Not sure I picked the correct place

[garrell.770]

I wasn't sure where to start this thread but I want to tell you about something that I am very proud of and feel such a sense of accomplishment for:

Almost three years ago I suffered a very serious heart attack and had complications. My family says I never spoke except to say yes or no sometimes to a question, I could not walk and was in a wheelchair and could not care for myself. One morning I had ben rolled up to the breakfast table when I aked my Wife if she was married, at first she though I was joking around but when she realized I was serious she.... took me to my Neurologist and after testing he informed my family that I had suffered three strokes! I had total memory loss but after aboutsix months I came out of the fog and was aware of the world around me but I never regained my memory. One day I picked up a HotRod magazine from a stack that had accumilated and wound up reading it cover to cover including adds. There was an article about landspeed racing under the sanction of the East Coast Timing Asoc. at the Maxton Mile on a WW11 runway in Maxton,

[lgowen343]

OK. AND?

 

You got my attention.

[garrell.770]

I typed for another hour to share my story and everything seemed to work great and I onto post and I looked over the balance of my story if it is not somewhere else I will complete it again, it really is an inspiration and a tribute to the SS Silverados.

 

Garrell

[garrell.770]

I can't find the rest of my story that I lost so I will post the continuation now and speed up through the early part:

Doctors told my Wife I would never recover and wanted to bring Hospice in, around here Hospice is likened to the vultures circling, she refused and told the Doctors that when I got better I would not like that had happened. When I did come out of the fog the toughest part was that I did not remember such a devoted and loving Wife nor my two grown Daughters and when I had to study and name over and over the names of my five Grandchildren to remember who they were I would get very immontional. After I was more aware of my surroundings I started reading everything I could find and my wife ordered volumes of books. I read a story in HotRod Magaine about landspeed racing and the Maxton Mile that was sanctioned by the East Coast Timing Asoc. and there was a meet coming up in Sept. of 2011 and then the last ever Maxton met in Oct. after 16 yrs. I made my mind up then I would run in that Sept. met just for time and do the best I could. I ordered a rule book and determined that to run my 03 SS Silverado in production pickup would be the most logical decision for two run my 98 Corvette would require butchering it up with a lot of safty equipment involved. I got out of the wheelchair a year ago last Dec. after doing excruciating therapy exercizes I made up for myself for two hours every morning around 2am. I used a walker until last July I think and I now use my custom walking stick which I will have forever due to Parkinson's desease and Rheumatoid Arthritis.

During this time I was planning what I could do to my truck within the rules and ordering parts. I had become reaquainted with an old friend who operates his own HotRod shop. We installed a cold air system, reprogrammed the computer with a handheld programmer and changed al of the belts, hoses and changed the oil. Come Sept. my Brother in law who is my crew chief and myself were off. I made five runs I think experimenting coming off the line at different rpms and I ran a best of 125.6 mph then I was told that I was only one mph from breaking a five year old LS one mile record. On the way home we discussed what I could do to my truck if we were going back the next month, the clincher was when my 15 yr. old Grandson asked if I would go back because football practise would be over. I started thinking what I could do to pickup maybe two mph to be safe. We got the programmer out and raised the shift points to 5800 rpms and raised the rev limiter to 6200 rpms. A 15 mph headwind blowed allday Sat. and speeds were off two to seven mph. I thought early on Sun. am the wind might die down so we got there early and was the 12th vehicle waved off with still about a 8 mph headwind but I came off the line hard almost standing up in the seat pushing on the go pedal, my speedslip read 127.999 mph and I and my crew and my SS Silverado held a landspeed record!

The ECTA had signed a lease to hold meets at the Wilmington Ohio Airpark which I knew I would go there, then I started making plans to run at the inaugural Ohio Mile this past April. I set a goal for myself to run over 130 mph so I started researching what I could do to my truck and stay in the production pickup class which after checking references led me to Chris at Hunters Performance Solutions. First we installed 1:8 to 1 full roller rcckers with be hive valve springs and then heavy wall 3/8" pushrods just as a preventative measure, CNC ported the throttle body, installed remote controll cutouts dumping out in front of the mufflers and tailpipes. Then everything was topped off with a dyno tuneup for a + 60 additional hp.

