20th International Automotive Media Awards

“Fuel for Thought”

Published in Goodguys Goodtimes Gazette

Gold to Louise Ann Noeth

The 20th International Automotive Media Competition concluded June 20, 2011, with the presentation of the 2010 International Automotive Media Awards (IAMAs). The event was held at the Automotive Hall of Fame, Dearborn, Michigan, in conjunction with the North American Concept Vehicles Awards. This was the fourth year of the combined awards program: IAMAs and NA Concept Vehicle Awards. The program and the venue received numerous compliments.

The International Automotive Media Competition, a function of the International Society for Vehicle Preservation, is a peer-judged awards program to recognize excellence in all forms of automotive media. Judging of entries for this year’s IAMA honors was conducted among works presented during calendar-year 2010. The competition recognizes work done in print, online, video, radio, and public relations or marketing campaigns. Gold, silver, and bronze “foundation” awards are the result of peer judging against an absolute 100-point standard. For example, Gold medal entries earned between 97-100 points in the competition. Each work is judged on its own merits against a scale. Entries must meet a minimum standard to qualify for an award. If no entry in a category meets the minimum standard, no award is given. The entries do not compete each other and are only judged by the quality of the work. Some categories have multiple winners of the same award while other categories might not have a winner even though entries were submitted. Simply entering work in a category does not guarantee an award or that the entry will even be recognized.The IAMA program is administered by the International Society for Vehicle Preservation, based in Tucson, Arizona.

FUEL FOR THOUGHT has provided readers with updates and feature articles on the sport of land speed racing through the Goodguys Gazette on a monthly basis for the past nine years.

May 28, 2011, Indianapolis Motor Speedway– The 2010 All American Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) Contest winners were announced at the annual breakfast held in the shadow of  the famed racetrack’s turn two. Now in its fourth decade, the annual competition attracts entries from across the nation as well as from around the world.

“LandSpeed” Louise Ann Noeth has earned two first place finishes: the first for Magazine Column Writing and the second for Magazine Technical Writing.  Both honors were awarded for her long-running, monthly Fuel For Thought column in the Goodguys Gazette.  “Attitude, Gratitude, and Talking Race Cars” which ran in December 2010 earned the Magazine Column Writing top slot in the nation. For the Magazine Technical category win it was the January 2010 column, “Brain-Bucket Beef,” that judges gave the nod.  

AARWBA President Ms. Dusty Brandel noted,  “I  loved to see the lady journalists finally getting proper recognition for all their hard work.” In the male dominated motorsports world it is significant to note that women swept all three slots in Online News Reporting, finished one-two in three other categories and earned a total of 17 “podium” finishes overall for 2010.

When it comes to “car films” you can count really great ones on one hand. Add Boys of Bonneville to that hand. This wonderfully crafted documentary has absorbing historic footage combined with a fine cross-section of folks who speak with authority (Hugh Coltharp, Gordon E. White) and sometimes only awe (Jay Leno) about David Abbot (Ab) Jenkins (1883-1956) whom many steadfastly believe is the “Father of salt racing and his son, Marv Jenkins.

It was Ab’s dogged determination that put the Bonneville Salt Flats on the international racing map, not to mention the hundreds of speed marks he set there proving the salt’s worth.

Considering his limited resources, Jenkins racked up remarkable achievements. What distinguished him from his contemporaries was his precise use of local, “tribal” salt knowledge and unlimited guts. He was a deeply religious man who put his faith in God, and by God, he went far.

Jenkins was often oxymoronically called “The World’s Safest Speedster” because he set more world records than any other driver, past or present, yet he was prouder of his million-mile “no accident” street driving record than all his speed and endurance records combined. His watchwords were simple: Safety First.

Moreover, the vintage film footage shows first-hand what a relaxed champion he was — exiting his Bonneville Salt Flats racing machines after a grueling 24-hour endurance run as though he were climbing out of a limousine on Broadway.

It took several decades later to topple Jenkins exhausting, 48-hour endurance record. As for the marks that have fallen, it required the efforts of several drivers compared to Jenkins single-man driving shows. However, many still remain intact today.

One-time considered Utah’s “one-man public relations machine,” Jenkins racing fame got him elected Mayor of Salt Lake in 1940 without ever giving a speech, or spending a nickel on a campaign. He served until 1944.

