Hi everyone:
I want to write this while it's still fresh in my mind.....any input
from you will be appreciated.
Every fall and winter, our business has a booth in all the car shows and
swap meets in the northwest. This is one of the ways that we
advertise. This year we were asked to bring the roadster to three of
the shows to put on display for Land Speed Race Cars. Marlo Triet and I
booth took advantage of this. Land Speed Louise was at one of these
shows and was very helpful in promoting our sport. (Thanks Louise).
Last weekend I was at a show in Redmond, Or.,(a little "cow-town", as
are all the towns in the easter part of the state. The general public
knows what hot rods and custom cars are, they know about drag racing and
nascar, but know very little about Bonneville and dry lake racing. I
will try my best to get my point across without taking too much space.
Our car is not a show car-it is a race car. The frame and body are not
painted and the car is not finished. In fact, there is still a lot of
rust on the frame and rear end from speed week. So in my opinion, it's
not a show car. We get no money for taking it to car shows. In fact,
it costs us more in gas and other expenses to take the car than just our
display for the business. But I show the car with 1/2 the body off.
People can then see what it takes to build a LSR car. The car has
always generated interest from hot rodders, but the general public looks
at it and you can tell they don't understand a thing about it.Anyway, a
lot of people came up to me and said that they had seen the TV program
and that they liked it. Some said they watched the re-run and when they
got to see a car in person and talk about it, they understood it better
- what LSR was all about and that they would watch the program again.
The public looks at LSR different than you and I do. If you want the
public to understand what we do, you need to put forth the effort to
educate them.. Take advantage of any opportunity to put your car on
display with other cars if you want to promote the sport. One more
thing...a couple of weeks ago, we were approached by Pat Barrett, the
regional manager for "Drive Media,". I'm sure most of you have seen it
and picked it up at the auto parts stores. It is nation wide I think.
Anyway, they have asked me to write a monthly article (about 500 words)
on LSR. They have Don Gartletts do one on drag racing. I'm not as good
with words as Louise or Mary West, but I've done tech articles for many
car magazines in the past.
So guys, here is another way to tell people about our sport. So, e-mail
us about what is going on in your area-new cars, old cars, pictures
etc. But please tell me...because I can't write about different items
without your help...pass it on to me.. (I don't get paid for this. I
want to promote our sport.)
Now a tech question. Dan or anyone else---the rule book says that "for
modified roadster that no fairings or special coverings of the wheels
and tires are permitted - quoted from second sentence, page 45. It's
legal to have moon discs on the inside of the front wheels--most
roadsters do. Can I put moon discs on the inside of the rear
wheels?????. I haven't seen any roadsters with them. I need to know.
It will require a lot of time to do this if it's legal- and Muroc is
coming up soon.
Thanks,
Russ Meeks #902 XO M.R.
The garbage truck motor man
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