Land Speed Legends
Conversations with men & women who make land speed racing legendary!
Land Speed Legends
The Legendary Tim Confal
Tim Confal began his racing career with a '69 Camaro in the San Fernando Valley in the late 70's which evolved to drag racing a fuel altered. While drag racing, he met Roger Gate and Bill Ward and started crewing on their streamliner at El Mirage and the Bonneville Salt Flats. Tim ended up running his own car, the memorable front engine Lakester named Myrtle.
Tim entered the Bonneville 200 MPH Club in 1989 driving an Opal GT. He connected with Bob Noice, and they began racing roadsters which led to the creation of the iconic Noicemaker roadster. The Noicemaker tragically crashed in 1989. Luckily the driver was not hurt badly but their bond and love for racing endured as they rebuilt another roadster and faced the challenges of the Double A Blown Gas Roadster class. His decision to eventually step away from racing highlights the emotional and physical toll that managing such a demanding sport can take.
Finally, immerse yourself in the world of hot rodding and high-speed racing with stories that capture the unpredictable nature of the sport. From handling a Blown Fuel Lakester that is leaking nitro to crashing in an Opal over 200MPH, this episode delves into the thrill, danger, and determination that define racing excellence.
Welcome to Landspeed Legends, a podcast talking to the men, the women, the legends that make land speed racing great. Discover the stories of these ordinary people whose passion for land speed racing has made them legendary. And now here's your host the Bonneville Belle, the High Boy, honey, the salt princess, alison Volk-Dean.
Allison Volk Dean:The legendary Tim Conful is here with us today to talk about his career in land speed racing and other types of racing. It sounds like You're telling me how you got started racing of racing.
Tim Confel:It sounds like you were telling me how you got started racing. Yeah, I started with a 69 Camaro. Mustang and sold it bought an Altered, built a small block Chevy injected started racing it.
Allison Volk Dean:Where was this at?
Tim Confel:This is in the San Fernando Valley.
Allison Volk Dean:Oh, well, geez, in what year?
Tim Confel:Oh, what year? Yeah, oh got to be in the 77, 78.
Allison Volk Dean:Sounds.
Tim Confel:And then just met different people like Roger Gates and Bill Ward and got into racing at El Mirage with them and went to my first trip to Bonneville in 78, 79. And all of a sudden everything changed Boom.
Allison Volk Dean:So you were racing in the San Fernando Valley, just kind of drag racing. Yeah, did you do any structured drag racing, or was it all just street?
Tim Confel:No, Well, it was street stuff with my Mustang, but I started kind of like structural racing when I got ahold of the altered cause you just can't run one of those on the street.
Allison Volk Dean:No, so you were racing fuel alters.
Tim Confel:Well unblown.
Allison Volk Dean:Unblown Okay.
Tim Confel:Injected alcohol. Okay, yeah, cause I couldn't, I didn't have a bunch of money. Yeah, I just wanted to race.
Allison Volk Dean:Oh, that's so fun. Yeah, that's fun fun.
Tim Confel:Well, that's what a lot of people do. They just want you know to race what race what you can, that's.
Allison Volk Dean:That's exactly what it was, yeah, so um how long did you do that for the drag race?
Tim Confel:probably two, three years, and then uh and is this where you met bill that's and then I met uh roger gates and bill ward and um they started running a streamliner at El Mirage in Bonneville and they had more success at El Mirage than Bonneville.
Allison Volk Dean:Yeah, they did with the streamliner. Yeah, so were you part of their team?
Tim Confel:Yeah, I just started hanging out with them and going to races with them and stuff like that and then started, you know, El Mirage was your first race, so what was it like back then at El Mirage? Back then you went out on Sunday morning and ran the car and that was it. Nowadays you're out on Thursday and Friday and I mean it's just everything's completely different. Everything's changed. The lake bed's changed. The salt's changed. Everything's changed since when I first started going out there.
Allison Volk Dean:Well, what was, what would be some of your cars that were very memorable? You were racing at El Mirage, you were just crewing, yeah.
