Electric Barstool
Land Speed Record
Salt Flats World of Speed
2009

Sammy Hagar, one of the most preeminent traffic analysts in the United States, said it best. "I can't drive 55!" He wrote these words in the dark ages of U.S. automotive history, the 55 mph speed limit that persisted 1974 to 1987. Who ever would have guessed this song could ever actually apply to a barstool? Under scientifically controlled conditions, the barstool below was clocked going 58.56808 mph! That's 94.2561881 km/hr! The official two run average was 53.55815 for the IMDS Racing Team! This sets a new world record.  (Numbers from http://www.SaltFlats.com ). Photo credit Ray the Rat, http://www.ChevyAsylum.com .

Here you can see the race winning body positioning. Rules state your butt must be on the seat http://www.saltflats.com/barstool.html . I imagine some folks actually adopt this posture in real bars, but on the Salt Flats aerodynamics are king.  Note the knees bent like a jockey,  body horizontal like a swimmer, hands forward like a bicycle racer, and feet back like a motorcycle racer. To this writer's knowledge, no one has tried leaning way back, or sitting side-saddle, to try to lessen the wind resistance over this position. Photo credit Ray the Rat, http://www.ChevyAsylum.com .

Full out land speed racers have as many as seven miles to build speed. 150 mph club drivers have 2 miles. 130 club has 1 mile. Barstools go about 1/4 mile... That is all they have to go. The results show this barstool flew past the 1/4 mile traps going over 55 mph, then past the 1/2 mile trap at over 58 mph, and was still exceeding 56 mph at the 1 mile trap! Imagine that, on a single car battery! Photo credit for these three photos goes to Ray the Rat, photos used with permission. You can see many of his awesome Salt Flats, and other racing, photos at http://www.ChevyAsylum.com . You can see a nice pic of the winning team at http://www.saltflats.com/2009_photos_6.htm , scroll down to the 5th picture.

I saw this fine looking maching in the pits, but didn't see that it did any runs. I love the blacked-out motif with red pinstripes, helping make the chrome barstool stand out. Even the battery was painted black. This is not a machine I would want to see in my rearview mirror! Note the combination fairing, air splitter, sign, and padded dash.

Land speed racers often use smooth hubcaps to help aerodynamics. It was nice to see this level of attention to detail on this machine.