RUN WHAT YA BRUNG
Florida
"Alright! Sun, surf, and palm trees!" says TK, looking out at the tropical landscape through the side window of the truck.
They’ve already made arrangements to park the truck and trailer at a private oceanside RV park, where they’ll stay until the week before the race. Then they take the whole operation over to the racetrack. Nitro pulls in alongside Jim’s bus. Jim, Betty, Ben and Lupé have been here almost a week and are quite settled in.
Nitro unloads the Tracker for Celeste. She has an endless number of things to do, and multitudes of people she has to see. She’s going to be very busy for the next couple weeks. Looking down the beach, TK spots Jim and Ben, and rolls down the boardwalk to say hi, and see what’s going on. TK also wants to discuss his ideas for stopping RocketBike when they do trailer top landings.
Magnetic Thoughts
Nitro joins them as TK presents his idea. TK’s idea has them intrigued. The concept is to use "controlled magnetism" to pull the bike down to a stop. The bungee cord idea was good, but just too scary, and there’s no way of using any kind of normal type brakes. They would just lock up the tires and the bike would skid off the roof. The distance available to stop is just too short.
Nitro has already come up with some of his very logical and practical ideas and theories to add to the mix, and now Ben and Jim will add their thoughts and technical input. The idea will certainly work in fact, as far as Ben and Jim are concerned it’s brilliant.
"It looks like the challenge is going to be developing an electro-magnet and a power source for it that’s strong enough to do the job, yet is still compact and lightweight," says Ben.
Jim adds, "The magnetic side of the system could be built into the roof of the trailer, but it would be better if the system was compact enough to be onboard the bike. That would give the capability of using this system to land on other surfaces that are magnetically attractive."
"And, the 'Magnebrakes' could be used to hold the bike in one spot so it could build up to full thrust before takeoff," finishes TK.
"Magnebrakes?" asks Ben.
"Yeah, I thought that was a good thing to call them," says TK.
"Cool," says Nitro, "You know what Dick Tracy said ‘The nation that controls magnetism will control the world’."
"That’s right," both Jim and Ben say, laughing.
TK just looks over and shakes his head. "Who’s Dick Tracy? Wasn’t he that guy in the Madonna movie?" TK will never quite understand old guy humor.
"You know," says Ben, "Walter Lucas, who is one of the world’s foremost authorities on electro-magnetic engineering, will be at the meeting in Chicago. Why don’t we run this problem by him? I bet he will have a few ideas." It’s late, and the party breaks up for the evening, but there’ll be lots more discussion about the Magnebrakes in the next few days.
Tannin’ and Talkin’
A week on the beach has been most excellent. TK’s digging it. There has been plenty of time to sit out on the sand with Ben and Jim talking engineering and the Magnebrake idea, along with a few others, which are shaping up.
Nitro has had time to add a new system on RocketBike that will add to the show for the grand finale of the race. RocketBike will be a stay-on-the-ground race bike for now. The plan is to keep the flying a secret for the time being.
Celeste has been on the run constantly, getting the race together. Nail has once again appeared, and is helping out with the running around and organizing. The racers are starting to arrive in town from all over, as the race is only a little over a week away. Celeste has organized PR appearances for everybody who’s around early.
The Grungers have made it a point to be here almost two weeks early, just to make appearances at hospitals, pre-race events, etc. This is their chance to become part of mainstream racing, and they aren’t going to blow it! Nail and Bob Corliss won’t let them.
Terry arrives at the airport in a couple of hours, and then the PR goes into high gear. Terry will be busy with appearances and interviews until they leave town after the race.
Here’s Terry!
As much as Terry enjoyed the extra time at home, it’s good to be back in the middle of the action again. He treats everyone to a big dinner in town, and then they sit and go over the plans for the next eight days until the race.
In the morning they will move the Bikester truck and trailer to the racetrack. It will be their base of operations for interviews and such. Jim’s bus will stay at the RV park so that Jim and Ben and their wives can continue to enjoy the beach.
However, Jim and Ben will be commuting to the racetrack to help out and continue working with TK on the design of the Magnebrakes among other projects.
Friday
They get everything moved and set up and, using a smaller truck to haul SuperBike and RocketBike around town. They begin a whirlwind of television appearances and newspaper interviews that Celeste has scheduled. Bo will arrive Saturday morning and then it’s the "Terry and Bo Show" for the next week leading up to the race. It’s going to be very hectic!
It’s Bo Time
Bo has arrived, and after the initial "Terry and Bo going at each other" routine, giving each other a hard time, they settle down into the fairly professional Terry and Bo deal. However, there is still no script, and you never know quite what they’re going to say. The press can’t get enough of it, which is just the way Celeste wants it to work.
Bo is quite confident about beating Terry this time. He’s made some secret modifications to his dragster and he knows he can’t lose. And you know Bo, if he’s sure he’s going to win, he’s got to tell everybody about it, in fact he’ll tell everybody about it no matter what!
It’s all Coming Together
The days leading up to the race are very busy for Celeste. Between the Bikester appearances and interviews she’s orchestrating and all the other organizing and pre-race activities, she doesn’t have a moment to spare. Once again, Nail and the Grungers are a lifesaver, helping take care of a lot of the details.
Other than the Bikester appearances, TK has a lot of time to spend with Ben and Jim. They visit a local Engineering School and even take one day, along with Betty and Lupé, to go to Disney World. A day with all his grandparents, most excellent!
Nitro concentrates on the upcoming race, going over and over! both of the bikes to be sure everything’s perfect. By the end of the week, the "Run What Ya Brung Spectacular" is ready to go. All the racecars and bikes are in town, and the race couldn’t be hyped any higher, with all the television coverage, etc. Celeste just hopes that everything keeps going as smooth as it has so far, and there’s no reason to think that it won’t.
