Looking back at The Silver State Classic Challenge

The Silver State Classic Challenge is one of those increadible events that almost every serious gear head has heard of and is on the "bucket list" for many.  It is a true grass roots event that turns the small town of Ely, NV into a high performance mecca every September.  The format is simple - Nevada Highway 318 is closed for the day to local traffic and competitors race 90 miles from the small town of Lund to the equally small town of Ash Springs; no traffic, no speed limits, and no radar detectors to distract you.  The race is run as an open road rally and competitors race against the clock in average speed "brackets" where the goal is to average your target speed over the entire 90 mile course.  We were running in the 115 mph class after cutting our teeth in the 105 mph class in the spring race earlier this year.


Sunday morning started with a 35 mile cruise from Ely to the pre-stage grid at Lane's Truck Stop in Hilo, NV at the start of Highway 318. It was just before 6 am and still dark when we set off... which would have been less of an issue if we hadn't taped the hide-aways shut for the speed runs the day before. It only took a couple of minutes to figure out the problem and fix it but it was a big distraction first thing in the morning.

7 am - Lane's Truck Stop. It's hard to imagine a greater cross section of cars in any one place...

And from Lane's it's a short 2 mile drive to the final staging area on 318

This is most of the 115 mph class - starting with the 2006 Mustang at the top of the picture we were joined by a 2003 350Z, a '69 Olds Cutlass, an '08 Subaru WRX-STI and a '65 Shelby clone. I think that our class probably had the oldest average age of any group running.

 Team Optima was there representing:

The OneLapCamaro running in the 115 mph class with Jimi Day handling the navigator duties.

Cameron Douglass was driving the 2006 NASCAR Chevrolet with Craig Wibbert navigating in the 150 mph class.

and the Kepler brothers driving this awesome 2006 Z06 - also running in the 150 mph class. Steve was driving while his brother Mike was navigating; Mike is also drives the incredible Optima Batteries rig.

Cam and Craig were the first of the three to hit the open highway...
followed by Steve and Mike...
We weren't far behind...

90 miles... 115 mph average... 46 minutes 57.39 seconds...

Our strategy was to put 25 seconds in the bank heading into the narrows which meant spending much of the first half hour somewhere between 120 and 130 mph. When he banked our time Jimi told me that I had to drop down to our target... it was tough... the car was great at 125 and I could have stayed there for the whole race. We took the narrows at a comfortable 95 - 100 mph, exiting 8 seconds or so fast. With 10 miles to go we were withing a second of our target and with 1 mile to go we were only 0.07 seconds away from our goal.
When it was done the car had performed perfectly and the only problem we had was a couple of bugs on the front of the car...

other than that the car ran flawlessly and it was a comfortable drive.

As soon as we were done Jimi and I drove down to the gas stop as Ash Springs where I filled up with gas for the return drive to Lund while Jimi and Cameron and the rest of the Optima crew headed to Las Vegas. The return trip was 115 miles of desert at what seemed like a painfully slow 70 mph(ish). I admit that I did speed up a bit through the narrows but that was about all...

When it was all over, as you know, we finished a respectable 2nd in the 115 mph class. We were 1.2 seconds off our time (fast... my fault - I must have misjudged the hill beween the final mile marker and the timing lights) but still managed to bring home the hardware. This was Jimi's first time navigating although he had run the event six times before as a driver. This was Jimi's first podium finish (and obviously mine as well) so we were both stoked despite being slightly off the pace.

Steve and Mike wound up finishing 4th in the 150 mph class, only 0.197 seconds off their target; Cameron and Craig wound up 8th, 0.443 seconds off the pace. Most importantly, everyone finished safely and without issue. We all ran the High Noon Shootout (results are not officially out yet) and completed the 90 mile run without a hick-up so that is a success in itself.

I have to thank Cameron Douglass and Optima Batteries for their support over the weekend and Jimi Day for his awesome navigating and advice. Most of all I have to (once again) thank David Pozzi for his support and great car preparation. A lot of effort went in to getting the car ready for the event and David was there every step of the way. Thanks everyone - It was a great time and a great result.

Next time we'll shoot for the 130 mph class (or so) and see how we do... should be fun!