Tim Confel:I didn't start racing on El Mirage on the dirt until like 70, I think it was 79, maybe 80. 80 and uh, I got hooked up with somebody through don and barry. Uh, don carr and barry caplan and roger gates and bill ward they knew a guy that bought myrtle from don carr and I put my motor in myrtle and me and him ran it for one season. He didn't like it and so he sold the car and I took my motor and that was that that was that.
Tim Confel:I mean it's like um Al Teague ran out there. Then I mean it's um trying to remember names is it's hard because it's so long ago? Um Bill Temple, Bill Temple, I Bill Temple is an awesome guy and you know he was just a bitching guy.
Allison Volk Dean:Yeah.
Tim Confel:And his wife was awesome and Greg is. You know, greg lives in Colorado. Somewhere he worked for I don't know some airlines out there and he used to fly in and fly home and stuff like that and drive it at El Mirage or drive it, you know, on the salt of Bonneville. They had it was called Gotcha. They ran a roadster yeah, gotcha, so it was. I was you know people. It was like that. Monty Wolf ran out there at El Mirage. I mean, your dad was running there with a roadster and stuff like that and me and your dad used to have we had bitching conversations about driving roadsters and stuff like that and me and your dad used to have we had bitching conversations about driving roadsters and stuff like that, because when they really get up and start to run a roadster, your dad calls it doing the hula, because the back end starts moving around and stuff like that and you just got to let it go, and the faster they go the more they wiggle and the fun of the ride becomes.
Allison Volk Dean:Yep, absolutely so. Well, so you get out there in 70, what year did you say it was 75?
Tim Confel:No, probably 70, 77, 78, 79.
Allison Volk Dean:Oh 78.
Introduction:78, yeah.
Tim Confel:It was Roger Gates and Bill Warren. It was a streamliner they had.
Allison Volk Dean:Oh yeah, I think you did say that.
Tim Confel:Yeah.
Allison Volk Dean:What were they running in that?
Tim Confel:They used to run a big block. Chevy twin turbos on alcohol.
Allison Volk Dean:And what were the speeds that they were looking at?
Tim Confel:On El Mirage they were running like 270, 275. Oh, wow, back then, yeah.
Allison Volk Dean:Yeah, that's good.
Tim Confel:So then I started running. I ran Myrtle for one year.
Allison Volk Dean:So is Myrtle the name of the car. Yeah, okay.
Tim Confel:What is it? It was a front engine Lakester.
Allison Volk Dean:Okay, okay.
Tim Confel:From like the early 60s, so it was like a well-known car. Okay, it just got a name Myrtle and that just stuck with it. Okay, it's kind of weird.
Allison Volk Dean:Yeah, no, I like it.
Tim Confel:People that go back to the early 60s to the 70s, they'll know who Myrtle is. They've been around Lansby's racing. I mean, it's like I was having an earlier conversation with your dad and he had Myrtle in the garage for a while.
Allison Volk Dean:Oh, he did.
Tim Confel:Yeah, you know, and your dad put a motor in Myrtle. I mean, it's just Myrtle's been around the block, huh. Yeah, but the guy who bought it bought it from Don Carr, yeah. And then I put my motor in it. We ran it for a year and then he didn't want to do it anymore, so he sold the car. I took my motor and went and then I got hooked up with Bill Ward doing an Opel GT and in 88, I think it was- so you re-hooked back up with Bill.
Tim Confel:Yeah, and then in 88, he got in the two club with, uh, an opal gt, with a 300 inch chevrolet, and then I got in in 89 okay, so he got in 83, did you say?
Allison Volk Dean:88 oh he just did it back to back, back to back.
Tim Confel:He got in at 200 and something, 200 point something miles an hour, and I got in at 222.223 or something you pushed it up.
Allison Volk Dean:What'd you guys do different? Just a little more lead foot yeah yeah, that thing is a wild ride. It seems like to drive when you see it go down. What's it like?
Tim Confel:oh yeah, it's uh well. Normally it's pretty stable, but then all of a sudden, when you start changing aerodynamics and stuff and you spin them, they're not fun at all anymore.
