Written by John Gunnell
The first year that Gene Gerber went to Bonneville was 2008 and he took a NASCAR racing car. Even though Bonneville has dozens of classes, there was no class for such a vehicle and all he did was run for speed. But, all five of his team members drove it and got their Class A (200-mph) driver licenses.
After returning home to Springfield, Ill., Gene and his son Chip started building a '32 Ford Roadster for Bonneville. In its original configuration, the roadster had no downforce because it was a street-legal car with fenders, headlights, and taillights. In 2009, Gene pirated the Chip Canasi engine, the electrics and the lubrication system from the NASCAR car for the roadster.
The car only weighed 2,000 lbs. Gene says that driving it was like riding a bike on a skating rink. Each year after that, weight - including 2,000 lbs. of lead - was added t othe car. It got up to about 4,600 lbs. Each time the weight was increased, the car ran faster. The first year the roadster's top speed was 188 mph. The second year it got up to 204 mph, but Gene spun it seven times.
After that experience, Gene Gerber talked to George Poteet, a Bonneville veteran who pilots a 400-mph streamliner over the Salt Flats. He told George that he had been unable to get the roadster's motor into fourth gear at over 7000 rpm. It would run up between 8900 and 9200 rmp through the first three gears, then level off at 7300-7400 rpm. Poteet told Gerber to talk to his engineer.
The engineer was busy, but the next day he came by with a piece of yellow paper onw hich he drew out an air scoop design and listed the measurements. Gerber made the air scoop and after that the car got into the 8000 rpm bracket and even got close to 9000 rpm. That was perfect, because the NASCAR motor was built to run at 8000 to 9000 rpm.
"I shouldn't say this, but that NASCAR motor went to Bonneville for five years and we didn't do anything to it," Gene said. "It's pretty amazing. We went to Speed Weeks with it and there was something like 525 cars there and on the first two days at least 125 of the motors broke something."
Gene said someone asked why he raced at Bonneville and he couldn't come up with an answer. But, he just said, "There's nothing like it anywhere else in the world; I like going fast and I can go as fast as I want out here."