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Over in the barren desert of El Mirage Lake, where entire bodies of water are left dry and the sun’s omnipresence scorches all forms of moisture, there is life. Once a month the Southern California Timing Association hosts speed tests in this desert playground where some of the world’s fastest drivers and most intuitive car engineers look to break land speed records.

The dried-up lake bed creates a solid, and perfectly flat landscape that stretches for miles. A perfect venue for those that like to test the limits of how fast a person can go. One such person is PCC photography Instructor Roland Percey.

Percey drives a customized and suped-up vehicle known as a gas modified sports car. Percey’s vehicle-of-choice? A 2002 Chevy Corvette, which at 3300 pounds has over 830 horsepower. “Everything’s custom. Actually the only thing ‘Corvette’ about this, is its body,“ Percey said.

Percey, has been teaching photography at PCC since 1995, and racing since the 1970s. On Sunday, he looked to improve his personal record of 209 m.p.h.—which is a feat that must be completed within one and a third miles.

“I don’t want us to go less than 200,” said Crew Chief Rick Haynes. “The car can go 200, but what will the driver do?” he jokingly added.

“I know for sure it’ll go 160,” asserted another crew member, Jim Wilson.

Despite the mixed predictions, Percey felt that if he could keep his revolutions per minute (RPM) up at 9500 through fifth gear he’d hit a speed that would eclipse the course record for his vehicle class of 220mph.

“Just trying to get my head into the sequence of things I need to do during the run,” Percey said a few moments before his race. “It’s got to be consistent, and hopefully we make the record. I mean, we’re always shooting for the record.”

At the starting line, I had the opportunity to sit in the push-truck—which, surprisingly, is a truck that pushes the racecar for the first few yards or so—and it allowed me a unique viewing experience of the race.
Both vehicle’s engines roared to life, their speeds in unison. After a few yards they were still bumper-to-bumper, then Percey’s Corvette reached a new gear, and made me realize I wouldn’t see the whole run, because Percey was going to drive off so fast that in mere moments the distance he’ll outgain the push-truck by will be further than the eye can see.

Percey hit a whopping 182 m.p.h. against a 20-mile headwind. The crew was ecstatic as they heard the results over the radio. The Corvette had had been experiencing handling problems after they had started to modify the chassis, and they were finally figuring out how to drive it after they had changed it.

“The drawback to this type of racing is it’s hard to get used to the idiosyncrasies of the car driving only once a month,” Percey said. “But that’s the nature of the game.”

But the 182 m.p.h posted was a much improved result, and the people at the event noticed. Other drivers and racing officials congratulated Percey and his crew. This spoke to the environment of the event. Everyone was easy-going, they all knew each other.

The crew is looking to get the Corvette back to its 200-plus m.p.h. triumph by August, when they’ll go to Utah in an event where drivers from around the world reach speeds of over 400 m.p.h. at Bonneville’s famous salt flats.

“Don’t wear shorts to Bonneville,” said crew Chief Haynes, speaking about Bonneville’s highly reflected salt surface. “You’ll burn your balls,” he joked.

The world of desert speed racing is pretty cool.

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