Driver escapes serious injury in Silver State crash
Revelers at the Hotel Nevada & Gambling Hall enjoyed a street party and the Silver State Classic Challenge parade on Friday afternoon.
Local rockers Damn Skippy pounded out high-decible music to compete with the reving engines of the passing road machines.
One of the cars drawing the most attention from the crowd was a 2002 Nissan 350Z, which was specially built for ultra, high-speed competition. It was piloted by Daijiro Inada, publisher of OPTION magazine - a popular automotive publication in Japan. Inada has driven in the Silver State Classic Challenge before and on the Bonneville Salt Flats.
The Japanese top-speed driver has set a goal.
He plans to break the current top speed for a motor vehicle on a public highway listed in the Guiness Book of World Records. Inada has set a five-year program to improve his performance and eventually break the Guiness record. He plans to do that during a running of the Silver State Classic Challenge on State Route 318.
Race promoter Phil Henry told the Ely Times, Inada's first try at the record came close to being his last. Inada rolled the Nissan and didn't finish the race.
Henry said, after the accident, the driver told him he was traveling at 200 mph when he heard something go pop. Inada backed off the gas fearing something had broken. As the car slowed to about 150 mph, one of the tires suddenly shredded. That forced the speeding car off the paved highway. The car over-turned seven times.
Amazingly, Inada didn't appear to receive any serious injuries in the rollover - to compete, vehicles must be equipped with high-endurance tires, safety webs, seat belts and roll bars and the drivers wear fire-resistant body suits and crash helmets.
Nonetheless, race officials insisted Inada get a check up. His helicopter flew him to William Bee Ririe Hospital in Ely. Henry said the last time he saw the disappointed driver, he had left the hospital in a wheelchair and was shaking his fist at the heavens, vowing to return for next September's race.
Inada didn't have to worry that anyone else would break the Guiness record this race. The top average speed was logged by Mike Powers in a 1993 Chevrolet Camaro at 186.0908 mph, well below the 207.7801 mph record