Allison Volk Dean:Yeah.
Tim Confel:The fun factor kind of goes away a little bit.
Allison Volk Dean:The oh shit factor comes in.
Tim Confel:Well, it's not really. Oh shit. It's like okay, let's hang on and find out what it's going to do. You got two options. One it's going on its head. Two, it just spins around in circles and everything's okay. So you're just hoping it just stays hoping it's the okay. Four feet on the ground and it's going around in circles and everything's okay oh wow.
Allison Volk Dean:So how many times did you spin it?
Tim Confel:I spun it twice at a usfra meet oh yeah, but you never went upside down no god good good, no, I didn't go upside down until about 2000.
Allison Volk Dean:Oh, okay, so well then 2000,.
Tim Confel:I got talked into a car I never should have stepped into, but I stepped into it anyways. And yeah, I flew it about 40 feet in the air and it turned out to be a giant mess.
Allison Volk Dean:Well, what car was it?
Tim Confel:It was another Opel GT.
Allison Volk Dean:Oh, it was. Yeah, oh my gosh, but not Bill's no.
Tim Confel:Okay, no, that car was really stable. We didn't have the he and the one I crashed. He had the motor way back in it and he had a lot of. He had done a lot of stuff, built big spill plates in the back and had wicker bills on it and all kinds of aerodynamic to push the back end on the ground kinds of aerodynamic to push the back end on the ground. And what had happened is, once you got to about 170, the back end, the front end, had come off the ground on the back end and be planted. So you kind of yeah, that sounds just terrible, terrifying.
Tim Confel:You know I didn't know at the time but the guy's wife had spun it and she got scared and didn't want to drive it. Then his daughter spun it twice and she didn't want to drive it. Then he spun it twice and then he didn't want to drive it and I didn't find out till it was too late. I got in the car and the first run you can almost make it spin with your right foot.
Tim Confel:It was so easy, you get about 165 and if you squeeze a little more you can feel it start to wiggle and start to want to go. And if you squeeze a little more you can feel it start to wiggle and start to want to go. And then you know, you just lift and it all, everything settles back down and gets stable. And so I told him you know he had no weight in the front of the car and everything in the back of the car. And so then he comes back. So I took this off, I took this off, I did this, I did this and I says why don't we just wait till May and I'll drive it? I'll drive it. You know, saturday on the first meet, May meet, and we'll see how it goes. Then, if you need to change things, change things around and make it more stable. He kept on insisting, he kept on insisting and next thing I know I'm, I wanted a car up. Did you get hurt or was it? I didn't get hurt, seriously.
Allison Volk Dean:No, did you get hurt, or was it I?
Tim Confel:didn't get hurt seriously no, Did the car get hurt?
Allison Volk Dean:It sounds like it needed to.
Tim Confel:You couldn't tell what it was. Oh wow, the doors were off it, the back window was out of it, the deck lid was off it, the hood was off it, there was no battery. The battery exploded. There was no battery. Oh my God, there was no left axle in it or wheel.
Allison Volk Dean:Wow yeah. Wow, so you're lucky that you walked away from it. I'm very lucky I walked away from it.
Tim Confel:Good safety too, but it's make yourself as small as you can make yourself. If you can make yourself into a golf ball, you're better off.
Allison Volk Dean:Pro tip String cup. Okay, that's good to know. So what year was that?
Tim Confel:That was about 2000,. I think it was.
Allison Volk Dean:So in between. So you got in the club in 89, I think. So what were you doing in between those years?
Tim Confel:I got hooked up with Rich Manchin, needed help with a car that he bought from Jeff Carroll. That was actually Jeff Carroll was drag racing, super comp racing and Rich took it and built it into a Lakester and started running it at El Mirage. Then he started taking it to Bonneville and I was helping him on times I was free and stuff like that and going with him and doing stuff. And then Bob Noyce approached me about helping him with his car and stuff like that and going with him and doing stuff. And then bob noice approached me about helping him with his car and stuff like that and his roadster. And then I still, you know, I started working on his roadster with him and we started running it at el mirage and taking a bonneville and stuff like that and just having just fun, just having fun yeah and then, uh, he had built Bobby built another Roadster and Randy Scoville was driving it an all-wheel drive, blown big block Chevrolet Roadster on gas.
