Del Solid has the correct info. This is how it works, quotes are from the 2009 SCTA/BNI rulebook: "EL MIRAGE 200 MPH CLUB How do you join the ‘Dirty Two’s’? 1) Be a member in good standing of the SCTA. 2) Enter your vehicle in an SCTA sanctioned Dry Lake event passing all safety and technical inspections. 3) Break an established record or minimum in excess of 200 MPH. In this case 305 MPH, AA Blown Fuel Streamliner BONNEVILLE 200 MPH CLUB How does one qualify for membership in this famous club? 1. Fill out the official entry form from a sanctioning body recognized by the Bonneville 200 MPH Club. 2. Prepare your vehicle to meet all rules and technical requirements of that sanctioning body. 3. Break an existing record or established minimum over 200 MPH and you will have qualified for membership in the exclusive 200 MPH Club, joining some of the most distinguished names in auto racing." In this case 417 MPH, AA Blown Fuel Streamliner
Envy = Gay You nay sayers probably couldn’t carry the dudes luggage on your best day. TV shows or not or whatever there’s a lot of talent there. For a first time out it's a hell of an accomplishment and the record is obviously going to fall to that car.
Envy? I suppose many folk envy famous personalities, but I'm not sure that's what's causing a ruckus. When a magazine covers your ride and gets the facts off, you can always grit your teeth and say, "I didn't write that!". But when it's you personally making erroneous claims, it's hard not to draw some flak. It's the press release that is causing the heat, not the car, not the builders, not the driving. James is not getting treated different than anyone else in that aspect. But it seems there is a faction that believes since he is famous, special treatment is required in the hotrod world. I don't buy that.
Now I'm getting really confused, which record are we talking about? Would it be the SCTA record (needs another 100 mph on dirt, 200 mph on salt) or the FIA record (which would leave the BMW record in tact since they would be different classes)? I think they probably did what they wanted by running a terminal speed higher than the BMW record (whole different ball of wax) and it's the end of the deal. On the other hand they could go to Bonneville and try for their FIA class record, which would give them the fastest record holding time for Hydrogen powered ICE if they went 200. My guess is on to different things, since they "ran faster than the record" and accomplished what they set out to do. Larry T
Which record are we talking about? To beat the FIA record requires a "private time" meet which includes payments to the FIA, USAC and the infrastructer such as air ampulance, fire and EMT. DW
I don't think its a case of nay sayers. No one is saying he didn't go 199 (except JJ who's claiming 201). Whats being said is that there is a procedure for record setting which he didn't follow. BMW's record is a two way average which is and has been the standard since cars started record setting. Look back at Bonneville last year or the year before. There was a car that broke his class record and broke on the return run. The next day he did the same thing. Down run over the record. Break on the return. He did this four times and never got the record. But four times he was over the record. JJ made one pass and claims a world record. Wrong and unfair to all those before him who followed procedure for their records. I had a motorcycle air freighted once. The plane cruised at 520 mph. Can I claim a world speed record?
Not for nothing, who cares if this guy has a few bucks, he not some soccer playing weenie who payed a pro shop to build his car so he can strut around Pebble Beach in hundred dollar jeans. He's a proven builder, and I'd wager most folks here could not carry his toolbox. That being said, obviously all the record facts are true, we'll have to wait and see how important that record really is to them.
I don't know how you are at carring tool boxes. But there are Bonneville record holders here. Some who have set and held records for more than 30 years. And El Mirage record holders. And two club members. Most of whom act like grown ups most of the time. Lets see how good JJ is without the TV crew. So them SCTA Dicks just what a hero he is. Running on a 471 mph record.
Hype = high TV ratings = full bank account = lots of cool stuff = empty nut sack. Ya, like you all wouldnt do it.
Actually, I have been following this for the last week and was very much behind JJ and his effort. I figured the press release was just a Spike TV PR dude getting a little too excited. I thought the slam job against him was uncalled for and in very bad taste. I came into this thread to defend JJ (not like he needed me to defend him) then I saw his childish attitude over multiple posts and realized that he really believes it. I then did a 180 so fast my neck is still hurtin. Talent or not, how he handeled this situation is pretty much all I will remember when I hear JJ in the future. That, and the fact that my 13 year old son seems to act significantly more mature.
This goofy looking guy was just on CNN, saying some crap about doing 215MPH while beating some folks over the head with a bat. Now, this is NOT official, as it was not a sanctioned events, just a riot or a civil war, or some shit like that. Also, there were no clocks, just an erratic speed-o-meter and a couple of sundials, so again, its not a legitimate record. Also, this was NOT a hydrogen vehicle, but a car fueled by the exhaust of the driver after consuming 9 breakfast burritos. The current sanctioned record for such a "gas" fueled vehicle is 211MPH, set in 2003 by the Taco Bell team from Ohio, in their car named "Pull MY Finger II" driven by the late "Rumps" O'Doul. lighten up everybody..."Its Saturday Night!!!"
I don't see the reason for any flack at all, especially for the flack directed at JJ. Hey, it was a TV show. Is any TV show accurate? Does any TV show represent reality completely accurately from a legal, moral, engineering or scientific basis? Of course not, because then the shows would be so dull no one would watch. Doubt me? Do you watch/tape CSPAN? JJ would not have written the press release. JJ also has to abide by the terms of whatever contract exists between him, his production company, the cable network, etc. I think that it is pretty cool that someone of JJ's caliber visits HAMB and even occasionally posts. I'm sure that he has better things to do, like nailing movie stars. Cut him some slack and stop standing on ceremony. Who gives a good god damn about how well SCTA, FIA, you, me or anyone else can separate the pepper from the fly shit.