Ab Jenkins was the certainly the first person catch “salt fever” and luckily he passed it on to succeeding generations with a need for speed. When Jenkins died at age 76, on August 9, 1956, the world was a little slower for him having done so.

If the film has one flaw, it failed to clearly document that it was Jenkins and his son Marv’s super human driving efforts on behalf of General Motors Pontiac Motor Division that caused the executives to name the new V8 Fuel Injected 1957 model “Bonneville” when the pair set dozens of speed marks out on the salt. It is the only car in the world that “earned” its name and not simply “given” its name.

If it was a matter of total run time at stake, the comments from Donald Davidson would never be missed giving viewers another sumptuous morsel of achievement from two ordinary men who did extraordinary things.

Land speed racing continues today on the flats, it is an iconic slice of what remains of American frontier life, great daring-do with all the ponies now under the hood.

When writing my book, Bonneville Salt Flats, I was privileged to be given unrestricted access by the Jenkins family to their personal files and photo collection. I spent several days in Noma and Marv’s in St. George, Utah home researching the the early days of the sport going through Ab’s entire career. It was a phenomenal collection of documentation, photos, letters and personal commentary of the era.

I came away thinking, “there ought to be a film made about these two” and now there is. Although the Jenkins name has faded away in motor sports, Director Curt Wallin has done a masterful job in resetting the consciousness level together with great editing and well-paced, informative writing that even a Hampton Socialite would be happy miss a nail appointment to see the film.

The film will be shown on the big screen in Wendover, Utah during the 2011 Speedweek and Pebble Beach in Carmel, CA,  the following week as well as during a variety of  film festivals, but will not be put into general distribution for too many reasons I won’t bore you with here. For more information about screenings near you, or how to buy the DVD, navigate to: http://www.boysofbonneville.com

In the spirit of transparency, you’ll see my mug, or hear my voice in the film a few times. My only regret is not taking time to “powder my nose” before Wallin and crew filmed my interview at the Indianapolis Speedway Museum. Consequently, I look like I have just been dragged through the hedge backwards after spending a day in Gasoline Alley running around with Paula Murphy and Andy Granatelli (the guy makes the Energizer bunny look like  slug).

The officials from the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) and the Bonneville Nationals, Inc. (BNI) who together — for more than 60 years –have produced the world famous Bonneville time trials each August  selected “LandSpeed” Louise Ann Noeth’s photo of the Speed Demon Streamliner for the the 2010 Speedweek Press Pass. All members of the media who intend to cover the thrilling week-long event will be required to register with the SCTA media office to obtain the coveted credential.

When journalists finish a piece of work there is a sense of relief, to be done and to have accomplished something that will be of value to others. how many others is always a mystery. When the work is published there is a small bit of pride seeing the work placed into the public forum. When readers respond — with praise or criticism, it is bonus, a chance to take a measurement of value, worth and direction.

The big leap is entering the work into competition. Peer review can be as merciless and stinging as it is uplifting and rewarding. The point is, the journalist takes the chance, puts themselves out for critical inventory of where they stand in their craft. Oh sure, some competitions have silly judges who allow personal emotions to factor into their decisions thereby rendering the awards pointless.

Through the years, I have only entered those competitions where my writing, photography, design work and publicity efforts would be given fair, serious review. Where I place provides me with a litmus test of the work, of whether or not I might be slacking off and resting on some laurels. If so, I can kick my own butt to knuckle down and do better. It looks like 2009 was one of those years. I collected five awards, four for writing and one for photography, but not one merited a first place.  This isn’t ego crying out here. I understand that there were many submitted works that failed to place at all. In some categories the judges gave no award, ouch!

The idea is if I take up the readers time it damn well ought to be well worth it. If my peers don’t think so then I need to examine the reason why. Of course, no judge in a competition can tell how a particular work resonates with each reader, and I so often hear words of encouragement form readers that I understand that my work, especially chronicling the events and people in land speed racing, is appreciated and has value to many.  In the end, I want my work to be real, raw, current and above all — accurate. When I take on historical work, the accuracy is the driving force, the point of the entire exercise.

I thought it might be interesting to make all of you judges and see how comments compare to the professional reviews. Below are the links to each of the articles and the photo. Give a read and a look and then give my a piece of your mind. I’d dearly appreciate your feedback on these winners.