Tim Confel:And in 89, it was the same year I got in the club Randy crashed that car. Yeah, Randy crashed the car in 89, crashed his second Roadster, the Roadster he crashed. Yeah, yeah, Randy crashed the car in 89. Crashed his second roadster.
Allison Volk Dean:The roadster he crashed. Wow what happened.
Tim Confel:He ended up in the hospital in Salt Lake City for about six weeks, I think it was maybe longer.
Allison Volk Dean:Was it a modified roadster?
Tim Confel:No, it was just a regular gas roadster, a blown gas roadster.
Allison Volk Dean:I just don't hear about that often. What happened to this? It just rolled, did it.
Tim Confel:No, something in the front driveline broke and failed and it crashed Like End over end. Whoa, I mean everything, it just they cut the cage off the car.
Allison Volk Dean:I think I do remember, and it was front, was it rear wheel drive?
Tim Confel:All wheel drive.
Allison Volk Dean:I mean all wheel drive. Yeah, I think I did. Yeah, I remember what year was that.
Tim Confel:That was 89 and it was called Bob put a name on the side of the car. It was called oh the Noisemaker.
Allison Volk Dean:Oh, I remember that car now. I remember the Noisemaker very well.
Tim Confel:Yeah, yeah that's when it crashed. Then, after Randy healed and stuff, they built another car.
Allison Volk Dean:Yeah, and they didn't call it the Noisemaker, that other one.
Tim Confel:No, it didn't have no name on it.
Allison Volk Dean:The Noisemaker was loud it was like.
Tim Confel:I mean, I was little in 89, but I remember, I vividly remember the car yeah that's the one that randy randy drove and he had a passion. I'm so glad he was okay, yeah, and so then after about a year or, so, two, they started.
Allison Volk Dean:He started on another car and then um so he starts building a new car. Is randy bob's son or no? Okay?
Tim Confel:randy was randy. We used to work for Champion Sparkplugs and Bob knows Randy since Randy was about 17 years old.
Tim Confel:When Randy was about 17 or 18, bob took him the first time to Bonneville. It was Bob and Randy, seth Hammond, lee Gustafson, they all went to Bonneville. Okay, and you know, when Randy started out racing, randy worked for Zuchel and stuff like that, who flew planes and did drag racing and boat racing and all that kind of stuff. Wow, and so Bob has known Randy forever. And then, you know, they started building the car. Then Randy started driving it and he couldn't drive it anymore. And then so Bob started driving it and after the second time it spun at about 275, bob stepped out of the car and said I don't want nothing to do with this, no more.
Allison Volk Dean:And then I started driving it. Well, put that guy in, He'll drive it, you know so so did you ever have any problems with that?
Tim Confel:oh, I spun that thing a whole bunch of times you know that I do what.
Allison Volk Dean:What year was that car?
Tim Confel:oh, it was probably finished. 96, I think, is when it first came back out, I think.
Allison Volk Dean:And were you guys just running a bunch of different classes?
Tim Confel:No, they only ran one class in that car. What was it? Double A, just Double A, yeah.
Allison Volk Dean:Double A fuel, no Double A gas. Double A gas roadster.
Tim Confel:Yeah, balloon, gas roadster Balloon gas roadster yeah that's all they ever ran.
Allison Volk Dean:Huh.
Tim Confel:The only one. That Bob's Roadster is the only one that we ever changed a lot of motors in and ran different classes. We ran C, we ran B, we ran A, AA, we ran D, we ran all kind of classes in the street roadster.
Allison Volk Dean:In the street roadster. But this one is and this is. But this is Bob's Roadster too, right?
Tim Confel:Yeah, well, it's Bob and Randy's Roadster Bob is the Noyce Scoville Noyce Roadster.
