BILL’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE AT THE NEVADA OPEN ROAD CHALLENGE

Frequent contributor and longtime friend of DCX Bill Bennett had a big month leading up to this issue. It started off with a road trip to central Florida to visit Don Garlits’ Museum of Drag Racing, which included a sit-down with Big Daddy himself! (See page 32) Bill is not one to miss out on any opportunity for automotive adventure, so after a couple weeks back home he was off again—this time caravanning from his home in Southern California to Nevada for his birthday—but not for anything so mundane as gambling in Vegas. Nope, Bill was entered into the Nevada Open Road Challenge—the springtime event for the Silver State Classic—the world-famous high-speed open-road race held near Ely, Nevada. (Diecast fans may know the Silver State Classic races—which are held on a remote stretch of Nevada highway outside of Ely—as the events that helped originate the legend of the famous Outlaw 1969 Camaro “Big Red” that GMP made in 1:18.)

Bill’s ride for the event was a 2016 Dodge Challenger Hellcat owned and driven by Bob Dietrich, while Bill manned the stopwatches (they had three!) and other timing equipment as navigator. Bob is a five-time veteran of Silver State events but this was Bill’s first run. They proved to be a formidable duo, handily winning the 100mph class and missing their target average speed by less than 1% over the entire 120-mile race length. Bill and Bob competed as members of multi-car Team GT (for “Good Times”), and the two are already making plans to defend their class win at the September race!

Bill (left) and Bob celebrate their NORC 100mph class win at the awards banquet with trophy presenter Maggie Wines, Ely’s White Pines High School Senior Class President.

Bill Bennett and Bob Dietrich on their way to a class win in the 2021 Nevada Open Road Challenge. (Photo by Wayne M. White courtesy of Racecardriverposters.com)

With 707hp from the factory the 2016 Hellcat they raced already had plenty of raw speed, but owner Bob Dietrich added a Hurst front splitter for stability and a trick roll bar from Carlin Fabrication for safety.