It doesn't matter how fast racers leave the starting line, though, just so they are running at top speed when they hit the timing traps over a mile away. The SCTA doesn't calculate elapsed time, just speed, so the last 132 feet of the 1.3-mile course is where the timing happens. The drivers then get a little more than a mile to come to a stop.
By keeping records of the dozens of various classes of competition, the SCTA will then hand drivers timing slips telling them how they did after each run. The run, which is recorded down to the thousandth of a mile per hour, is compared to the record in that class to see if it has been beaten. If it has, the driver and car then go to an impound area for inspection to make sure everything about the car is correct for the class it is running in. If a record isn't broken, then the driver and car can return to the staging lanes for another run.
But not all record holders are the same. Looking around in the pits and staging lanes, you're struck by the sight of El Mirage 200 MPH Club shirts and hats, and let it be known these items cannot be bought, only earned. The El Mirage 200 MPH Club (some call it the "Dirty 2 Club") was formed for those racers who not only exceeded 200 mph, but also set a record at the same time. You can't gain entry into the club if you only run 245 mph on a 246 mph record, so you have to figure out how to get another couple of miles per hour out of your racer on your next run.
But you don't have to set a record or go 250 mph to have fun at the lakes. Currently there is an open record (a minimum speed to beat) of only 90 mph in the unblown Gas Coupe division, but it has to be done with a "J" class engine (31 to 45 ci!). We're not sure if you would want to brag at night's end in a bar that you have the J/GC world record, but it's nice to know your name would show up in next year's official SCTA rules and record book! The SCTA rulebook contains tech specs, plus the records from Bonneville and El Mirage, and a whole lot more for only $10 through www.scta-bni.org.
It can be argued that dry lake racing is the last bastion of racing for independent people. Though some sponsorships exist, they are not of the multi-million-dollar kind that has taken the common man out of other forms of racing, such as NASCAR, Indy, or the NHRA-type drags. When you arrive at an SCTA meet, you first avoid crossing onto the course, then park your car in the pits and wander around, and walk right up to a car that is being worked on or being prepped for a run. If you stand there long enough someone might ask for some help lifting a hood or body section onto a car. (Could you ever see that happening at the Winternationals?) You are free to view anything and everything, talk with the racers, stand next to the starting line, and generally take in the whole dusty experience. To view more of this story (pictures and text), check out the extended version on the Web at www.streetrodderweb.com.
Racing at the dry lakes is racing in its purist form. Participants fight only the clock, not each other. It's a simple, unaltered formula that has stood the test of time, and all of it for a small brass timing tag that gets screwed to the glovebox door or dash of your racecar that states who you are, what you drove, and how fast you were able to travel across a dry lake bed on that particular summer day.