Episode 360
May 2, 2021
New England Speed Trial record holder is OK
The holder of the fastest speed for cars at the Loring Timing Association’s (LTA) land speed races is okay. Jason White, Northwood, New Hampshire, owns the fastest speed for cars at LTA at 269.673 mph set in 2019.
White began racing his C6 Corvette at Loring in 2014 in stock form. He went 175 mph. Each year since 2014 he has made competition changes which allowed him to earn the top speed award.
He decided to use this weekend’s East Coast Timing Association (ECTA) land speed event at the Arkansas Mile as shakedown runs getting ready for the two LTA events in 2021. No information about the crash have been released until details are studied. What is known is in the captions that accompany his post-crash photos.
Jason White, driver/owner of the RecMech Corvette, to the left in the gray shirt talks the crash over as the hurt Vette is being prepared for removal from the side of the Arkansas runway. (Photo by Kevin Peckham)
Rear view of Jason White’s Corvette C6 after it rolled at the ECTA Arkansas Mile speed trials this past weekend. Details about the crash are being reviewed and will be released to the public soon. Driver/owner Jason White can be seen to the left. He made it through the crash unscathed. (Kevin Peckham photo)
Happy to report that all the safety equipment worked according to driver/owner Jason White of New Hampshire. The car flipped and the window post took a pretty good shot. This is a tribute to having excellent preparation in case such an event occurs. (Jason White RecMech Racing photo)
Jason is going to let me know the extent of the damage and whether the car can be repaired for the LTA July 2021 speed trials. He assured me he will be at Loring even if the car is not ready. He said he would be acting as a crew member on another race car or volunteering. Either way, he is looking forward to returning north after missing 2020 due to COVID-19 issues.
Super Chicken II goes to The Club
Aerial view of Club Motorsports, New England’s Motorsports Country Club track located in Tamworth, New Hampshire. The 2.5-mile road course features 250-foot elevation change, beautiful views, and in the foreground a challenging kart race track which also gets used for autocross events. (Photo courtesy Club Motorsports)
A hillclimb test session called Hillcross 2021 was set up by the Sports Car Club of New Hampshire (SCCNH) and held at The Club Motorsports race course in Tamworth, New Hampshire, Monday April 26, 2021. Forty-six drivers took part in the event which was used by members of various hillclimb clubs as a tune up for the 2021 season. The season will include the Mt. Washington Hillclimb August 13-15, 2021 which was postponed in 2020 due to the pandemic.
My man on the ground was Luke Moultrop, Richmond, Vermont. I have written about Luke in previous episodes. He is now the proud owner of Paul Tignaud’s Super Chicken I.
You can read about Super Chicken 1 & II in Episode 262, May 5, 2019 found here:
https://upnorthmotorsports.bdnblogs.com/2019/05/06/home/meet-super-chicken-i-and-super-chicken-ii/
Two weeks ago, I visited Paul Tignaud at his shop in Colchester, Vermont. The visit had to be short because Paul was getting Super Chicken II ready for the New Hampshire trip. He showed me the progress made since my last visit in 2019.
Super Chicken II with the wing mounted ala sprint car style. The newest version is in a later photo. (Photo courtesy Paul Tignaud)
Tignaud had to strengthen the front lower a-arms due to twisting under load. He also built a massive front spoiler/air dam/wing which he wanted to test at Club Motorsports.
Super Chicken II front wing being prepared for testing at the Club Motorsports event. (HTF Motorsports photo)
View of Super Chicken II rear lower a-arm with strengthening plate welded in place. This was done to eliminate twisting the lower arm. (HTF Motorsports photo)
View of Super Chicken II as tested at Club Motorsports April 26, 2021. Note the smaller rooftop wing compared to previous photo. Tignaud turned the 3rd fastest time of the day 1:26.44 (Luke Moultrop photo)
Fastest time for the day belonged to Vivian Campbell in her 2016 Porsche GT-3. Her time was 1:22.044. (Luke Moultrop photo)
Because Super Chicken I was not ready to race at the test, Luke Moultrop put his 2015 Subaru Impreza street car into action. His best time was respectable 1:46.078. (Luke Moultrop photo)
Luke mentioned that,” Chicken 2 ran great, I’m very happy for Paul. I think this was a great shakedown event for him before Mt Washington. The underpowered Subaru was a hoot. 500 tread wear tires make for some good tire squeal.”
“Club Motorsports is an epic course. The amount of work they put in carving the track out of a New Hampshire mountainside is apparent. It’s super smooth and has many challenging and rewarding sections. I hope to be able to go back with a more capable car in the future.”
I hope to see both Tignaud and Moultrop in action at the 2021 Climb to the Clouds Hillclimb in August. Maybe Tignaud can give those Vermont Sports Cars Subaru some competition.
Next week Part III of the 37 Chevy Cabriolet and words from 2021 Formula SAE judge Phil LaPointe from Honda Research & Development.
Let’s go racing,
Tom Hale
Soli Deo Gloria (Joshua 1:9)