Allison Volk Dean:Okay, yeah, okay, so that's in and you're spinning roadsters and having a good time, and this is in the 2000s, yeah, yeah. And so what? You guys aren't racing out there anymore, though.
Tim Confel:No, no, bob quit racing two years ago, maybe three and I quit two years about a year after him. It's just too hard to do it by yourself. Yeah, try to run these cars by yourself.
Allison Volk Dean:But you guys were racing all the way up until just barely.
Tim Confel:Yeah, all through the 90s and part of the 2005,. We used to run all the lake meets. We used to run all the salt meets. When we first started running a lot of the salt meets, it's like the USFR used to put on a meet. It was like the last week of July, yeah, and it'd be like 120 degrees out and stuff like that, yeah, our salt meet.
Tim Confel:It'd be like 120 degrees out and stuff like that. And then there were years where in July it rained and it'd get rained out and stuff like that. But we used to run all the time.
Allison Volk Dean:Yeah.
Tim Confel:We used to constantly run.
Allison Volk Dean:Yeah, and you'd run El Mirage and that With all different motors. Do you miss it not being out there? Not anymore. No.
Tim Confel:No, not being out there, not anymore.
Allison Volk Dean:No, no, at first you did yeah, yeah.
Tim Confel:It's just Because I've asked people how do you know when time is up? You know how do you know? When to, and they just tell you all of a sudden. You know, you know and it's just like.
Allison Volk Dean:It's just like you can't do it by yourself.
Tim Confel:Oh yeah, yeah, you need. You need friends, you need partners and stuff like that to do it. So basically, me and bob ran for so many years just by ourselves. Yeah, that when one of us is gone, it's just not yeah, well, it's not easy to find somebody that wants to spend a bunch of money and run a car that very few people want to run and to be able to get out.
Tim Confel:It's not like running a Corvette, you know. I mean everybody wants to drive. I mean people want to drive roadsters, especially street roadsters. Yeah, you know, yeah, and so I just can't do it by myself, so I just dumped oh well, maybe you never know what will happen, maybe one day or no. You're done, I'm done, ah well, I'm done, driving, I'm done what are you doing now? I'm building a 33 three window okay you're hot rodding yes that, that's cool, that's acceptable.
Allison Volk Dean:I'll allow it. I'm like no racing, but hot roddings, yeah, fun.
Tim Confel:Well, you got a truck.
Allison Volk Dean:I know I like my little truck, was that 29? 28., 28.
Tim Confel:Okay, then your brother's got the 29.
Allison Volk Dean:Yep, yeah, it's a. Yeah, I like my little truck. Yeah See, yeah. Well, how many cars had you raced? You had raced the.
Tim Confel:Well, I mean, I mean I'd driven, I'd driven a fuel Lakester that out there Charlie Arnold and I forget Verlin Marshall owned. I drove that for two years Bonneville and El Mirage.
Allison Volk Dean:And what kind of car was it?
Tim Confel:It was a blown fuel streamliner. A blown, no, a Lakester. Blown fuel Lakester.
Allison Volk Dean:Blown fuel, Lakester. What was the records on that? Like what were you?
Tim Confel:going about then, it would run right around the 250 mark.
Tim Confel:It needed to run close to like the 260s. Oh, 250 mark. It needed to run close to like the 260s, oh wow. You know it was just a deal where Verlin had a car, charlie had a motor and Al had the car, and it was just like you know, verlin had bounced back and forth between his coupe and the Lakester, so I mean to get them all on the same page. I just wanted to drive, so I just drove the car. Yeah, apparently you just wanted to drive, so I just drove the car.
Allison Volk Dean:Yeah, Apparently you just drive whatever anybody else.
Tim Confel:Yeah, pretty much that's what I did. I mean, I drove Verland's Coupe once at El Mirage. You know I've driven all kinds of cars at.
Allison Volk Dean:El Mirage.
Tim Confel:I drove in different cars at El Mirage.
Allison Volk Dean:Would people just come up and be like, hey, do you want to drive this yeah of cars at Elm Hill?
