Need for Speed

Kernersville Attorney John Barrow has been land speed racing for the past eight years and recently returned from the Bonneville Salt Flats, where he attempted to break a land speed record.
“Land speed racing started back at the turn of the century when automobiles (were first mass produced). All of the land speed records from 1910-1913 were set on the beaches of Florida, which made it the best place to do that,” Barrow explained. “It was probably around 1920 when someone went out to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. It’s all white salt and it’s flat.”
Barrow has always had an interest in working on cars, first starting with bikes and lawnmowers.
“I remember trying to take lawnmowers and bicycles apart and trying to put them back together,” he said.
When Barrow first learned about land speed racing, he joined the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA). He noted that he is able to race with the help from his sponsors Triybodyne Racing Lubricants, Unique Powder Coating, and US Industrial Pipe.
“I have been doing circle races since 1991 at Bowman Gray Stadium, racing (modified cars) for about seven years and street stock for seven to eight years,” he said. “It was probably about eight years ago that I got interested in land speed racing.”
What Barrow said he likes most about land speed racing is that with this sport, the racers don’t tear up their cars like they do in circle racing.
After joining the SCTA, Barrow went on the internet, where he found information about the East Coast Timing Association (ECTA) and learned that there are races held in NC.
“The races were held in Maxton, North Carolina at an airport Army base that was built during WWII and used to train glider airplanes,” he said, adding that the airport was perfect because it had a two mile runways, which was necessary for the glider airplanes. “The airport hadn’t been used since the 1960s and was grown up.”
Barrow said the airport had a triangle runway with three legs, including a one mile, a one-and-a-half-mile and a two-mile runway.
“It was in horrible shape, but they fixed it up,” he said. “We used to go down there four to five times a year and any money they made, they used to pave the runways.”
While the airport was the perfect spot for land speed racing, Barrow said they were eventually run off by Griffin Security Group, an anti-terrorism training group.
“So, we left there and went to Wilmington, Ohio, where there was a five-year-old runway that was previously used by a DHL facility. They are still racing there,” he stated.
Barrow said he races there about four times a year with the ECTA. He only goes during cooler weather since automobiles make more horsepower in cooler weather.
Barrow is also a member of the East Coast Flathead Fords Racing Association and races a 1940 Ford Coup with a flathead engine. With that car, Barrow said he has set four land speed records, with the fastest time as 125.6 mph, breaking an old record of 119 mph. That record was set at the Army base in Maxton, NC.
Wanting to go faster and be part of the 200 mph Club, Barrow looked around for a safer car.
“I love racing, but I’m not a dare devil,” he said. “The best class would be to take a stock car, so I found a 2006 Winston Cup chassis.”
Barrow noted that this car can get up to 850-900 horsepower.
“I built that here in Kernersville with a Dodge R5 Winston Cup engine. There was a surplus of these engines because Dodge quit racing in the Winston Cup,” he said. “I bought that car from the Winston Cup Museum about four years ago.”
After taking a year to build the car, Barrow was able to run the car once in Maxton before the ECTA was moved to Wilmington, Ohio.
“I wound up setting a record in Ohio at 201 mph,” he said. “If you break a record, they give you a hat and t-shirt.”
The fastest Barrow said he has ever gotten up to is 209 mph.
Barrow said land speed racing feels a lot like drag racing, except the track is longer.
“I’ve never drag raced before, but this is a lot like that,” he said. “It’s the wildest thing I have ever done. You wind up to 10,000 rpms in each gear. The trick is getting the power to the ground and not going out of control. It throws you back in your seat. It’s crazy, but it’s fun.”
Barrow said the cars go so fast that they need a really long parachute to help them slow down and stop.
“I bought a parachute from a company out of California. I called around to ask them where to mount it and everyone said, ‘I can’t tell you that because of the liability, but if you mount it wrong, it’ll wreck you,’” he said.
Barrow eventually contacted Dave Marcus, an old Winston Cup racer who sent him pictures of how to mount the parachute to his car.
When Barrow first learned about land speed racing, one thing he knew he eventually wanted to do was go to the Bonneville Salt Flats to attempt to set a land speed record; however, due to rain the past two years, he was not able to race. Barrow noted that the salt flats are actually a lake, so there was about an inch of water from the rain. He added that there are four different events held at the Bonneville Salt Flats from August through November.
In 2015, the second year it was rained out, he decided to make the trip to Utah with his son, Ben, without the car, and toured the area.
Barrow said when he signed up this year, he was in luck.
“Ben and I went the second week in August. We took a 30-foot enclosed trailer with the 1940 Ford. It took two days to get through inspection,” he said, as he explained that there were 850 cars. “We stayed about a week, but you really only get to run about once a day.”
When Barrow and his son pulled onto the salt flats, he said it was pure white salt. The only way they knew where they were going was by following orange cones.
“They told us to stay to the right of the cones, and we drove 2-4 miles. The pits are 2-3 miles long. One mile parallel to the pits is ‘the long track’ about nine miles long and was for really fast cars. They had some cars that went over 400 mph,” he said. “This year they had a short track and a rookie track. You run for one mile and they time the next two miles for you on a five-mile track.”
The fastest Barrow said he got up to out there was 124 mph, while trying to break a 135 mph record.
“When I raced on the salt flats, I raced in a class called Vintage Gas Altered, and I had to take off the fenders,” he explained.
Barrow is currently building a 1953 Studebaker with a Winston Cup Engine with plans to race it at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 2018 and get up to 260 mph. Next year, his goal is to set a record with his 1940 Ford Coup.