The Lure of the Open Road

By Bryan Scott   

Originally printed in Porsche Panorama, December, 1999. 

Driving Fast.  Feeling the surge of adrenaline as the speedometer sweeps well past 100 miles per hour.  Past 120, past 140, past 160 miles per hour.   Feeling the roar of the engine, the roar of the wind whipping past, and the roar of the road.  All of this as you drive faster than is legally possible anywhere in America.  That's what the Silver State Classic Challenge is all about.  

Seventeen Porsche owners joined 211 owners of Ferrari's and Vipers, as well as over 50 Corvettes, this past September 16-19 to participate in the largest high-speed road rally ever held.  PCA members from Wisconsin, Nebraska, and California joined several members from Las Vegas to experience the sensations of ultra-high speed driving on a public highway. 

The Silver State Classic Challenge is a twelve-year old September event that is paired with an annual May event, the Nevada Open Road Challenge.  For each event a 90 mile stretch of Nevada State Highway 318 is closed to the public.  All types of participating cars and trucks are then free to traverse the course, attempting to exactly match Target Speeds that range in five mile an hour increments from 165 mph down to 95 mph.  

This year's Unlimited Class, with no Target Speed,  approached the 200 mph level, with the fastest car AVERAGING 197.9932 mph over the 90 mile course.   The Silver State Classic Challenge Inc. is a non-profit organization (www.silverstateclassic.com) based in Ely, Nevada, and receives funding from the Nevada Commission on Tourism and the White Pine County Fair & Recreation Board. 

Porsche driver Susan Kirby and navigator Marc Thomas piloted a 1988 Porsche 928 S4 over the course at an average speed of 167.6750 mph, fast enough for a Fifth Place overall finish in the Unlimited  Class.  This set a new record for the women's category for Highway 318 events.  Although the team has participated in many SSCC events in the last four years, this was the first time Kirby drove. 

Kirby and Thomas have owned "The White Car", as the 928 is known, since April of 1993.  Over the years they have made modifications to the car's inner workings, so that it now boast's a 6.5 liter, 500 horsepower V-8 power plant.  The car retains it's street handling characteristics, as the Thomas-Kirby team continue to drive the car to and from  the more than 20 open road events they have competed in.  The car has been covered in such magazines as "European Car" (April 1996), "Excellence" (December 1997), and "Hot Rod Magazine (May, 1999). 

Carl Young drove and Ellen Young navigated for a First Place finish in the 165 mph class, missing the 165 mph target by just 104  TEN-THOUSANDTHS of a mile per hour.  Carl Young, a retired US Air Force fighter pilot from Las Vegas, drove a 1996 Twin Turbo that remains today virtually stock, except for safety-related upgrades such as a full roll cage, a fuel cell, and a fire system.  He averaged 164.9896 mph over the desert course.  

The Silver State Classic Challenge prides itself on being open to anyone  who wants to drive fast, and has a vehicle capable of traveling the 90 mile course.  Each driver selects a Target Speed, the speed  the driver hopes to exactly match over the course, based on courage and the safety equipment on the vehicle.  Associated with each Target Speed is a Tech Speed, the speed which the vehicle may not, under any circumstances, exceed. 

Participants in the Touring Division, the slowest Division, may select Target Speeds of 95, 100, 105 or 110 mph.  Each of these Target Speeds carries a Tech Speed of 124 mph.  Safety equipment for this Division includes a helmet and gloves, standard seat belts, natural fiber clothing covering the entire body, and a securely installed fire extinguisher. 

Faster Divisions, including the Grand Touring, Grand Sport, and Super Sport, carry higher Target Speeds and higher Tech Speeds.  The faster Divisions also require a higher level of safety equipment.  The Super Sport Division, for instance, has Target Speeds of 155, 160 and 165 mph, with a Tech Speed of 180 mph.  Safety equipment for this Division includes a competition fuel cell, roll cage, five or six-point safety harness, racing helmet, gloves and fire protection suit.  Performance requirements for tires also get tougher as the speed increases. 

The Unlimited Division has no Target Speed and no Tech Speed.  The object in this Division is to drive absolutely as fast as possible over the entire course.  Cars entering this Division must have race-car caliber safety equipment, including roll cage,  fuel cell, helmet and clothing, as well as race-quality tires, not to mention a power plant capable of hurtling the car down the roadway at speeds well above 200 miles per hour. 

SSCC safety regulations also stipulate that first-time drivers participate in a Qualifying School, held at a Las Vegas motor sports venue.  Rookie drivers also participate in a course-familiarization caravan the Friday prior to the Sunday event, because getting to know the course, at 100+ mph on event day, is a dangerous practice. 

