Black Opel Racing based out of Summerland BC is pleased to share some good news.
After 11 years of hard work we did it, finally broke the the 202 mph record held by Gail Philips from California.
Frank and his RED hat
Frank Kinney ran an averaged speed of 208.974 mph over 2 days to set a new record on Aug 13 2012 and earn a coveted Red Hat from the 200 MPH Club.
Especially nice was the fact that the red hat was presented by the mayor of Warnerville, Dan him self and we got to meet Otto Ryssman. Otto was one of
the original members of the 200 MPH Club and was inducted at their first meeting in 1952.
Our team attended the SCTA sanctioned Speedweek held Aug 10 to 17 where 586 cars and motorcycles raced for higher speeds and
to get in the record book and hopefully earn their red hat as well.
We are proud to race under the Inliners International banner.
Yay!
Our team of 6 included Frank Kinney #4761, Larry Ryll #4749, Ken Brown #5553, Lance Brown #3550, Marc Piccioni and Dick Knorr #1573. We had 6 supporters/volunteers with us as well, namely Lou Hudon, Wayne Chenery , John Surtees and John Gregg (the twins), Rod Manarin and Kevin Davies.
The car is an 1970 Opel GT, heavily modified to meet class rules, we run in EGMS, E is 260 cubic inches max, G is gasoline, M is modified and S is sports, meaning a 2 seater with a production run of at least 500 cars.
The 440 HP engine is a N.A. 2006 GM 4200 Vortec inline 6 with Race Tec Pistons, Crower Rods, Bates valve train and custom crank girdle and a Fliudamper.
Engine fuel and spark management and data logging is by Mega Squirt 3 supplied by DIYAutotune, dry sump oiling system is by Stock Car Products.
Clutch is a 10,000 RPM triple disc and flywheel is by Jerry Weigt, transmission is a closer ratio Super T-10 with Liberty gears, all bullet proof. Rear diff is a GM 7.5 open style with a 2.79 ratio and 9” Ford axles, ribbon parachute is by Stroud.
In an attempt to up the speed for the second record and red hat we lost ring seal and that ended the program, after 11 years we leaned to quit
before it goes boom. However we got 2 hard years out of the engine, and of course there's always next year.
Post mortem on the engine found the rings were going away, the piston skuff coatings were transferred to the cylinder walls and one rod bearing was
on its way out, a wee bit of wiping going on, but the good news is no structural damage.
We want to thank our long time sponsor Lordco Auto Parts of BC for their faithful support, without them we wouldn’t have set the record.
Thanks to all for your support, encouragement and kind words over the years.
Check out our website www.blackopel.com and see you for “sausage on the salt” next August eh!
Dick Knorr
PS support “Save the Salt” if you can
Story and photos courtesy of Dick Knorr, Can-West Inliners