Bonneville Up To Speed Podcast

Tony Thacker is our guest on this episode of the Bonneville Up To Speed Podcast, in an interview recorded on a windy night in Wendover, Utah at the 2023 SCTA Bonneville Speed Week. Tony is living his hot rod dream, from driving hot rods flat-out to covering events and races all over the world for TorqTalk, Hot Rod Magazine, and others. He's been a friend to us and the sport for decades, and it was fun to catch up with him and chat for a few in the Nugget Casino parking lot car show. https://www.torqtalk.com https://www.bonnevillepodcast.com #bonnevillepodcast #tonythacker #hotrods #saltflats #racing

New Zealander Burt Munro is a very famous motorcycle land speed racer, and was the subject of a film called the World's Fastest Indian. We recently had the pleasure of meeting Burt's granddaughter Robyn Munro at the 2023 SCTA Speed Week at the Bonneville salt flats. It was Robyn's first time to the salt, and you could tell how much the experience moved her. Her next stop was to accept the Sturgis Hall of Fame induction for her legendary late grandfather Burt. Recorded in the tech inspection lanes at the Wendover Airport. #bonneville #burtmunro #landspeedracing #speedweek https://www.bonnevillepodcast.com

Back in 1963, Craig Breedlove famously set the world land speed record in the Spirit Of America, returning the title to the United States from Englishman John Cobb. And although Breedlove went on to set more records and go much faster than the 428.37 speed he achieved that day, we thought it would be fun to tell the story straight from a first hand account written in the pages of a 1963 Sports Illustrated Magazine. This is a great story, with quotes from Breedlove, and a historic vantage point from a very exciting time in land speed racing history. We hope you dig it! Hosted by Kevin Oeste. #bonnevillesaltflats #landspeedracing #bonnevillepodcast #craigbreedlove https://www.bonnevillepodcast.com

Not many people can say they've set the record for piston-powered, wheel-driven streamliners, but not many people are Danny Thompson! Coming from a rich racing heritage started by his famous father Mickey Thompson, Danny had the remarkable opportunity to race in a variety of forms and bring his dad's vision to life... while setting records of his own. Kevin Oeste chats with Danny about these and many more stories on this episode of the Bonneville Up To Speed Podcast. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we do! https://www.thompsonlsr.com #dannythompson #bonneville #landspeedracing #streamliner

On this episode of the Bonneville Up To Speed Podcast, Kevin Oeste chats with Wayne Jesel in the RacingJunk.com booth at the 2022 PRI Show! They talk about the 2023 Jesel land speed racing program, including running the Jesel-designed Equal 8 engine in their Ram pickup at the 2023 SCTA Speed Week event! https://www.jesel.com https://www.bonnevillepodcast.com https://www.racingjunk.com

Aaron Brown and the Garage Shop team are constantly building and racing cool cars, and we spent a few minutes with Aaron at the 2022 PRI Show on the Bonneville Up To Speed Podcast to hear about their plans for 2023 and the latest from the shop. It's always great to chat with Aaron and see the cars! Recorded in the RacingJunk.com PRI booth. #bonneville #landspeedracing #saltflats #garageshop #aaronbrown #bonnevillepodcast https://www.thegarageshop200.com https://www.bonnevillepodcast.com https://www.prishow.com https://www.racingjunk.com https://www.scta-bni.org

Jason Line lives a high-performance life, having experience as an NHRA Pro Stock racer, engine builder, and Bonneville racer. Today, he's working on the Jesel Equal 8 engine for the 2023 Bonneville Speed Week to be driven by his son in the Jesel Ram pickup. We caught up with Jason about land speed racing, where he also revealed information about casting his forthcoming brand-new line of premium engine blocks for big block Chevy and Hemi applications. Recorded at the 2022 PRI Show in Indianapolis, IN. https://www.jesel.com https://www.facebook.com/JasonLinePS/ https://www.prishow.com https://www.scta-bni.org https://www.bonnevillepodcast.com #jasonline #jesel #equal8

We spent some time chatting with Chris Raschke at the ARP display at the 2022 PRI Show in Indianapolis learning about what it's like working in an awesome engine shop like Duttweiler Performance, being part of the Speed Demon Streamliner team, earning a red hat on the salt, and eventually driving the Speed Demon! https://www.arpbolts.com https://www.speeddemon715.com/ https://www.prishow.com Duttweiler Performance

The 2022 S.C.T.A. Bonneville Speed Week was unfortunately washed out from some big rains, but that didn't mean land speed racers and enthusiasts didn't get a chance to hang out. We met Grant Potter and Dave Kelley, two gentlemen who came all the way from New Zealand for the event, and got their perspective on the sport, hot rodding, and the great people who make it all happen. Recorded in the parking lot of the Copper Kettle restaurant in Wendover, Utah, shortly after 2022 Speed Week was cancelled. #speedweek #scta #bonneville https://www.bonnevillepodcast.com https://www.scta-bni.org

