JimKnapp&
JeanneTalbot
JimKnappandhis girlfriend JeanneTalbot areproud tocall themselves “SanDiego’s fastest couple”. Together they run the
BarnyardBearcat (formerlyBomber) streamliner,
picturedabove
, whichKnapp, 69, bought inabadcondition in2003and
has sincecompletely rebuilt. He started racing aged 10withawooden go-kart hebuilt himself, but graduated to theFblown
fuel streamliner class inwhichhe set a recordover 211mph (340kph) at ElMirageback in2006. HisBonneville top speed is
309.483mph, whileTalbot’s topexit speed is255.933mph. Knapp’s reason for racing a streamliner is very simple: “I wanteda ‘red
hat’ – the200mphclub–and the simplestwaywas ina ’liner. Plus the rules for Streamliners consist of only two sentences: it has
tohave four ormore tyres, not ina straight line. Andat least twoof the tyreshave tobecovered 120degreeswith fenders.”
TonyHuntimer
Trained as a
photographer, Tony
Huntimer has been
shooting hot rods
and race vehicles for
over 30 years –he’s
created a large-
sized calendar of
Bonneville Speed
Week, which is run
by the Southern
California Timing
Association (SCTA)
alongsideEl Mirage.
Key to theRodRiders
team, he goes along
to raceswithhis
wifeChick. He says
onhis professional
website: “When the
sun rises and lights
up theexpanseof
theBonneville Salt
Flats, you know this
is theplace you need
tobe.” In 1998he
was diagnosedwith
cancer, but his health
improved thanks to
a “wonder drug”, he
says. “Youonly get
one chance in life,
and I havehad two,
sowewill stay a little
longer at Bonneville
andmakeour own
mark on the salt.”
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