Valve cover racing in northeast Nebraska

SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb. (KOLN) – Throughout a visit to South Sioux Metropolis, we discovered in regards to the pastime of valve cowl racing, and the way one man has a race observe in his personal storage.

“We take valve covers from automobile engines, put wheels on them, after which we’ve a observe, and we run them down the hill,” Gravity Falls Racetrack proprietor Larry Doerr stated. Valve cowl racing is a bit like cleaning soap field derby, however on a a lot smaller scale. “It’s all the identical theories,” Doerr stated. “The longer the valve cowl, the farther the again wheels are up the hill, and the extra push you get. Weight is necessary, as are wheels and bearings.”

Doerr enjoys having guests come to his residence storage to participate in valve cowl racing occasions. “We have now wherever from 12 to 24 individuals come as soon as a month within the winter,” Doerr stated. “We run six races. It’s a superb get-together for the automobile guys as soon as a month.”

We requested Doerr how he obtained into this. “That they had it on the Good Man present in Des Moines,” Doerr stated. “That’s how I heard about it and obtained began. I constructed a observe simply to mess around with, and determined, nicely, so long as I’ve a observe, I would as nicely have races. We do a couple of summer season automobile reveals, and we do a giant race on the World of Wheels automobile present in Omaha. Our races contain adults, however we even have occasions for youths, particularly in the summertime.”

Folks appear to take valve cowl racing fairly severely. “Everyone makes their very own wheels, and weight placement is a giant deal,” Doerr stated. “On my observe, you need the burden within the again. The scale of the wheels issues, in addition to the burden of the wheels. You need pretty mild, exhausting wheels. You’ll be able to’t have metallic wheels. They need to be plastic, rubber or no matter. There’s a 10 pound weight restrict. And, the racer can solely be as much as 10 inches huge, 10 inches tall, and 30 inches lengthy. It’s the most affordable type of racing you’ll ever do.”

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