Coddingtons @ Bonneville, the Saga

Kinda like his TV show......just a mid-air buzzard fvck.

chicken

 

its really not that funny. a lot more people know who boyd is than know what the hamb is. he's probably one of the best known faces in hot rodding today. it just reflects poorly on the whole hobby and all of us. i think it's embarassing.

 

The reason that this story is interesting, is that it brings them from thier "holier than thou" status back down to just some city boys that got stuck in the mud.
After the way we see them treat people on thier show(If it's not just a scripted put on) it is nice to hear about them getting some of that bad attitude back.

 

I wonder who is going to get fired over this.?

 

The real tragedy here isn't that old 'Noid doesn't have any hubris, but that his arrogance left a trench in the salt. And that it'll make for an "exciting TV spot". Hopefully there won't be more jackasses trying the same thing in years to come.

I've yet to go to Bonneville, but did that little "escapade" screw up the salt? Or did it happen in the outlying areas? Either way, I doubt Cloyd made an attempt to fix what he F-ed up.

 

From the interview picture, I'd say that the area they stuck in was the course 2 return road, about 1/2 mile from the start line.
The initial post is missing the authors name but due to the cherokee and radio references I'd gues that Ron Christianson (sp) writing. Ron is Bonnevilles AM radio announcer

That area of the course 2 return road was soft all week. Vehicles pushing/towing back always picked their way through it carefully during the week, the surface was soft and sandy, interspersed with hard salt.

Kinda funny that the one group with a helicopter on hand all week would be the ones to sink in the mud.

Mike

 

Everyone else ran a pickup truck...they ran a GIANT RV! Small vehicle lightweight...giant vehicle, well, not. Never in the early photos of Bonneville racing do you see anyone running a Greyhound bus to go to the end of the track to get their car...hmmmmm.

 

So who ends up fixing the trench in the return road?

Flatman

 

He'll probably end up sueing the SCTA for allowing him to drive his big bad motorhome on the salt when it was in poor shape.

 

zenor - that is a very appropriate response "HA-HA".... love it, great read.

 

"The scene resembled some sort of elephant hunt with three slain carcasses lying dead on the playa."

hahahaaa

 

Even with the size of Bonneville, the fact is, you couldn't miss or avoid the Boyd gomers. They were like a rhino entered in a cat show.

Giant pit compound, giant staged photo shoots, staged runs and tow runs along side the pits, etc. Plus, all of this covered by a camera laiden helicopter buzzing around low to the ground every where they went. I didn't have any personal contact with any of them and I don't even have any idea of what cars they ran (no intrest), but they still managed to thoroughly annoy me on several occasions. Then they top it all off by driving their heavy motorhome down the return road (I did not see anyone else there do this) and getting it stuck.

I'm sure these pinheads managed to annoy just about every body on the salt at one time or another during the week. That's a pretty big acomplishment considering how big the area is and how many people were there.

 

I drove a tow truck for seven years, our number one rule was NEVER take the truck off pavement.

 

That will be the only American Hotrodders episode that I will look forward to seeing.

 

HAha becuase karma is served but sad to hear the salt was destroyed. Just proves money doesnt make you smarter.........

 

I don't wish anyone misfortune but the BC bunch...well, let's just say it couldn't happen to a better bunch of folks. Yeah, which one of the worker bees was fired for that and I wonder who was driving the RV when it got stuck. With a compound full of vehicles and a full size pit area, one would think that a decent tow vehicle would be designated instead of the RV. Oh well, Dwayne...you dick!

 

I hope he makes a HUGE contribution to "Save the Salt" after this!
I'm surprised they didn't just rent the flats for a personal "Speedweak".

 

That's right. If there was no pavement, you brought railroad beams to build you one.

 

i feel the same way! them bunch of tea baggers are just as lame as the occ trash thats still on tv

 

Money has to be excellent because the episodes I watched made him look like a complete dumbass with no sense of humor. The only work I ever saw him do was try to adjust a trunk latch. After a good while of time he got frustrated and turned it over to someone else. i wonder how much of the work, even in the 80's, was actually really done by him?

