UVSC team revs up for Salt Flats

OREM — Utah Valley State College students and an automotive professor will test their research and development abilities in the upcoming Utah Speed Week at the Bonneville Salt Flats.

The professor, Todd Low, plans to race his custom vehicle, a 1969 Chevrolet El Camino, in an attempt to break the land speed record in its class.

Low is just one of the many speed enthusiasts from around the world expected to try to break land-speed records of their vehicles, a UVSC spokeswoman said. Speed Week starts today and concludes Aug. 18.

The cars race against the clock, not each other. Low's El Camino, a three-year project, is in the Classic Coupe Class and the Double A engine class.

"I got the idea that I wanted to race in Speed Week about three years ago and have been working on my car ever since," Low said. "It is just something that I have always wanted to do."

Students from Low's high-performance engine class have also been heavily involved in the research and development of this project. His pit crew includes 15 of his students.

Students also refurbished and painted the car that started out as a "rusted out old El Camino. It was an ugly car," Low said.

"Some students not attending my class actually heard what we were doing and wanted to get involved as well," he said.

Not only does the experience look good on a resume, it's also been exciting to work on a racing vehicle, student Kevin Petersen of Orem said.

"The whole idea of high performance is to get the perfect air to fuel mixture," he said.

That knowledge, which leads to better fuel mileage, can then be used on everyday vehicles. Having that knowledge will boost his ability to find a job in his chosen field, Petersen said.

The El Camino they are working on sports a fresh coat of green paint and black stripes with a UVSC Wolverine logo outlined in yellow on the side.

A 505-cubic-inch big block Chevy engine transfers power to the upgraded rear end and custom tires.

The car has already hit 135 mph in a mile stretch on the salt flats, but Low and his students believed they could make it go faster. The bigger engine should do that in a class with little competition, he said.

"If I can hit 160 miles per hour, I'll beat the record," Low said.

His goal is 200 mph.