American Auto Racing Writers Broadcasters Association

2009 Third Place – Web Log Entry – “Jesse James Isn’t a Dead Man, Just a Brazen Liar”  – website

http://www.landspeedproductions.biz/jesse-james-false-claims-of-world-recor.html

2009 Third Place – Magazine Column Writing – “The First of His Kind” – Goodguys Gazette

http://www.landspeedproductions.biz/wp-content/uploads/FFT_July09.pdf

2009 Second Place – Photography – “Inspiration’s Record Run”, www.landspeedproductions.biz

http://www.landspeedproductions.biz/worlds-fastest-kettle-gets-its-steam-on.html

19th Annual International Automotive Media Competition

Magazine column writing/series – Third Place – Fuel For Thought | June, July, November

http://www.landspeedproductions.biz/wp-content/uploads/FFT_June09.pdf

http://www.landspeedproductions.biz/wp-content/uploads/FFT_July09.pdf

http://www.landspeedproductions.biz/wp-content/uploads/FFT_Nov09SteamCar.pdf

Internet Blog – Investigative -  Second place – “Jesse James Isn’t a Dead Man, Just a Brazen Liar” -www.landspeedproductions.biz

http://www.landspeedproductions.biz/jesse-james-false-claims-of-world-recor.html

Back in California I had the happy duty to volunteer as a judge and speaker for a variety of camera clubs, county fair photo competitions and school events.  Moving to the St. Louis area, it was starting from scratch in terms of local “tribal knowledge” and I’ve come to adore my GPS  like Lewis and Clark must have loved their compass.

It takes awhile to immerse ones self in the local culture. A few months ago I read a news item on an exhibition by the St. Louis Camera Club and gave them a ring to see if I might be of service to the group. Not just another quaint bunch of hobbyist photographers, I was bowled over to discover this was the second oldest camera club in the United States,  only four years short 100 active years! Only the New York Camera Club is older. The group has more than 500 members and meets not once a month, but once a week attracting a full room every seven days. That means plenty of volunteer coordination and personal time by the five program chairs (color, nature, photo travel, photojournalism,prints)  to dream up topics and seek out speakers. Besides the executive board and directors, there are 18 fully staffed committees and a well-designed website: www.stlcameraclub.com.

It was to this august body of visual enthusiasts that I trotted out my presentation on land speed racing talking about what goes on at Bonneville, but focused on the 1997 Supersonic Showdown in the Black Rock Desert between the British and Americans. As usual, most of the audience didn’t have a clue about the sport so it was a delight to give ‘em peek at the world’s fastest fun and games.

In the second half of the evening, I judged several competitions — very difficult because the club has some damned talented shooters in the ranks.  Afterwards, about a dozen folks invited me out for desert and/or drinks at a nearby watering hole. A real friendly and gracious bunch. I have been already invited back to give another talk in January on Bonneville and class racing. When the unsolicited letter of thanks came I thought it would be interesting to share the experience with all of you.

Land speed racing has a long and storied heritage, much like the American wild west, but all the ponies are under hood these days. Mostly unknown outside automotive and motor sports circles, my presentations offer an intimate perspective into “go fast” Americana  where the “can do” spirit finds ordinary people doing extraordinary things.  Men and women, young and old,  the highly skilled next to the mighty lucky, put on a boisterously brilliant mechanical circus set on sparkling white salt laboratory where dreams come true on a certified time slip. With each run, the question is answered, time and time again:  How fast will it go?

If you have a school, club or business gathering that might get a kick out of learning a bit about the worlds’ fastest cars, trucks and motorcycles, get in touch with me through his website and we can discuss how to bring the stirring spirit of high-speed adventures to your group. I always have such an incredibly good time doing these shows. From a giant, packed room at Roush Racing, the overflowing main lecture hall at Ferris State University, colleges, high schools and primary schools to the keynote luncheon speaker for the Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC), numerous SAE chapters across the country as well as museums around the world, bringing the sport of land speed to the public is rewarding as it is enjoyable.

The Southern California Chapter of the Society of Automotive Historians announced the winner of the 2009 James Valentine Memorial Award is “LandSpeed” Louise Ann Noeth, Goodguys Goodtimes Gazette columnist and author of Bonneville Salt Flats. The award for periodicals is granted for Excellence in Automotive Historical Research was presented for her October 2008 column “The Science of Speed”

“The thing which impressed me about the article,” explained Chapter Director Bob Ewing, “was the importance of the physical records. Lots of people have anecdotes to relate about who did what and when, but to have actual physical evidence of the event years after it was over is something else again. A real human touch to the whole story.