 

yeah, that whole scenario sounds perfectly appropriate

 

I've always thought it would be a cool show to just have the "real" talent working on a build and no "bossmen" bitching. I don't get to watch much TV, so I prefer to see good stuff not bitching....

This whole thing happens no matter what group it is. I did Land Use for a large four wheeling club. I worked w/ the BLM and FS. It was usually the rich or just the rich kids gone wild that doesn't think about what they are doing and make a mess. The volunteers had to go in and fix or clean up the messes, and try to smooth things out with the govt. This is par for the course. It's all about the money. He has it and apparently figures there is nothing that money can't fix.....
But, we all make mistakes and the crew may have just been freaked that she had spun out doing 180...... I hardly think I would remain perfectly calm and think well if my wife had just done that. It just makes it worse that they were show boating up to that point.
It would have spoken volumes about HAMBers in general or the racing group if everyone had put away their aggravation and ALL joined in to help them out. There may have been a lot less damage. I know it sucks, I have had to do it. Some little pinhead heads off the trail and gets stuck, if left to their own devices, I know it's going to get worse and they are going to tear crap up more. We still have to help each other or the enviros are going to have more ammo against us. They want us fighting each other, it makes their jobs easier.
my .02

 

Having attending Speed Week over the years; the salt crust has become so THIN - from the constant mining - that even 1/2 ton pick-ups are breaking through the surface in places.
The SOS (Save Our Salt) program hasn't been able to keep up with the loss of the salt surface.
(just fly over the salt and you will see lots of places where the silt is showing through)

Reading about THIS fiasco - tow trucks, pulling tow trucks, (trying) trying to drag out a motor home; leads me to think, that maybe it's time to start placing a weight limit on vehicles allowed on the salt.

I've got too many pictures of BIG trucks sunk up to the axles!

Like Muttley says, (sort of) if the TOW truck had a long enough cable to reach a "stranded" vehicle, and stayed on the PAVEMENT at the "end of the road", then I would go for it.
(anyone got a 6 mile long tow cable )

 

As was already said, but deserves to be repeated, a Huge donation to Save the Salt is in order from Boyd and TLC.

I understand Ford made a very large donation, and thats why they were given preferential treatment all week. Good for them.

Sunday morning we were heading out to the spectator area past the pits. The Boyd crew helicoptor was flying over filming 3 dirt bikes tearing up the salt about 300 yards out from the pits. I was driving about 100' out from the pits trying to avoid all the vehicles around Boyds pit. The helicoptor came over fast and made a diving turn right in front of my truck. He was so close I could see his rotors through my windshield. I really thought his rotor tips were going to hit the salt. Either he didn't see me at all, or he was trying to intimidate me away from his shot. After that I made sure to drive close to his pit and the camera crews .

I was eating dinner with one of the SCTA course spotters monday night and he was bitching about the Boyd crew's antics. I told him what had happened to us and he said he would keep an eye on the 'copter and call the the FAA if he saw any more of that wreckless flying.

Tom

 

That woulda been hilarious if they kept driving north in the middle of the night!
TP

 

One hell of a mess compounded by a mega disaster

"Save the salt" that salt has many levels & Thin

Thick was along time ago - what can you say

I think the posts about a LARGE donation to "save the salt" will show us what that bunch that screwed up the salt is really all about

 

I didn't pay any attention to what ever the Boyd crew was doing. But just the sight of thier transporter and associated transport looked so out of place, that I was annoyed. Other "Stares" manage to come to Bonneville without such a circus

 

I carried a 100' anchor line, tow straps, shovels, etc in my 4x4 truck all week. I figured things might get ugly if it rained on us at the bend in the road. I could easily have pulled out a hotrod stuck in the mud, but there's really nothing any of us could have done to get an RV out.

Tom

This guy could have got them out

 

I agree 100%.

It could have been some good press for the SCTA and Speedweek, but instead it's just Boyd fodder for the internet. All disruption and no benefit for the event.

EDIT: So what do you guys think that tow bill was? $2500 bucks?