When we arrived in Wilmington the temp was in the 40's with high winds and an 80% chance of rain on SAt. I was so afraid of six months of planning going down the drain without a run. We decided to get to the airport an hour before the gate was opened at 6am hoping to be in the top ten called over from the prestaged lanes to the staging lanes. There were many purpose built vehicles that would have to be cranked and pushed to the lines. Shortly after we got there cars, trucks and motorcycles started lining up behind us for a mile down the return road. When they called the first ten entrants over to the staging lanes they waved me to the starting line first. The starting line crew started checking my tires, belts helmut strap and the chief starter said" now aren't you the lucky dog, there are 25 mph constant cross winds with gust of 34 mph so don't you f.... up and spoil my show and hold it up while we pick you up. Finally after camera flashes stopped going off including HotRod Magazine according to my crew guys ( that doesn't mean they will use it in the magazine) the starter stood in front of me and pointed his finger, meanwhile I brakeheld the engine to 1500 rpms and was waved off. About 100 ft. off the line a gust of wind pushed me to the cones on the passenger side and I gradually pulled the truck back to the center of the track but having to constantly make steering corrections. I was worried that all of the moving around would scrub off speed and this might be my only run and I would not meet my goal. When I went down the return road to the time slip booth I could not help but hold my breath but when the lady opened the door and handed me my speed slip and I saw 132.027 and I knew if it started raining then I would have accomplished what I had come for. When I got to the registration office my two guys were waiting there, they had heard my speed on the p.a. system. At registration I paid my fee and I moved up one class hoping I could get another run in. When I got in line the rains came but after a two hour rain delay and a three hour wait in line I was at the starting line again but this time to gain a few more rpms down the track I brakeheld the truck to 2400 rpms. The wind was almost as bad and I pulled the whel a litle to the left of the center of the track. When I went through the timming traps I knew it had been a good run and when I picked up my speed slip it showed 133.869 not bad in a truck that weighed around 5800 lbs. with me in it and a wicked wind blowiing. I found out the next day that I had also set two more landspeed records. Not bad for a guy that was never supposed to be anything but a vegetable?

I said that would be my last trip and I would just dragrace close to home but I wonder what an intake change would do for my top speed?

 

Garrell Patterson

[gmJake]

http://bangshift.com/blog/event-coverage-hot-rod-magazine-top-speed-challenge-302-photos-from-the-ecta-ohio-mile.html

[garrell.770]

I had already checked those pictures out and my truck is not include, the event photographer got some good pics of vehicles going through the traps at top speed and does have them in the order they ran with my truck first:

www.photosonline.com click onto the motorsports site then scroll down the list of events and click on to the Ohio Mile. I have one inch webbing tie down straps at each corner of the tono. They loop over the tono cover latchs at six points and go through the loops in the truck bed floor and ratched down tight but check out the cover at about a foot behind the drivers side, there is a big bulge or bubble in the cover where evidently air was getting under it. You can look at it now and it tight with no streched area at all.

[gmJake]

No such site

[garrell.770]

Sorry, make that www.dwphotosonline.com then click onto motorsports photography then scroll down to the current events and click on to the Ohio Mile.

[gmJake]

http://dwphotos.photoreflect.com/store/ThumbPage.aspx?e=8499390&g=0U1C004L01

[garrell.770]

Did you see the bubble under the tonno cover.Other than the constant winds it was a great facility with the track as smooth as glass and there was probably over a thousand locals turned out to watch with the wind chill probably in the 20's and a litle rain off and on. Everyone involved with the event filled all of the motels/hotels in the area and the restaurants were full of us.

[gmJake]

Awesome pics

[canadianVRss]

That's sweet!

[The_aSSet]

That's pretty amazing, congrats

[f1ss]

Glad to see you doing better. Im very happy to hear your getting back into what you like.

Off topic, it might just be the camera angle, but your bumper looks a little bit higher than the rear corner cladding. Just trying to help you out sir! And continued luck on your recovery sir.

[gmJake]

The bumper does look a bit off.