All the bullshit bickering is pretty funny.....if this was michael jackson everyone would be praising his greatest accomplishment to further the world....too bad a bunch of jealous babies have too argue..the thing went pretty damn fast..end of story
Ditto here. I get pissed when anyone slams a racer, famous or not. So I defended the James Team effort as well. I see it as quite an accomplishment, and it's a mean car. And much the same, when someone told me what the press release actually said, and what JJ's response was, I realized that even though my foot is pretty big, it fit in my mouth quite nicely. The trigger for me was JJ calling the SCTA "Dicks" . It's a group of hundreds of racers and race enthusiasts, who organize events, lay out courses, set rules, certify records, and of course, try to go as fast as is humanly possible. All volunteers. Many have had friends killed LSR racing; it's both fun and deadly serious at the same time. I'm proud to be a member and grateful they exist so I can get my "fix" for excessive speed. I heard JJ is a member as well. Team James is the fastest hydrogen piston engine car out there. Mike Cook is a real pro, and if he clocked it, that's what it ran. If that was all that was said, then there would be nothing to discuss.
Jesse James and Jay Leno do the car world a whole lotta good Money doesn't have to change who a guy is
I heard he was going to make the attempt from his wife on the David Letterman show.. I said.. sweet.. i dig what Jesse James is doing. I still do. Rock on Jesse!
wow.......................read um all ..........i say i wish i could drive somthing 200 mph congrats to jj and thanks for being one of the guys.. you seem pretty down to earth, im gonna say down to earth is good and its hard to do when your a celb...im gonna bring up jays name not to take away from jj but i just wanna say jay always shows up to car/motorcycle events and mingles with other car/mcc peeps its hard to do cause everyone wants a pic and or autograph but he still does it ....back to jj congrats keep it up...................
Looking foward to seeing this team come back for the record attempt. It's hard to believe these talented guys would put so much into a project just for a T.V. show. The posturing may be a little much for some, but nothing would have happened at all if there was no substance to the deal.
Electrolysis of water is where I always see the dream/idea of having a hydrogen fuel car comes from. When your fuel source is water and your emission is water vapor, ideally this is a win/win for the carbon reducing dream. The issue becomes when Clean Water is as valuable or more valuable than petroleum what happens. Electrolysis of water requires pretty clean water which means that our vast supplies of sea water will need to be treated and cleaned which is an additional energy output to make this dream a reality. Regardless of the Record, a bunch of hot rodders (or bikers) converting an internal combustion engine to run on hydrogen gas (not hydrogen fuel cells converting to electric motors) and running the car up to 200 mph is cool in my book, regardless of whether it was for TV or for fun. The reality to me anyway is without sponsorship something like this would likely not happen, would BMW have their hydrogen ride if the company wasn't getting the name recogniation and advertisement from having the BMW name on it. How many corporate sponsors does the buckeye bullet have? Very little is done for free in this world, if JJ's TV deal got him the funds to build this car, awesome and congrats please keep pushing the limit and finding was to keep the hot rod spirit alive for the next generation. Now the question I have is what is the efficiency of running a hot rodded hydrogen powered combustion engine in comparison to a gasoline powered engine? Is it possible to calculate the BTUs generated to run this hydrogen fueled engine and compare it to a comparable run in a gasoline engine? I am assuming the gasoline version of the engine is more efficient, after all the internal combustion engine has been adapted and refined to perform better on petroleum over the last hundred years and not hydrogen. But if you are looking at a 80% comparable energy efficiency for hydrogen..think of the room for improvement.
As far as "non-gas" fuels go and hotrodding, the following is a shameless plug for diesel technology: Diesel fuel can be made from nearly everything. The first diesel engines (which are older than gas engines) ran off of peanut oil. Natural gas, algae, waste vegetable oil, etc, etc, used for diesel power, all have far higher yields and efficiency than ethanol production has for spark engines. But who cares unless you can make stupid amounts of power? In the last 10 years, high performance diesel technology has really taken off. 3 HP per cubic inch out of normal pump fuel has been hit by guys wrenching in their garages. Guys are stuffing late model diesels in Mustangs, Camaros, Chevelles, etc, and getting some insane results. 6,000lb 4x4 pickups are running 9 second ET's with diesel power. And hotrodding them has no effect on fuel economy. You can have a normal street car with 1000HP that runs off $2.75/gal pump fuel available everywhere, and gets 40mpg highway. No smog testing either. New common rail technology makes the engines virtually smokeless. Hydrogen for your street rod? Not today. Diesel is ready today. If half the cars in the US were diesels, the middle east would be someone else's problem, and our air would be cleaner.
It gives me great pleasure to post this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIyzQ-p2bLc Ohio State University Buckeye Bullet 2 has a new FIA record, pending ratification by the FIA, at 302.877 mph over the flying mile. Kilometer speed is over 303 mph. Exit speed on the backup run was over 307 mph. As soon as the FIA approves the paperwork all of these speeds will be not only tops for fuel cell vehicles, but for hydrogen powered cars of any type, including IC engines. And we did it by the rules. 302.877 mph. There it is, JJ. Give it your best shot.
Nope, he did it to set the record straight. Jesse could have run at this meet too, if he really wanted to.
The only mistake the Buckeye boys made was during the photo session, They all had three fingers in the air...
Damn right Mike. The Buckeyes did it right, and did it by the rules. Good on them. And as one who seems to live to antagonize the establishment, I doubt this will ruffle Jesse's feathers.
Congratulations on the 302.877 Record! Are both cars, the J.J. car and the Ohio State car built to SCTA rules, could they race at the same event?
The BB car already does run at SCTA events. I believe that JJs car is also legal to run at SCTA events. I had heard that JJ was going to be at either the USFRA World of Speed or the Top Speed Shoot Out. Guess not. Would have liked to see what that car will do with room to run and time to run it. 300 mph? I don't think so. But maybe.
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