Tim Confel:Would people just come up and be like hey, do you want to drive this? More or less people that know Bob and stuff like that are looking for somebody to drive and stuff like that and. I just drive it.
Allison Volk Dean:That's awesome.
Tim Confel:In some respects it's fun. In some respects you get in a lot of trouble.
Allison Volk Dean:It's a lot of pressure.
Tim Confel:A lot of responsibility. Well, you don't know what they've done to the car. It's like that Opel. Well, I didn't know anything about it and I drove it and I crashed it. So I mean, when you drive, it's like flying jets. When you fly enough of them, sooner or later you crash one.
Allison Volk Dean:And that's basically what happened I drove enough different cars. It was bound to happen. Yeah, it was kind of like destiny. Yeah, well, let's go down the list of cars. You know I want to hear it, can you? Can you think of all of?
Tim Confel:them. No, I can't think of all the ones like jordan.
Allison Volk Dean:I don't even have pictures of them oh what because drivers don't take pictures no, that's true, um you know I mean it.
Tim Confel:Just you just can't remember all the the different rides you've had from different people that you've known and you've met and stuff like that, whether it's El Mirage or you know Bonneville or you know stuff like that, you know, yeah.
Allison Volk Dean:So I mean it's just, I've only driven one car, so I don't know.
Tim Confel:Yeah, but you also knew who built it and who maintained it. Yeah, that's right so when you drive other cars for other people, you don't know who built them, who maintains?
Introduction:them. You don't know nothing about them.
Tim Confel:You're just getting dry when you're yelling. You're done, you don't.
Allison Volk Dean:Yeah, you don't care, you drive anything I used to I didn't care what I drove was that opal, the scariest one you drove?
Tim Confel:Well, out there in Charlie Arnold's fuel stream line or Lakester, when I drove it, that wasn't scary, it was kind of like nerve-wracking a little bit, because you couldn't wait to get out of it. They had a full belly pan in it which you were supposed to have holes in the driver's compartment, and all of a sudden your feet started getting warm and you're wondering what's going on. You got this funny smell in the car and you look down there's nitro and oil all in the front of the cockpit of the car.
Tim Confel:And you're going what the hell is this? What is this? And you're going oh my Lord, you shut it off and get out and you just pull over as fast.
Allison Volk Dean:Oh yeah, that's terrible.
Tim Confel:I mean, when you crash a car, you're, it's kind of like getting in an automobile, just an accident on the street. Everything slows down and then all of a sudden, when it's to the end of it, it accelerates. So you, really you, you have a lot of time to think about what's going on and about what you, what to do.
Allison Volk Dean:Yeah.
Tim Confel:You know. So you first thing I do is I let go of the steering wheel and I just grab ahold of the seatbelts and I know they're tight because I pull them as tight as I can get them and you just wait for the impact.
Allison Volk Dean:Yeah.
Tim Confel:And the smaller you can make yourself, the more survivability I think you have, because stuff starts flying around the inside, especially when the. I mean I thought it was cool having my eyes open, watching all the shit, watching everything fly, watching the doors leave, watching all the rocks and the dirt and stuff fly all over the place. And then you know it's like the car finally stops from going end over end and side over side and everything else and it finally stops and when you look out the front window there's a big hole in it and you wonder where the hell the hole come from. And then you realize that when somebody tells you they found a block of concrete. And then you look at your helmet and it and it looks like you just dragged it down the freeway and it's a concrete one by the side of your helmet and through the front Lexan window you go. Holy shit.
Allison Volk Dean:There's where that hole came from, huh.
Tim Confel:So I mean, yeah, it was quite an experience, wow you're very lucky.
Allison Volk Dean:How many times have you crashed?
Tim Confel:That's the one, just the one. I've had a lot of times. There's been times where it's been close, yeah, in the other cars Spin outs or like gets real loose, because every time you spin out, the car always has a chance to go upside down. It's got a 50-50 shot.
Allison Volk Dean:Yeah.
Tim Confel:You spun a car before.
