(Words and photos by Doug Gregory) – Part 4 of our photo collection from the last ECTA Ohio Mile. One of the things we will miss most is Wilmington and the surrounding communities. They have been very supportive and hospitable towards land speed folks. Weather plays a big role in how many come out to watch and some events such as the HotRod Top Speed Challenge are an added draw. We know it’s a big event when spectator vehicles line the taxiway from the Generations food wagon to the starting line. The Silvis Racing streamliner looks somewhat like a knife and has been running here for a few years. Its performance has steadily increased over that time and on this outing bested 175mph. This is one slick ride. Drag Week veterans, Noshnoj Racing was back with their street-legal and driven twin-turbo Mustang. It was still sporting the ‘small’ SBF it ran in the Spring. This time they turned up the wick and blasted to 236mph. There’s still more in it with this particular combination and they have a bigger motor that will eventually get its turn. Now an inspiring story. Stewart Woollard had already endured a bout with cancer and had gone into remission. The quest to complete items on the bucket list ensued. The Effin Special is one of those items. Powered by a twin-cam Suzuki 4cyl and backed by a wide-ratio transmission this contraption was entirely home-built and still had the sharpie marks showing it was still unfinished when they arrived in Wilmington. The goal was to hit 100mph and set a record.
The first runs were a bit awkward to synchronize the shifts to best utilize the power. Steadily speeds increased and the last pass of the weekend was over 102mph. Stewart, his wife, and the whole crew were overwhelmed with emotion. See, Stewart did all this while on a stiff chemo regimen as his cancer has returned and it was considered terminal. Truly an honor to witness. David Meyer had tried at two previous events to get his Northern Bel, twin-turbo Hemi Belvedere into the 200 club. Third time is his charm as it first eclipsed that mark using the tires it had on during Drag Week then went out and did it again on its street shoes. Another ‘mission accomplished’. We’ll close out this gallery mentioning Panhead Pat’s ’59 Harley eclipsing 145mph while trailing a small flag of header wrap. Good run. Enjoy.
9297 A/CGC John M. Kochel 1950 Studebaker Champion 157.8394
9223 A/CGALT William B. Thomas 1977 Pontiac Firebird 175.9187
3211 H/FS Gary Silvis 2012 Streamliner 176.2632
8797B B/BFCT Gary Miller 2001 Ford Taurus 221.4567
9160 B/BGT Randy Poole 202 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 197.455
9320 AA/BFSS “C. Douglas Johnson, Jr” 2006 Ford Mustang Coupe 236.8421
617 H/FMR G. Stewart Woollard 1925 Ford Roadster 102.2263
867 AA/FMR Dave Kixmiller 1929 Ford Model A Roadster 216.0346
7847 M/PBG-500/4 Sean Miller 1978 Honda CX500 123.8987
1526 AA/BFCT David J. Meyer 1966 Plymouth Belvedere 205.1048
9335 MPS/TBF-1000/4 David Aurand 2005 Honda RC51 163.8747
9701 A/PG-1350/4 Panhead Pat Settersten 1959 Harley Davidson 145.7254
4321 C/FRS David Matyjasik 1971 Chev Camaro 214.5923