

On the first day, Driver hit 291 mph (468 km/h). But anyone attempting a record needs to do two runs, and the average is where the record is set. “Every time, my heart goes into my throat as he drives down.”ĭriver managed to get the car fixed. We’ve seen friends lose their lives,” she said. Gray says that’s one of the scary things about the whole experience.

“Unless they let me use the airport, there’s nowhere to drive this thing,” he said. Speed Week is the only place Driver can see how the car is performing. Luckily because the World Finals are in September, conditions are cooler, and the salt is harder.ĭriver and his partner Donna (Miss Daisy) Gray travelled back up to their welding and car parts shop in Sooke, with plans to return for the World Finals a month later, the first time they would ever attend the event.īut first, Driver had to get the car working again, which involved welding the main transmission shaft back together. With Driver’s car failing, another team broke his record, and Driver wanted it back. He left the car, a 1953 Studebaker, with its 1955 Hemi Studebaker tow vehicle and hauler in storage, in Utah.
#Island racer cars drivers
when the World Finals took place at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah this fall.ĭespite what the name suggests, the World Finals – which takes place over four days – is a smaller event than Bonneville Speed Week, About 600 drivers attend Speed Week in August, while 100 go to the World Finals in September.īut an unfortunate transmission failure during Speed Week meant Driver and his team missed out on the record they were trying to set in the Altered Coupe class. Shawn Driver didn’t even plan to be in the U.S. Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows Tourism Guide.