Technically, the event is not a race, but rather a High Speed Time-Speed-Distance Rally with a single checkpoint 90 miles down the road from the start.  Cars are individually green-flagged at one minute or 30 second intervals according to their Target Speeds, with a minimal amount of passing required.   The Highway 318 course is comprised of long straight-aways, one as long as 14 miles, connected by gradual left and right sweeper turns.   

The exception is The Narrows, a two-mile long series of S turns about three-fourths of the way through the course.  The Narrows begins with a treacherous off-camber right bend before snaking through a  vertical-walled canyon.  At the posted speed limit, 70 mph, the turns of The Narrows pose no problem, especially for a fine German sports car.  Taken at 100 mph, or 120 mph, or even faster,  and The Narrows becomes an exhilarating, adrenaline-pumping, poor man’s LeMans. 

But the Silver State Classic Challenge is not just about cars and racing.  To borrow a phrase, it's about the people.  People from across the United States and all over the world have traveled to Ely, Nevada, to drive out into the desert for a Sunday morning of high speed driving.  England, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia have all been represented. 

The full event, either the Silver State Classic Challenge or the Nevada Open Road Challenge, starts off with a press conference and luncheon at a hotel in Las Vegas prior to the qualifying school.  A caravan travels to Ely on Friday, stopping on the course so that first time drivers can get oriented to the course.  Once in Ely the cars assemble at the town's high school parking lot for a parade through town, arriving at the county's Bristlecone Convention Center in time for  a "Welcome to Ely" reception. 

Saturday includes a final technical inspection of cars, and a "Display of Cars" on the town's football field.  This Display of Cars gives drivers and navigators time to relax and share common interests, mainly cars.  This September's event was no different. 

Carl Young is the organizer of Team Porsche, a group of 14 Porsche-owning participants who collaborated to host "The World's Fastest Wine and Cheese Tour".  The reception featured continuous entertainment in the form of Porsche-related videos.    Renato Vergara donated five gallons of home made Santa Rosa Plum Wine, Matt and Nina Cooper supplied the cheese, and a case of imported German wine mysteriously appeared as well.   

Team Porsche members  proudly wore customized Cheeseheads supplied by Bob Mahoney, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  These classic cheeseheads were emblazoned with a Porsche Crest to commemorate the event.  At events past this was a glorious, sunny, Saturday afternoon with exotic as well as not-so-exotic cars on display.  This time it rained, which created an even more intimate gathering, under the awning. 

Matt and Nina Cooper, from the Las Vegas Region,  piloted  a 1993 RS America to a second place finish in the 135 mph class.  Although the couple have participated in SSCC events in scoring and timing activities, this was just the second time as a  driver/navigator team.   The Coopers finished at 134.9612 mph,  just 0.0388 mph below their target. 

Al Hastings finished in Fourth Place in the 130  mph class driving a 1986 930.  He finished just over the 130 mph target at 130.1571 mph.  Tim Steen and Gene Burda, driving a 1986 Porsche 928S in the 115 mph class, also finished in fourth place.  Their time was just below the target at 114.0636 mph. 

Fred and Kathleen Wagner of Las Vegas were rookie participants at the September event, driving a 1996 993 Twin Turbo.   The Wagner's Target Speed was 110 mph, and they finished at 109.9360 mph, good enough for 7th place finish in a division that started  46 entries. 

Other Porsche drivers who finished include Ted Strnot in a 1980 911  with a 143.9757 mph in the 150 mph class.  Don Hanson, driver, and Marie Schofield, navigator, competing in the 130 mph class, finished in tenth place with a speed of 131.4796.  Bob Mahoney, driving a 1997 Twin Turbo in the 125 mph class, finished with a speed of 123.8655 mph. 

In the 110 mph class Philip Bowser finished 19th in his 1978 911SC, Bryan Scott finished 25th in his 1996 Carrera Cabriolet, the team of Henry Ross and Greg Pippert came in 30th in their 1999 Carrera, and Joe and Jose Cervantes finished 37th in their 1986 944 Turbo. 

Porsche-owning participants in the SSCC events come from all walks of life.  Some drivers have automobile related businesses,  some are retired,  others are active in the professions.  One is a cardiovascular surgeon, another is an Internet-company founder.  

But two emotions are consistently mentioned  when asked what they enjoyed most about the event: Driving Fast and the Camaraderie of fellow Porsche owners.  

The excitement of waiting at the starting line, listening to the countdown: four, three, two, one.  The push back into the seat as the Green Flag drops and the Porsche accelerates.  Then racing past a blur of desert at dangerous, unlawful, speeds.   

And living to tell the tale, talking to new friends and old buddies, each of whom has shared the excitement of the world's largest high speed rally event.  This is what Silver State Classic Challenge events are all about, and why Porsche owners enjoy participating.