MOTOR RACING : Teague Goes Fast, Faster Until He Becomes the Fastest
England’s Richard Noble set the world land speed record of 633.468 m.p.h. in 1983, but for automotive purists, the true speed record for more than 25 years was the 409.222 m.p.h. by Bob Summers of Ontario in the Goldenrod. It was powered by four Chrysler hemi engines mounted in a line.
In the purest sense, it was the world’s fastest automobile until Al Teague, 50, a millwright from Brea, took his single-engine, two-wheel-drive Streamliner to Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats last month and broke Summers’ record with a two-way average of 409.986 m.p.h.
“Our car, like the Goldenrod and those great old Blue Birds of Sir Malcolm Campbell, runs with its power driven through the wheels,” Teague said. “The jets and rocket-propelled cars get theirs from thrust. They just free-wheel. It’s totally different.”
Teague’s accomplishment on Aug. 21 was the result of a 15-year odyssey that began in 1976 when he built an open-wheeled Lakester to run at El Mirage dry lake. Lakesters were the outgrowth of Southern California hot-rodders’ ingenuity after World War II, when they came home, took the fuel drop tanks from Lockheed P-38E fighter-bombers, put four wheels on them and went racing on the dry lakes of the Mojave Desert.
Teague’s Lakester, based on a design by Lynn Eakel and the mold of a motorcycle streamliner, set a class record of 262 m.p.h., and Teague began to dream of bigger--and faster--things.
“Essentially, that old car is the same as the Spirit of ’76 that set the record last month,” Teague said. “Of course, it’s been modified a whole lot of times, but it still has some of the original in it.”
Teague decided that if he could run faster than 260 m.p.h., he could get up to 300 m.p.h. by making a few modifications, such as stretching and enclosing the front end. Using a 392-cubic-inch Chrysler engine, he quickly ran 280 m.p.h., then reached 308 m.p.h. in 1981.
“I do most of my thinking (about the car) lying in bed at night,” he said, “and when I hit 300, what had been my hobby became an obsession. I was living at home with my mother in San Gabriel, and every minute I could spare and every dollar I could afford went into the car. In the end, it became a monkey on my back until I got the record.”
In 1982 and ‘83, he remodeled the car, staggering the front wheels in an offset design, and raised his personal record to 353 m.p.h. in 1985.
“I figured if I had picked up 40 m.p.h. by streamlining the front end and staggering the wheels, I ought to be able to find another 25 m.p.h. with a bigger engine,” Teague said, “so I bought a Chrysler hemi from Keith Black, the kind they run in top fuel dragsters, and enclosed the full body.”
From a Lakester, it became a Streamliner, but it managed to attain 390 m.p.h. last year with a trap speed of 400 m.p.h. at the end of a measured mile.
“From then on, it was a matter of squeezing a little here and there,” Teague said, “trying to find enough to pass the Goldenrod before someone else did. I was lucky that some guy with a lot of money didn’t come along and blow me away before I got there. I figure I averaged about $10,000 out-of-pocket money every year for 15 years, and that $150,000 doesn’t count the thousands of man-hours I spent working on it.”
Nolan White, another hot-rodder from San Diego, almost beat him to Summers’ record but fell short at 402.476 m.p.h. last October at Bonneville. White will attempt to better Teague’s record with his four-wheel-drive All American Auto Power Chevy Streamliner when the Utah Salt Flat Racing Assn. holds its World of Speed this weekend.
“We’re going to pass the USFRA meet and regroup for November,” Teague said. “We got some new tires, and they’re smaller than the old ones, so we have to change the gearing. We hope to go back to the salt for the (Southern California Timing Assn.’s) World Finals Nov. 1-3.”
Teague’s search for adequate tires points out some of the problems of chasing speed records.
“The only suitable tires for speeds up to 500 m.p.h. are eight-ply Firestone Bonnevilles, and they haven’t made any since 1972,” Teague said. “Our old ones shredded in the record run, so we had to find some new ones. We located a pair in Utah that had been on Athol Graham’s car when he ran in 1960. They cost about $80 then, and we paid $1,000 to Graham’s son--and they’re 30 years old, and they’ve been sitting outside for a long time.”
