Continued from page 17

one foot of water on top of the salt . Luckily , both Friedrich and his son had trailered their vehicles Friday , but not everyone had their good fortune , as the water was high enough it carried off one of their spare tires and cooler — the latter of which they never did find .

“ There were half-million dollar cars sitting on the

Staff photo by Zach Hacker

The driver ’ s area of Greg Friedrich ’ s land speed car is just big enough for him to sit and control all of the necessary components to drive and maneuver the vehicle .

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salt ,” Friedrich said .

Despite not getting a chance to run this year , he is already well aware of the arduous process that goes into one run . Once he gets his fire suit on — which , he said , “ is a real pain ” — he puts a HANS device on his neck , to which the helmet gets strapped . Bruce then helps strap him into the car , because it is too constricted in the cockpit for him to do it on his own .

As a rookie , he had to go through a “ bailout training ,” which tests his skills on how he would react during a simulated fire . Once he passed that , he would have spent about six hours in line to be able to run the car .

“ Your rookie run , you can ’ t go more than 150 miles an hour ,” Friedrich said . “ You have to throw the ( parachute ) if you ’ ve got one . What they do is , they just watch . They watch how your crew is , they watch how you are , how you handle the car , how you pull off the track , how they come out to get you on the return road , and make sure that you ’ re professional at it and you ’ re not a danger to anybody , including yourself .”

The track itself is eight miles long — five miles for running and another three miles for slowing down . The latter distance is necessary , with some cars going around 450 miles per

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Once a driver has become licensed for 150 miles per hour , they are no longer a rookie . But , they must receive another license at each 25 mile per hour increment going up from there .

The work doesn ’ t stop for Friedrich and his crew when his run is over , either . Following his turn , he heads back to the pit on a return road , which can be a trek of about 20 miles in itself . There , he plugs in his laptop and fires up the hotspot on his cellphone . Back in Minnesota , his tuner can set up on his kitchen table and get a look at what ’ s going on inside the car .

“ He ’ ll totally tune the car ,” Friedrich said . “ He ’ s very knowledgeable . He might put a change of air fuel mixture , he might change timing , something like that . Then he ’ ll say , ‘ OK , go ahead and make a run .’ It ’ s really gotten automated that way .”

Dairyland Peach , October 2 , 2022 Page 19

Staff photo by Zach Hacker

The Greg Friedrich ’ s land speed car drew a large crowd of people wanting to learn more about the unique vehicle , Sept . 11 , at the Lone Eagle Auto Club Car Show and Swap Meet in Little Falls .

In terms of why he decided to get involved in land speed racing himself , Friedrich said it is mostly the people .

“ I ’ ve been involved with so many types of racing and car shows and stuff like that ,” he said . “ You get people who are into cars , they ’ re just good people ; they really are . They ’ re the best .”

Another aspect of the sport he likes is that drivers aren ’ t necessarily racing against anyone but themselves . The objective is simply to “ go as fast as you can .” In the class he runs , the world record is 294 miles per hour .

He said the scenery at the Salt Flats is also unique , comparing it to feeling like “ you ’ re on the moon .”

“ If you get out there first thing in the morning , you get there at 6 in the morning , it ’ s absolutely beautiful ; sunrise on the salt ,” Friedrich said .

As such , he ’ s excited to get back at it next year . Nothing really needs to be changed on the car between now and then , he said , and the biggest hurdles will be mental .

Friedrich said , once he ’ s strapped into the vehicle , it ’ s “ really , really confined .” It ’ s also hot . There is no air conditioning inside the vehicles , and the August temperatures in Utah usually top off in the 90s or 100s .

“ Once that canopy goes down , it ’ s a whole different mental thing ,” he said .

On top of his joy of racing , Friedrich said having his wife , son and brother at his side is crucial . They are able to turn the trip into a bit of a vacation , with even the family dogs loaded up in the motor home . It ’ s an experience unlike any other .

“ I ’ m looking forward to it ,” Friedrich said of 2023 . “ I wish it was next week , but we ’ ll have to wait for August . That ’ s the worst part about it , just waiting .”

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