Allison Volk Dean:Yeah, barely. It was a pretty sad spin. But what was your favorite car to drive? Maybe, or what was?
Tim Confel:Oh, believe it or not, it was that Roadster, the 774. Okay, yeah, okay, yeah, yeah, trying to run 300. That's all we wanted. It was run 300, that's I mean it's like. It's like because it's an all-wheel drive, it's an all-wheel drive car, it's like driving on ice the car, like when you drive a normal roadster, the back end Sassier, when it starts to run hard, or you know, you can tell when it's going to. You're going to kind of tell when it's going to spin when it kicks the back end out. You know, when you get to a certain point, you know you've lost it. It starts spinning. This thing. It's like line to line, it's like an all-wheel drift, side to side, and the faster you go, the faster the thing slides back and forth from from the right lane to the left lane, to the right lane to the left lane, and he, or sometimes it goes on the outside of the course, cause you don't know where it's going to go.
Allison Volk Dean:It doesn't. It's going to go over, you don't know nothing.
Tim Confel:Oh wow, and you don't know which way it's going to go. Know which way it's going to go anytime, as soon as you gather it back in, yeah. And so then, all of a sudden, like it washes the front end out because of because, and it takes off spinning and I guess it's just like it's just trying to run 300. One of those things is it's really really hard, they're really really, especially on gasoline.
Allison Volk Dean:Oh yeah.
Tim Confel:So I mean we ran 287. We ran 285. We've never been able to back anything up. Either it rained or we spun it or broke a valve train part. It always did something that caused us not be able to run the car the following day. To get the record, yeah. And that's just part of running. I mean, you can't do nothing with Mother Nature. Yeah, when it hurts a part, you can't do nothing with it.
Allison Volk Dean:Right.
Tim Confel:Because you only have a certain time period to run the car.
Allison Volk Dean:Yeah, and you know a story like that where people just I mean I got in the. I have a different perspective of the club, but people who just come in and just get in the club and get out and acts like it's, sometimes it's really hard and it's a big deal for people, it's really hard.
Tim Confel:It's really hard. It took me. It took me six runs to get into the two club where it takes some people.
Tim Confel:Only takes two runs to get in, Because when I got in you had to qualify yeah, you had to do the old-fashioned way three times yes yeah and then when I did get in, I got protested on a gas deal so they wiped it off and so I had to start and where the record sat and the guy who said it, and then I had to get the guy who said it, and then I had to get in.
Tim Confel:The guy who said it protested it. Is that right? Well, when I got in, we had the fastest car between four cars, so I let the slowest guy run, then the next, then the next, and people got upset because I did that. That's how it should be. Why should I go out there, even though I was number one and just have nobody else in the club?
Allison Volk Dean:No. You did it the right way.
Tim Confel:I mean so, yeah, I took a gamble that I may not get in, because I let cars go that were capable, you know Right, and I ended up hurting myself because I did it that way. So then I had to re-qualify the car faster than what the record was, yeah, which was 219.
Allison Volk Dean:This is when you're getting in the club.
Tim Confel:Yeah in 89. My partner was all upset about it, but it's either going to happen or it's not. I mean it's not that. To some people it's the end all. To me it was. It didn't make any difference. The car's either going to run the number or it's not going to run the number. It's either going to make it three runs or it's not, and it's either going to. I'm either going to get in or I'm not, and if it's not this year, maybe I'll have to work harder and make it the next year. But I got lucky. The car ran 222, 222, 222.
Tim Confel:And I got in and then the people that protested then they felt sorry because they heard what happened and then they kind of felt bad. But it didn't, it didn't make a difference. I got in and it was meant to. It was meant for me to get in that year and it was meant for me to do it the way I did it.
Allison Volk Dean:So I don't have nothing that could be your lucky number there. Play lottery numbers like that 222, 222, 222.
Tim Confel:You know, everything just happened. Everything just worked out. Yeah, but then when we ran the all-wheel drive Roadster, nothing worked out. Mm-hmm.
Allison Volk Dean:Yeah, that's what I just was going to say, but you guys were going for a blue hat in that one.
