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CALIFORNIA - USA Gail Watson Phillips      My name is Gail Watson Phillips and I live in a small town called Pismo Beach along the coast of California, half way between Los Angeles and San Francisco.  It is similar to the town and area of Victor Harbor in South Australia, where my husband and I have recently purchased a home where we hope to live part of each year.  This will allow us to participate in Landspeed racing with the Dry Lakes Racers Australia (DLRA) and to help promote the sport. I am semi-retired (55 yrs young) from an internationally known company that specializes in helping people with various learning difficulties, especially teaching them to read. Background: Landspeed racing holds the fastest speed trials in the world.  This is where wheel driven vehicles can go over 450 MPH and jet cars go over 750 MPH.  There are few places in the world where this kind of racing can take place due to the distances traveled (1.3 to 7 miles), and surfaces flat and smooth enough to allow these speeds to be attempted.  The best known venues are the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, the Dry Lakes of El Mirage in Southern California, and Lake Gairdner in South Australia. This is my sport and P.O.P Motorsports is my racing team.  I have been driving and setting Landspeed records for over ten years, both in the U.S. and Australia.  I was the seventh women inducted into the prestigious Bonneville 200 MPH Club (1999) and the first female to be inducted into the Dry Lakes Racers Australia 200 MPH Club (2001). I currently hold 6 World Records in the class of E (engine size 258 cubic inch)/Modified sports (gas and fuel), driving a highly modified 1959 Austin Healey Sprite.   In August of 2006 I set a new E/GT (Grand Touring) record of 190 MPH at Bonneville in a 1999 Corvette – breaking a record that had stood for 28 years!            Future Goals: I hope to become the first female to set a Landspeed record over 300 MPH in a wheel driven streamliner in Australia.  As a female racer holding 6 World Records I hope to bring a unique perspective and more public awareness, interest and participation to this amazing sport in Australia, especially for woman.  To accomplish this my race team would not only be racing at the DLRA’s annual meet in March, but also attending and participating in Motorsports events and car shows throughout the year, putting one or both of our race vehicles on display along with promotional material regarding the DLRA organization.  Although the Bonneville Salt Flats is the most well-known location and often the unrealized dream of many motorsports enthusiasts, especially from Australia, Lake Gairdner is becoming known as a great location to attempt Landspeed records as well and many Americans have shipped vehicles to AU to participate in the annual March DLRA racing event.  We would wish to continue to encourage U.S. racers to attend the DLRA event, as well as more Australian racers to realize their dream of someday racing at Bonneville, the pinnacle of Landspeed racing. Even though this type of racing occurs in venues in that are often difficult to reach for the general public, I have been fortunate that my racing accomplishments have been covered by various TV media (Hot Rod TV on the Speed Channel and World of Wheels TV show on the Travel Channel in the U.S., and ABC News and 60 Minutes in Australia), and newspaper and magazine articles have been written in the U.S. and AU as well.  All of this coverage helps to increase the public’s awareness and knowledge of this unique sport and should continue as our race vehicles arrive in AU and new records are attempted.   Vehicle Information: #1    Body Class:  Modified Sports – 1959 Austin Healey Sprite         Engine Size: E – Small block Chevrolet 258 C.I. Records: 1997        163.44 MPH Muroc Reunion Edward Air Force Base 1997        179.62 MPH Bonneville Speed Week 1999        202.09 MPH Bonneville Speed Week               7th Woman inducted into Bonneville 200 MPH Club 1999           173.34 MPH El Mirage Dry Lake, Mojave Desert 2000           171.10 MPH Muroc Reunion Edward Air Force Base 2001           205.53 MPH Lake Gairdner, South Australia 2004           205.98 MPH Bonneville World of Speed (w/Nitrous)   #2    Body Class:    Grand Touring – 1999 Chevrolet Corvette         Engine Size: E – Small block Chevrolet 258 C.I.         (also C and D engine sizes with various C.I. requirements)     Record:      2006  190 MPH Bonnville Speed Week   #3    Body Class:  Streamliner – Custom hand-formed aluminum body Engine Sizes: C - Small block Chevrolet 372 C.I. Goal Speeds:  Over 300 MPH   My fastest speed to date:  215 MPH with 20% Nitrous in Vehicle #1 Current Landspeed License: A Level - allows for speeds up to 250 MPH (E-125MPH, D-150MPH, C-175MPH, B-200MPH, A- 250MPH, AA- 300+)   Club Memberships: Bonneville Nationals, Inc.  (BNI) Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) Gold Coast Roadster and Racing Club (GCRR) Utah Salt Flats Racing Association (USFRA) Dry Lakes Racers Australia (DLRA)  Australian Women's Motorsport Network (AWMN)   Websites related to Landspeed racing: www.scta-bni.org       www.dlra.org.au www.oilstick.com www.landracing.com            Back to main profile page

 

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