The Valentine Memorial Award is named for the late J.H. Valentine, at one time the recognized authority of automobiles built in Los Angeles. Always a strong supporter of the Southern California Chapter SAH, Valentine devoted his life to accurately compiling nearly insignificant data on early automobiles one by one. With no chance of personal wealth, he ensured that future historians would have a large quantity of priceless material. The Valentine Award honors authors whose automotive historical research is linked to people and events in California, but does not preclude significant historical milestones anywhere in the world.

“Walt Sheehan is virtually unknown in land speed racing circles, yet he was directly responsible for all five of Craig Breedlove’s World Land Speed Records” said author Noeth of the winning column, “I am forever grateful to the Goodguys Gazette for providing monthly space the past seven years enabling me to tell wonderful stories of the worlds fastest cars, trucks and motorcycles. The Society of Automotive Historians Southern California Chapter humbles me with the honor.”

Noeth was first honored by her fellow SAH SoCal members when she was awarded the Valentine for her book: Bonneville Salt Flats in 2002. Known to her readers as “Landspeed Louise,” she became the first recipient of the award to be honored for both a book and an article in a periodical. “What’s an FIA World Land Speed Record Worth?“, which appeared in the Goodguys Goodtimes Gazette in October 2004, recounts her efforts to spur the FIA, which is nominally responsible for land speed record keeping as well as other aspects of motor sports, to officially recognize the efforts of competitors before they passed away. She again took periodicals top honors in 2006 with the September 2005 FUEL FOR THOUGHT column “Speedy Thoughts From Wally Parks”

To download a PDF of the winning article:

http://www.landspeedproductions.biz/media/FFT_Oct08.pdf

Despite numerous irrefutable facts to the contrary, TV’s Jesse James continues to claim he set a World Land Speed Record with the old The Dees/Milodon Engineering/Davis B Streamliner that was reworked to accept a hydrogen-gulping V8.

There was no record. In my opinion, Mr. James is a simply a brazen liar who cheats all those good men and women who have for decades honestly laid it on the line to ink a spot in the record books.
The claim of besting BMW’s FIA ratified hydrogen-powered World Record Speed Record on June 16th on the southern California El Mirage dry lake is without merit since the activities were conducted without benefit of any motorsports sanctioning authority.

I have verified that James never made application for a record attempt to ANY sanctioning authority anywhere in the USA or Europe. That’s like saying you won the Indy 500 without bothering to qualify for one of the 33 starting spots.

The vehicle, engine and fuel system was never inspected, documented or certified by any recognized motorsports authority. The timing personnel, Chronologic Timing, of North Tustin, CA, are independent contractors misrepresented by James as “SCTA timers.”

The Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) is the leading land speed racing authority in the United States demanded its name be removed from any of James’ activities and has obtained retractions from noted publications on this point.

The baseless speed stunt was reportedly for “the season-ending episode of James’s TV show, Jesse James is a Dead Man. The episode was set to air in early August. I have written to Spike TV executives informing them of the lie and asking that it not be perpetuated in the upcoming episode. I have not been given the courtesy of a reply.

James hired land speed race Mike Cook Motorsports to rework the old streamliner to accept a 572-cubic-inch twin-turbo Chevrolet big block. It is puzzling that Cook, a noted and successful land speed racer, would align himself with such disingenuous racing activity.

World Land Speed Records require two runs over a one-mile course within one hour. Any world record holder will tell you it’s quite a technical feat to hold speed for a full mile. James was 5,148 feet short. According Chronologic, the car was timed only one-way for a total of 132 feet and made only three or four passes in an eight to ten-hour period.

Mr. James efforts count for absolutely nothing on the world motorsports stage and amount to little more than a self-promoting “TV racer” PR stunt since he chose to ignore the sport’s sanctioning rules that have applied to all racers and certified records for the past 80 years.

James claims to have bested the FIA ratified BMW HR2 record of 185 mph. The internal combustion engine BMW set 9 international and FIA-ratified land-speed records for hydrogen cars at the Miramas Proving Grounds in France. He did not.

“He can claim whatever he wants” said an amused Tom Kowaleski, VP of BMW Corporate Communications, “We own the ratified FIA World Record.”

So why am I so upset about all this? Simple. The bedrock of land speed racing is the record. Every single event held anywhere in the world has at its nucleus only one prize – the chance to set a speed record.

There is no purse, no money, and people in the sport race for personal satisfaction, for honor, and good-natured bragging rights.