The Saturday Show
It seems like there’s never a cloudy day in Florida, and this one is no exception. People are already lined up at the gates at six in the morning, and by the time they open up at eight the line is out of sight. Celeste looks at the flood of spectators and gets the feeling of accomplishment that a promoter gets when something comes together just right. She thinks, This baby’s working! Far out!
Luckily, Nerissa shipped out an extra load of tee shirts, because by ten o’clock the three local kids Celeste recruited to sell tee shirts are already going full tilt. Terry and Celeste sign autographs and visit with the crowd. Behind them, by the trailer, Nitro, TK, Jim and Nail work on SuperBike. Even Ben is involved, but mostly they are working on Nail’s bike in the trailer.
There are some new parts on it that TK and Nitro designed and brought out from Seattle with them. Nail has been giving them a try in the time trials, and the new stuff is working super. The bike is faster and quicker then ever by a substantial margin. They decide to leave the new system in for the fuel bike eliminations, which are about to start. This will be the test. Nail dusts his competition, and in the final round will race against the baddest Fuel Bike around, ridden by "Jersey" Jack Russell. This guy is fast!
More Data
Terry and Celeste
take a break from their other duties, and go up to the starting line to watch Nail race for Fuel Bike Top Eliminator. The two bikes fire up and Terry wonders what everybody else around the starting line thinks of the fact that Nail’s bike is way louder then Jersey Jack’s. What’s more, Nail’s exhaust is white and looks just like steam. But, in looking around, Terry realizes that they are all so intent on the race that nobody seems to notice.
Watching from over to the side TK smiles, "That’s three bikes with H²O-S systems now," he remarks to Jim, "SuperBike, RocketBike, and now Nail’s bike."
They’re testing a new idea on Nail’s bike, using a smaller H²O-S system to produce and mix the oxygenated hydrogen in with racing fuel, in this case methyl alcohol, which is made from wood, and is not a petroleum product, and it’s working super!
After doing their burnouts, the two bikes line up at the starting line. The light turns green, and they’re gone, blistering side by side down the track!
"This guy’s as quick on the lights as Nail, thinks Terry. That’s hard to believe! But Nail quickly starts to pull away and wins comfortably, setting a new Fuel Bike Elapsed Time record in the process, for bikes other than SuperBike of course. After the race, Nail brings his bike back to the Bikester trailer. TK plugs his computer into the module he has installed on the bike to add the information from this last run to his database.
"More data," says TK "Can’t get enough data."
By now it’s late afternoon and the Fuel Funny Car Eliminations have finished, with the winner being Dangerous Dan Jones. He’s been on quite a winning streak since that day in Phoenix when Terry pulled him out of a burning racecar. It’s going to be Dangerous Dan taking on Terry and SuperBike in the match race that will end today’s racing. Dan Jones and his Funny Car are already at the head of the staging area when SuperBike arrives, towed by the Tracker.
Before Terry and Dan race, two of the Jet Cars run a match race to give the spectators and the television audience a preview of what’s on tap for tomorrow. They put on a great show, lots of fire, smoke, noise and speed.
SuperBike vs. Dangerous Dan
The smell of jet fuel is still in the air as Dangerous Dan fires up. His Crew Chief gives him a pat on the helmet and puts the body down, checking that it’s securely latched. As Dan rolls toward the starting line and begins his burnout, Nitro hits the button starting SuperBike, which is its usual exceptionally loud self, drowning out the high exhaust note of Dangerous Dan’s supercharged hemi.
Dan does a nice smooth burnout to a little over half the track. And Terry is right behind him. Terry goes through his usual burnout routine, kind of a mini test session to see just what sort of mood old S-Bike is in today. To the crowd it looks like nothing more than a good, hard, very smoky burnout, but it’s much more. Terry tries the wheel spin at several different throttle levels.
He finds out where it picks up the front wheel and how stable it is doing a wheelie today, and what the racetrack is like traction-wise. These, and the other things he tests playing with the steering, etcetera will hopefully allow him to match whatever SuperBike’s mood is at the moment to whatever the track conditions are. However, S-Bike can get temperamental and surprise you: You’ve got to be on your toes.
By now the burnout has lasted to the finish line and Terry turns around and heads back for the starting line, thinking, This thing is smoother and more controllable then it’s ever been. Nitro’s latest tricks are really dialing it in, dynamite!
Terry catches up with the Funny Car as it begins to pull up to the starting line. He turns SuperBike behind the line and the racecar and the bike pull up to the line together. As the lights turn yellow, signifying get ready, Terry thinks, This is going to be nice and smooth, just like it’s supposed to be. He looks over at Dangerous Dan and says, "No fireworks this time! We want this to look good for TV!" The lights turn green!
As usual Terry gets a good jump, there’s no way a car can even come close to launching as hard as the bike. Terry stays out in front all the way. SuperBike is working just right. As they cross the finish line the Funny Car is starting to show some speed, going 40 miles and hour faster then the bike, but there’s no way he’s going to catch up. SuperBike is just too quick for him.
Back at the starting line, Bo, who was watching very closely, takes note of how smooth Terry on SuperBike was. They seem to be working a lot of the wildness out of the bike, thinks Bo, This is going to make it a bit tougher tomorrow. Bo wants to beat Terry more than anything!
After the first day of racing, the racetrack throws a big dinner for the racers at a nearby restaurant. The party breaks up early. The track opens for spectators at eight in the morning, and they have to be there a lot earlier than that. Tomorrow is the big day!