I've decided to spend this summer shooting less for pay and more for play. This has meant that I can do at least two very cool things: (1) travel to wild, wacky, and/or wonderful motorsports events that are off the radar screen of most racing magazine editors (let alone the general public) and (2) put my digital SLRs aside and shoot film with my favorite old cameras. So far, it's been a heck of a lot of fun. (For examples of true wackiness, check out Bug Out 69 and the 24 Hours of Lemons.)
I figured that the good times would continue at the East Coast Timing Association's Maxton Mile land speed race, and I was right. Give me funky cameras, fast machines, and friendly people, and I'm happy.
Tim Hunter's '70 Plymouth GTS has been converted into a replica of one of the legendary Superbirds, which raced in Nascar 40 years ago. Although the car was built to be a showpiece, the conversion was done to nearly Nascar standards. Tim is now having fun running it on road courses and at land speed races. He's still sorting out the car, so his top speed was a relatively gentle 140 mph.
I made the photos that you see here with a Mamiya C330 Twin Lens Reflex camera and a Mamiya 6. Both are nice, heavy chunks of metal that are engineered to last forever. The lenses are superb. The film was Kodak Portra 160, a fine-grained film with tremendous exposure latitude. It also scans well. That's important because these days a project that starts out analog almost inevitably ends up digital, in some form or fashion. [Click on any of the photos to see much larger versions. All of the images are copyright John Edwin Mason, 2011.]
Charles Jay set a new record of 125.713 mph in the M/BG-500/4 class, riding this beautiful machine.
The Maxton races take place a one mile course at the Laurinburg/Maxton airport, in North Carolina. Runs begin from a standing stop, and top speed is measured at the end of the mile. (The cars and bikes go down the track one at a time.) While it's a short course compared to the Bonneville Salt Flats, home of the most famous land speed races, the fastest car at the meet still managed to top 200 mph. The best of the bikes was even quicker, going well over 220 mph.
The top speed ever achieved at Maxton is a staggering 272 mph. Bill Warner did it on a motorcycle in 2010. (You'll see him below.)
Jarl Wathne has set many records at Maxton, over the years. He did it again at this race, running at 119.666 mph on his 250cc Honda.
Sadly, 2011 is the last year that the ECTA will be able to host races at the airport. It's looking for a new home, ideally in the same part of the country. They need a long, straight, smooth runway or roadway -- about 12,000 feet long -- that can be closed off five or six weekends a year.
Jessica Lee (on the bike) is young, but not as young as she looks. In fact, she's an experienced racer and is a MotoCross champion in her home state of Florida. This was her third land speed race, and she set a new record of 68.859 mph, in the P/P-100/2 class. I know that 68 mph doesn't sound fast, but she did it on a motorcycle with a tiny 100cc engine. Jessica says that she likes land speed racing at least as much as MotoCross and is hoping to go to Bonneville this year.
Robin Dripps is behind the wheel of this '32 Ford roadster. She set a record in the E/STR class, with a pass of 182.041 mph. Robin has also set records at Bonneville. By the way, there's nothing on or in this car that was made by Ford in 1932. The body is a reproduction and the motor is a Dart V8, built by Kenny Duttweiler, in California. Under land speed racing rules, it's perfectly legal to use a reproduction body as long as it's an exact replica. In fact, this car is much more like an original '32 Ford than the so-called Chevy Impalas, Ford Fusions, and Dodge Chargers that run in Nascar races. Nascar bodies, engines, and chassis have nothing to do with the production cars that they're named after. Robin is a professor of architecture at the University of Virginia, where I also teach. Discovering that I'm not the only UVA professor with a passion for the slightly suspect world of motor sports was a real surprise.
Mark Weiler drove this amazing machine to a new record of 172.311 in the B/BFS class. Like Robin Dripps, Mark has set records at Bonneville. The car is an aluminum-bodied one-off special powered by a modern Ford V8. Buford Motley, a former employee of Kurtis Kraft, which made race cars for the Indianapolis 500 (among many other events) in the mid-twentieth century, built it when he was in his 80s.
Yes, it was hot. Very hot. And the mosquitoes nearly ate me alive. In any case, that's Mike Brakel on the bike, sheltering under the umbrella. He set a record in the P/P-1350/4 class with a run of 203.525 mph.
Motorcycle racer Eric "Racer X" Roehrle waits at the line, while race starter Al Frietas looks things over. Eric made several strong passes that put him within spitting distance of setting a new record. [Remember, you can click on any of these photos to see much larger versions.]
It's unlikely that land speed racing will ever rival college football as a spectator sport.
Starter Al Frietas calls the cars and bikes to the starting line.
Bill Warner ran as fast as 172 mph, but didn't manage to set a record.
Robert Wells is driving this nifty little formula car. He set a new record in the G/BLG class, with a pass at 135.289 mph.
Charles Hemenway's sprint car was originally built to go around in circles on dirt tracks. Instead Charles drove it to a new record speed of 171.898 mph, in the D/FCT class.
Harry Pattillo's '38 Ford Standard Business Coupe was one of my favorite cars at the race. This is no reproduction; the body is straight from Detroit. It's powered by a Chevy small block. Harry didn't set any records, but he consistently made passes in the high 130s. Not bad at all for a factory-bodied, street legal machine.
Ed Brace and his modified rear-engined roadster set a record of 130.590 in the AA/FRMR class. When equipped with a blower (supercharger) this car is good for well over 160 mph in the standing mile.
A crew member and a race official push Tim Hunter's Superbird to the starting line.
Robert Hustler made a pass of over 210 mph in this Nascar-style Chevy Impala. That speed was tantalizingly close to the existing class record. On this weekend, however, the record stood. North Carolina is Nascar country, so it's not surprising that you see a lot of stock cars at the meet. They generally run around in circles, but it's clear that they'll go straight, as well.
Jim Diggs' '85 Buick Regal is another car that was originally made to go in circles. Even though Jim and engine builder Don Hanes are still working out the bugs in this good looking vintage stock car, it still made a run of over 140 mph.
Al Frietas speaks to Mike Smith before a run. Mike made a pass at 201.420 mph, setting a new record in the A/F-1350/4 class.
Starter Al Frietas sends Bobby Lomax down the track. He's another guy who got within shouting distance of a new class record, but couldn't quite take it home.
Last picture, and I'm cheating. It not film, it's digital. I shot it with a Nikon DSLR and cropped it into a square (which both Mamiyas make naturally.) A little bit of cheating can't hurt, especially since it's the perfect image to end this essay. By the way, I have no idea who's on that bike. I took several photos of it, but none show me its number. If anyone knows who the rider is, please let me know. You can tell me by leaving a comment, or you can send me an email (see the link at the top of the page.) Update: Many thanks to David Anderson for identifying himself as the rider in this photo. He and his Triumph Bonneville set new records in three separate classes at the meet. His fastest top speed was the 130.885 mph that he ran to set the record in the M/PG-750/4 class.
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For the complete results of the meet, visit the ECTA' s website, here.
Bike rider is David Anderson 3388 Performance riding a M/PG 750/4 Triumph Bonneville. We broke three records that day.
Posted by: David Anderson | 07/08/2011 at 08:35 PM