On this episode of the Bonneville Up To Speed Podcast, automotive super-enthusiast Zach Straits shares how a building material salesman ends up behind the wheel of one of the most recognizable land speed racers at Bonneville, hammer down and pushing for 200 MPH. Zach was fortunate enough for the opportunity to be a crew member on the Team Jesel Land Speed Racing effort, but also to eventually drive the bright yellow truck at the 2021 World Finals for his very first land speed racing experience. Hear how it all happened , plus some great insights on important things to know about safety and how to maximize your Bonneville experience. https://www.bonnevillepodcast.com https://www.autoenthusiastnetwork.com

Aaron Brown has enjoyed a great career working as a builder for some of the best names in NASCAR, but once he contracted Salt Fever, he was compelled to bring his experiences to the salt. From the Bobby Isaac Dodge Daytona to custom roadsters and more, Aaron Brown and the Garage Shop have a LOT going on.. and have fun doing it! Tune in to hear it all right from Aaron on this episode of the Bonneville Up to Speed Podcast! https://www.bonnevillepodcast.com #GarageShop #RoushYates

Dan Parker is not the kind of guy who sits around waiting for cool stuff to happen to him. A lifelong racer and machinist, Dan's racing days could have been cut short after a tragic drag racing crash deprived him of his sight. But that's not the story Dan wanted to write, so he devised a way to continue racing - on both motorcycles and in cars - and is now the fastest blind man alive. Hear the whole story on this episode of the Bonneville Up To Speed Podcast! https://www.theblindmachinist.com

Brad Bosworth is a guy who caught the land speed racing bug and took the plunge, building a 260+ MPH, 30-foot long streamliner in his garage! If you've recently been to Speed Week, you've no doubt seen the bright red Valley Fever streamliner in action. On this episode of the Bonneville Up To Speed Podcast, Brad shares the story on how he built it in his home garage, the evolution from a Hayabusa engine to the current 2JZ powerplant, now twin turbocharged for 2022. We also learn about the car's name, strategies to respectfully break speed records, and more.

If you've tuned into a live audio stream of an SCTA race, you've probably heard the coverage and insights of Seldom Seen Slim, also known as Jon Wennerberg. But did you know he's also a motorcycle record holder? Tune in to hear the stories from the salt on the Bonneville Up To Speed Podcast!

Gale Banks is no stranger to speeding across the dust of El Mirage and the Bonneville Salt Flats. He's been pushing the limits on land speed cars since the late 1950s, campaigning at least 13 land speed cars and trucks and racking up dozens of records in the process. In this special episode of the Bonneville Up To Speed Podcast, Banks shares time and stories with Kevin Oeste about how land speed racing, and turbocharging, have changed his life. https://www.bankspower.com https://www.bonnevillepodcast.com https://www.scta-bni.org

Wayne and Dan Jesel not only run one of the most successful and innovative valve train and engine parts businesses, but they also put their parts to the test on the salt at Bonneville. On this episode of the Bonneville Up To Speed Podcast, Kevin Oeste chats with Wayne Jesel about running the new Jesel-designed Equal 8 engine in their Ram pickup at the 2022 SCTA Speed Week event. Perhaps equally as impressive is the generosity of the Jesel team, who routinely welcome other land speed enthusiasts to drive, get licensed, and even set records in the Jesel pickup. To date, 10 people have gotten their 200 MPH club red hats behind the wheel of the bright yellow truck! Wayne also recalls the history of Jesel in racing, some insight on engine tech, and tips on how to get involved with land speed racing. https://www.jesel.com

Scott Clark has been tuning electronic fuel injection vehicles since the tools were first made available to enthusiasts. Today, he applies his experience, understanding, and tuning knowledge to some of the fastest cars in the world. He's currently working with Team Vesco and the Turbinator, the turbine powered streamliner, one of several streamliners going after the 500 mph wheel-driven record at Bonneville this year! Scott joined Kevin Oeste to talk about that program as well as other facets of engine tuning and performance on this episode of the Bonneville Up To Speed Podcast! https://www.bonnevillepodcast.com https://www.realtuners.com https://www.scta-bni.org #landspeed #bonneville #streamliner

Land speed racing on the Bonneville Salt Flats is a unique sport with its own set of challenges. On this episode of the Bonneville Up To Speed Podcast, Kevin Oeste chats with Steve Watt of Maxwell Industries about what it’s like to build and campaign record holding race cars. Watt and Maxwell Industries are the fabrication and engineering team behind George Poteet’s Speed Demon streamliner, also known as the world’s fastest piston engine driven vehicle! Watt credits his rich history in racing and strong relationships with top racers, fabricators, engine builders, technicians, and a great car owner to the success of the program. Learn his history, the latest Maxwell projects, and the Speed Demon goals and challenges for the 2022 SCTA Bonneville racing season at Speed Week on this episode of the Bonneville Up To Speed Podcast! https://www.speeddemon715.com/ https://www.maxwellindustries.com https://www.scta-bni.org