Rain in the afternoon put an end to the Silver State Challenge Race on between Lund and Hiko on SR 318 Sunday afternoon. The race had already been delayed for several hours due to the fatal crash of driver Phil Bowser.
Race spokesman Dave Schueler said Bowser was in the 145 mph class, one of the more popular race categories.
About 140 contestants from around the U.S. and several foreign countries normally participate.
Speed categories range from 95 mph to Unlimited. However, Schueler said the 150 mph class is the most competitive. All contestants are racing against the clock, and attempt to try to meet the exact speed in their class over the length of the course. However much time they are off the time for that speed determines who gets first, second, third, and so on, in that category.
For example, in the 150 mph class, Chris McQuay and Doug Beattie in a 2004 BMW M3 were only 8-tenths a second faster than Ted Zaleski in a 2009 Chevy Corvette, and only 1.1 seconds separated the first eight finishers. Schueler said, “In that class, if you’re even one second off, you’ll end up being five or six places back.”
The 110 mph class, the fastest class that a first timer can be in, Schueler said, Brian Duncan, driving a 1972 Mustang, was 1-100th of second faster than Lisa Liu and Nancy Allen in a 1986 Mustang.
The afternoon classes of 160 mph and above were cancelled because of bad weather that moved into the area about 20-25 miles south of Lund. “It was in torrents and some hail,” Schueler said. “We watched it go around us, as we were stopped at the rest stop south of Lund and could see the heavy weather to the south of us.”
