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The flat background is somewhat deceptive, but this picture of "Big Red" is during one of Vesco's record runs.
The sleek streamliner skin began life as a Navy jet plane.
tell you what RPM he turns, thereby
changing the subject. He does at least
tell you that it turns around 10,000
through the traps.
A frustrating week was spent at
Bonneville 'during the regular speed
where Don set his gas record at 240. But
it was the ultimate record he wanted,
the, big one. And as far as he was
concerned, that was the only record
that mattered this year. So he came
back some three weeks later and did
The Blue Flame has capabilities af 600 plus MPH, but it has yet ta reach its potential.
tn.s nil
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have already gone 240.
First Don had to get permission from
the prime renter of the salt for the week
in question. This ren ter happened to be
Champion Spark Plugs and Don just
happened to run Champs. The people in
the PR department were mo,re than
happy to let him run. The only problem
was f'mding the proper people to
contact.
The next problem was arranging with
the "Blue Flame" rocket car, who had
rented the salt, to see if they would
allow some poor lowly cycle a few
on
the
salt.
With that
passes
accomplished - after some help from
Champ - the only requirement left was
o arrange with USAC and then A.M.A.
to have proper representatives on the
salt. Don, with Bob Westbrook helping,
made all these concrete arrangements.
This is the natural gas rocket car that rented the salt and let Vesco bring "Big Red"
to Utah for his record run.
exactly that.
It should be mentioned here that
acquiring time on the more than 200
square miles of Utah-owned pool table
flat salt is no mean feat. The key word
is "politics", and, of course, it helps to
Now all he had to worry about were
the variables, such minor things as
weather and engines.
Weather was lousy on Monday, the
f'1l'st day he was allowed to run. The
wind blew and the AMA rule for safety
requires less than 6 MPH. Don's own
rule is 5 MPH, unless it is a tailwind.
Basically, we all waited.
Then on Tuesday, Vesco made a few
passes and found the balance problem in
the new wheel. The vibration started in
at a iittle over 200 MPH. Again he
stopped running and started waiting.
Wednesday was spent weighing the
possible alternatives. (We sat and
watched the Blue Flame make one run.)
Thursday morning found the boys
balancing the tires in the crude, old
fashioned way. That in itself is a
difficult thing to do with mag wheels.
This method involves small weights
glued in place at the light point,
spinning the wheel and repeating the
process. Apparently it worked because
the next run was 249.965 for one
direction. When informed of this at. the
far end of the salt, Don said that it felt
really good and he was ready to return
and put the record away.
The return was a fantastic experience
and the most exciting part was the
bettin~ pool going around the timing
stand. Actually th e return was a
beautiful 253.897 pass for the new
record average of 251.924 MPH.
That sam~ night, after some small
clebrating, Don hit the local casino for
$200 in jackpot money from one of
those giant one arm bandits; you know
the one the casinos put near the front
door that takes dollars and should have
sucker written across its monsterous 5
foot front. Anway September 17 must
have been his lucky day, for he is now
the fastest motorcycle rider in the
world.