Tim Confel:Yeah, you were going for a 300-mile-an-hour record Oof. Yeah, we wanted to be the first cast Roadster to run over 300. That's what we wanted.
Allison Volk Dean:It just didn't. Who's done it?
Tim Confel:Nobody has ever done it.
Allison Volk Dean:I was going to say has it been done yet?
Tim Confel:Yeah, They've done it. Robinson holds the record for an unblown fuel roadster at 311, I think, or 307. And then you had Davidson that has it with a blown fuel record. And then there's another roadster that's run, I think, one more that's run over 300.
Allison Volk Dean:Yeah.
Tim Confel:I think there's three roadsters, but all of them are either blown fuel or fuel roadsters. Yeah, nobody's ever done it on gas.
Allison Volk Dean:It has to be really hard. You guys are trying getting close. It is what, on gas, it has to be really hard. You guys are trying getting close, but it is what it is. It is what it is. Well, yeah, that's awesome. Is there anything else that you want to add? Any stories? Nope, I should get you and my dad down here telling stories. You guys were yapping it up, bringing up all sorts of different situations.
Tim Confel:Way back when. Yeah, your dad is an awesome, awesome guy.
Allison Volk Dean:Yeah.
Tim Confel:And I get a big smile on my face every time I see your dad because the conversations we've had, your dad is like God. He's great. He's like my partner Bob Noyce. Yeah, we can talk to him for hours about racing stuff. Oh yeah, and it's a lot of fun yeah.
Allison Volk Dean:You can talk to him for hours about racing stuff.
Tim Confel:Oh yeah, and it's a lot of fun. Yeah, he loves racing and we got a lot, a lot of we got a lot of a lot of friends that have Strasburgs.
Allison Volk Dean:Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, all those Strasburgs. Oh yeah, they're amazing. Yeah, I listen to my podcast with their interviews.
Tim Confel:You know, probably the funniest one is Lindsay.
Allison Volk Dean:Oh yeah, mm-hmm. Oh yeah, they're awesome.
Tim Confel:Mike. Mike is more laid back now. Jeff is still go, go, go, go, go.
Allison Volk Dean:Oh those guys, but they all.
Tim Confel:they all come from. I mean, that's a great family, yeah, People, but they all come from.
Allison Volk Dean:I mean, that's a great family of people, yeah, yeah yeah, all their wives are fun to hang out with and be around Mm-hmm Anita, her son, go-kart races. We pit next to him go-kart race with our kids.
Tim Confel:Yeah, because Anita's married to Jeff.
Allison Volk Dean:Yeah, yeah, and so we see them out there once in a while with our kids. Yeah, because Anita's married to Jeff. Yeah, yeah, and so we see them out there once in a while with the kids. And her little grandson's adorable that races too. But yeah, it's kind of fun, all the connections, just starting up the next generation here, getting them ready to race.
Tim Confel:That's it. Yeah, that's just fun. Look what your dad would do with you and your brothers.
Allison Volk Dean:Yeah, yeah, yeah, brothers, yeah, yeah, my yeah, we're getting ready to bring the well, megan dallas's daughter would be third generation. So racing? There's a few of them out there, but not a lot of third generation yeah, but they're driving other cars, not driving roadsters.
Tim Confel:Yeah, all you guys got into roadsters oh yeah, but the frutigers they're.
Allison Volk Dean:They're third generation and almost shane has a daughter that will be fourth generation if she races.
Tim Confel:Yeah, but yeah.
Allison Volk Dean:Yeah, roadsters are the coolest, I agree. Well, I appreciate you coming. Well, you're going back to California? Yeah, yeah, stop by. And my dad said, hey, I got an interview for you and I was like, great, I need one. So, yeah, thank you so much for taking the time, I appreciate it, yeah, not a problem.
Tim Confel:Always, Allison always.
Introduction:Thank you. Thanks for listening to Land Speed Legends. Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes. In the meantime, keep up with the show on Facebook and Instagram under Land Speed Legends. Until next time.