> >an INTERNATIONAL effort. If Al Teague ran a 415 MPH average at Lake
> Gairdner
> >in '95 wouldn't that be a World record? To me it would. I don't think the
> >name of the sanctioning body is necessarily the only criteria for World
> >Record status.
> > El-Mirage, Muroc and Maxton are what I would classify as National
> events
> >and subsequently National records.
> >
> >
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "Ron Christensen" <ron.christensen@wsapr.com>
> >To: "'Wester S Potter'" <wspotter@jps.net>; "'Malcolm Pittwood'"
> ><MPittwood@compuserve.com>; <Land-speed@autox.team.net>
> >Sent: Monday, February 21, 2000 3:31 PM
> >Subject: Hero's and World Records
> >
> >
> >> I have been reading a lot of the list's comments about heros and world
> >> records and I think there are a couple of things that need to be
> >clarified.
> >> Is not an International Record one that was accomplished under FIA or FIM
> >> rules and under their official sanction? And, are not the records
> >> established at Bonneville during SCTA/BNI of USFRA meets considered
> >National
> >> Records? If that is the case then what constitutes a "World Record"? I
> >> always considered a World Record to be the same as an International
> >Record.
> >> Any comments?
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
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