With over thirty years of Land Speed Racing experience, everyone who has raced with Mike Manghelli (aka Mang) has enjoyed a cocktail at the end of the day to salute the successes or failures the Racing Gods have doled out.
Join us in our pursuit of LSR racing by checking out our website.
If I had to use one word to sum up the White Goose Bar 2011 Land Speed season, it would be “fantastic”. That is not to say we met all of our goals and yes, we had many trials and tribulations along the way, but the accomplishments and fellowships made it more than worthwhile. If that is not enough, then getting mentioned in Hot Rod magazine for a second time sure was very good. We expanded our marketing this year by developing our new motto on WGB T-shirts; “WGB, where LSR is a Lifestyle”. It turned out to be one of those shirts that everyone wanted, the front view of the Goose on the front with the motto and great art work on the rear with the three vehicles. We expanded our collectables with hats and wine glasses…. Still have wine glasses. Seriously, marketing your products is not our strong suit… Read More
The weekend started with question, as the weather forecast indicated that we were likely to get rain. We worked to get all the track and communication set up as well as get the #2111 WGBR Truck and the #369 Roadster through tech impaction. As the sun goes down earlier this time of year, we started thinking about BBQing dinner and getting some rest. During the night the rain did come and from inside the trailers it sounded like racing might not be happening. However, when we woke in the morning the track was dry and we were ready for a fun weekend.
The #2111 WGBR Truck in the 2.0L / Blown Modified Mid-Mini Truck (G/BMMP) was the first vehicle down the course with Keith Pedersen behind the wheel. The truck was fast and we were able to bump our previous record by 3mph, now set at 168.916mph. The team was very excited and headed to inspection for record certification. Next on the line was the #369 Roadster 3.0L / Blown Gas Roadster (F/BGR) class with John Romero piloting. The roaster looked fast on the course but only achieved 169.203mph on a 175mph open record. John looked at the data and discovered the power plant was not making boost. They tracked that down and were ready to go again. Rick Yacoucci ran the Nebulous Theorem III #788 in the 260 cid / Gas Streamliner (E/GS) class running against a 208.331mph record. Rick was down the course at 203.467mph but the engine was not running where he needs it to in high gear. Mike Manghelli looked at the data from the #2111 WGBR Truck and added boost to the engine management system, Keith just smiled. The team ran the #2111 WGBR Truck down a very slippery loose course and Keith could not get the truck to stay hooked up (tires kept spinning) and was only able to achieve 165.263mph. However, Keith pulled the parachute right as the truck came through the timing line and all worked great (this was the fastest speed that the parachute has been deployed in the truck thus far). After correcting the boost issue in the #369 Roadster, John was ready for another pass. The roadster did not make much improvement, a pass at 160.923mph. However, John was unable to get the roadster into high gear and the focus on the transmission started (the transmission was replaced between the last meet as we also had a transmission problem then too). We had a very big gathering of people enjoying the 2nd Annual WGBR Chili Cook Off, evening refreshments, and the heat of the fire on a cool night.
Sunday held promise as the weather seemed perfect and during the night the SCTA had moved the course as so we were racing on a new slice of the dry lake bed. The #2111 WBGR Truck was first down the course and all looked good until Keith shifted into third gear. The truck sounded like it dropped several cylinders. Later analysis indicated that the ECU Computer failed and the truck was done for the meet (and the season). Next the #788 Streamliner headed downed the course and wend 205.952mph. The Nebulous Theorem team started thrashing trying to figure out what the issue was with the engine. We next ran the #369 Roadster and John was able to go 158.879 and the team’s frustration with the transmission concluded with the decision to replace the transmission in the off season with something bullet proof. Work continued on the #788 Streamliner and the entire team started focusing on the streamliner. John Romero and Rick found a management setting that they thought might be setup incorrectly in the ECU and made the necessary changes. The rest of the team scrambled to get the vehicle assembled and at the last minute we discovered we did not have enough fuel for the next pass. We got a gallon of fuel from one team, another from the #2111 WGBR Truck and yet another from another team (thanks to all the generous fellow racers). We blended all of the different fuels together and ran the streamliner down the course. Unfortunately, Rick was only able to go 207.976mph. As the time left in the 2011 racing season had expired, the entire team shared smiles of our accomplishments and packed up the equipment and headed home.
We cannot wait for the 2012 landspeed racing season to start in May 2012. We have many changes and enhancements envisioned so please look at the web site to say up with our off season activities. The WGBR Team would like to sincerely thank our families and friends for all of their support during our 2011 season. We also would like to express our gratitude to all of our sponsors. THANK YOU ALL, WITHOUT YOU WE CANNOT BE SUCCESSFUL.