Graham’s Firestone-sponsored Sprit of Salt Lake slid off the course, crashed and burned, killing the driver.
Each set of tires is good for about seven runs, and it takes two runs--one in each direction--for a record. Teague ran 411.852 m.p.h. one way and 408.121 m.p.h. on the return for his 409.986-m.p.h. average. He also had a one-way run of 425 m.p.h. with a trap speed of 432.692 m.p.h.
The feat is more remarkable considering that Teague, a graduate of Rosemead High and East Los Angeles College with a degree in business, does not have an engineering background and uses no wind tunnels for aerodynamic design or dynamometers to test his 1,200-horsepower engine.
STOCK CARS--The first event of the four-race NASCAR Western States Challenge will be held Saturday night at Saugus Speedway as part of the track’s Fall Spectacular weekend. Drivers from Cajon, Orange Show and Las Vegas speedways will compete in the 100-lap challenge race, which will be followed by 100-lappers on Oct. 5 at Orange Show, Oct. 12 at Cajon and Oct. 27 at Las Vegas. Grand American modifieds and mini-stocks also will race Saturday. In the Friday night portion of Saugus’ Fall Spectacular, street and hobby stocks will be featured, plus a train race.
Ventura Raceway will close the Coors Light season Friday night with main events for street and mini-stocks. All stock car races scheduled for October and November have been canceled at Ventura. . . . Cajon Speedway will hold the Buck Knives 50 for street, Grand American modified and pony cars Saturday night. . . . Santa Maria Raceway has a 150-lap factory enduro scheduled Saturday night.
SPEEDWAY BIKES--Mike Faria, the California and U. S. champion, will open defense of his titles Saturday night when he takes on 15 qualifiers in the 24th annual state championship at Glen Helen Park in San Bernardino. The 34-year-old Colton veteran will defend his national title on Oct. 12 at Costa Mesa. Also on the state championship program will be New Zealand/American sidecars and four-wheeled ATVs. . . . Lake Perris will close its season with tonight’s program.
SPRINT CARS--The Pacific Coast Nationals this weekend at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix will mark the first time that California Racing Assn. drivers have gone 40 laps on the half-mile clay oval. Qualifying Friday night will set the field for Saturday’s main event. . . . John Redican, 46, who suffered a broken shoulder and a broken arm in a flip during a heat race at Bakersfield Speedway, said he’ll be back running with the CRA next year. The Chatsworth veteran had a bone taken from his hip and placed in his shoulder during a 5 1/2-hour operation at Centinela Hospital Medical Center. . . . The World of Outlaws race scheduled Saturday night at Imperial Raceway in El Centro has been canceled.
MIDGETS--Sleepy Tripp, fresh from a U. S. Auto Club western regional victory on the one-third-mile asphalt oval at Saugus Speedway, will try for another one Saturday night on the one-fifth-mile Orange Show Speedway track in San Bernardino.
SPORTS CARS--P.J. Jones was named “Rising Star” of the International Motor Sports Assn. after winning four races and six poles while driving a Toyota MR-2 Turbo in the Firehawk series. . . . Regional points races for California Sports Car Club drivers will be held Saturday and Sunday at Willow Springs Raceway, along with Toyota Budweiser super production unlimited stock cars.
MOTOCROSS--The U. S. team of Jeff Stanton, Mike Kiedrowski and Damon Bradshaw won an unprecedented 11th consecutive Motocross des Nations last week in Valkenswaard, the Netherlands. Stanton’s charge from fourth to first in the final 500cc moto enabled the Americans to defeat Holland and Belgium, which tied for second.
DRAG RACING--Jed Bourquin and Gary Cooke will battle for driver-of-the-year honors Saturday night when the Pro Gas Assn. concludes its 12th year of sportsman racing at the Los Angeles County Raceway in Palmdale.