The honestly attempted, and sincerely earned, place in the history books decrees the driver was cognizant of the rules, played fair and triumphed over the clocks with their chosen speed machine — that their ideas, their efforts and their hopes were realized in earnest upon a simple piece of paper called a time slip.

A record is the truth about an act of driving courage. A record creates a trust in the record holder, the sanctioning body and those who labored for the honor. A record must always imply a lack of deceit.

The James press release was given to sponsors who posted the false record claim on their websites and some sent out press releases of their own. One sponsor went so far as to use the false claim as part of a implied solicitation for stock investment. That really got me torqued and I called the company’s ethics hotline and the SEC to file a formal complaint. Luckily, I was able to convince the company directors to realized they had been hoodwinked which made any association to the claim a serious ethics violation. The company promptly removed all such claims from its website and stopped further press release distribution. It cost them $15,000. in legal fees to sort out James lying mess.

Jim Miller, racer, SCTA/BNI volunteer and official is also upset; he believes the events following the fraudulent announcement have blighted the land speed racing community in other ways. He said,

“It started innocently, a TV show personality going out to El Mirage with a car and running faster than an established record. Before you know it his PR guys are saying it’s a world record. To top it off it was inferred that that the runs were sanctioned by the S.C.T.A. Both are false.

Then the fun began. The S.C.T.A. President sent out a reply that the S.C.T.A. wasn’t involved with the runs. Then more e-mails started flying about saying that the rules don’t matter and that running over the record makes him king of the hill.

I probably got 10 e-mails within an hour from different parties at odds with each other over the happening. To add insult to injury name calling has taken place. What’s embarrassing is that it’s all taking place in our public forum called the internet.

The S.C.T.A. prides itself in being a family sport and the name calling makes us all look like a bunch of children and once again contributes to the hot rodders image of being bad boys.

A photo is circulating showing said car and crew celebrating their run. Instead of pointing their index finger in the air to signify being number one, they are all “flipping the bird.” Maybe I’m out of touch but I think this brings a bad image to land speed racing. I for one will in the future decline to even go near the car as an S.C.T.A. worker.”

Anyone who knows Miller will tell you he is one of the most easy to get along with guys you’ll ever meet. That he takes such a stand gives you an idea of the gravity of the situation.

Were James to claim he didn’t know any better it would be a deli case full of baloney. Andrew Berg, a producer of the James’ television show contacted me via email many months ago asking for my help to understand the sport, its rules and regulations for record setting. I spent more than an hour on the phone with the guy explaining in detail what was required to set a national and world record.

I offered, as I have to countless other LSR neophytes, to help out in any way I could to make the team’s first experience in the sport rewarding. I never heard from Berg again.

When I contacted Mr. James to explain the fraudulent claim, he responded with a short crude retort that reminded this writer that vulgarity is indeed the refuge of a destitute mind. James’ crude behavior was then spewed at S.C.T.A. officials.

This reflected badly on the member club he joined. The LSR Car Club moved quickly to vote James “a member not in good standing” which simply means he will not be allowed to race at an S.C.T.A. El Mirage dry lakes event until the matter is resolved.

I have never met Mr. James, never want to, yet hope he will rectify this whole sordid affair by playing fair and show the world what his machine is honestly capable of doing, if not for himself, then for his team who doubtless put in a great deal of effort developing the alternate fuel car.

Until then, I remain outraged that this TV personality dares to claim fraternity with those people who, in some cases, have given their lives in pursuit of a World Land Speed Record.

SIDE BAR
Jesse James apparently has some history of distorting simple truths. Eric James, of the James Preservation Trust, represents the descendants of the wild west outlaw Jesse James, also weighed in on the TV James claim stating:

“The celebrity Jesse James has built a record for himself of snubbing authorities, in his vainglorious effort to personify himself as some imaginary kind of outlaw.
Spike TV’s promotion for Jesse James is a Dead Man announces that Jesse James is a direct descendant of the outlaw Jesse James. This in fact is a falsehood and misrepresentation. Mr. James has been invited to prove his claim to the James family, to which he professes to belong. He never has done so. Instead, he continues to falsely misrepresent himself.
Now Mr. James claims to have broken a land speed record. Once more, Jesse James rebukes authentication by reputable authorities to support his claim. The only record Mr. James can produce is a record of misrepresentation and falsehood, for which he is becoming well noted.”