Napa’s Krider Racing has its own “hot rod bucket list” of things to accomplish.

• Destruction Derby, check — they won a heat at the State Championships last year.

• Road Racing, check — they won four races in a row at Infineon.

• Endurance Racing, check — they won the 24 Hours of LeMons at Altamont.

So what’s left? According to Rob Krider, what’s left is a dream he has had since he was a child — take a car to the land speed trials at the Bonneville salt flats.

Speed demons have been going out to the salt flats in Utah for years, trying to break records since 1914.

For nearly a century it has been man versus machine, and machine versus aerodynamics and the salt. For Krider Racing, the team’s goal is to get into a very exclusive club at Bonneville, the 150 mile-per-hour club.

Those who have run the salt know that 150 mph is not as easy as it sounds. The Bonneville salt flats are at an elevation of 4,219 feet above sea level, which means there isn’t much air for the car’s engine to feed on.

And though the smooth salt is good for high speed runs, the traction on such a surface is similar to wet pavement, which makes acceleration difficult.

Krider Racing didn’t have a racecar that was designed to run at high end speeds, but the local outfit did have an old 1973 Camaro Z28 that had been sitting in the side yard for a couple of decades.

The challenge would be to build the entire car from the ground up, test it on the chassis dyno at Performance In-Frame Tuning, tow it to Utah, and run over 150 miles on two separate runs on the salt to verify the record and make it into the club.

All of this would need to be done by mid-September, when the event is held at Bonneville.

With limited time — and an old car — this would not be an easy task.

It meant Krider Racing had to get its act together quickly.

Third Street Auto Repair was kind enough to allow the Krider Racing crew to take over its entire garage for a weekend to strip the Camaro down to racing weight.

Jeremy Berg and Jay Gelardi, two crucial members of Krider Racing’s pit crew, used their mechanical expertise to yank the motor out and tear it down. It only took them about two hours to get the engine out so that T.E.M. Machine Shop could do its magic to the motor.

All of the new power produced by the T.E.M. engine would surely destroy what was left of the Camaro’s tired transmission.

Marty at Napa Valley Transmissions built a bulletproof tranny to hold up to the upgraded power. Once the power goes through the new more powerful engine and new transmission, it has to be put down to the salt through some tires. The experts at B & G Tires determined the best diameter and rubber compound to get Krider Racing safely above to the magic 150 mark.

Because the old Camaro had been sitting in the elements for decades, rust had eaten away at the body and window seams. Miracle Auto Painting and Body Repair fixed and painted the body so that at 150 miles per hour, the rear window didn’t blow out or the roof fly completely off.

Miracle painted the car a sinister flat black to contrast the stark white of the salt. A six-point safety cage from I/O Port Racing Supplies was installed, and Napa Valley Muffler gave the car a high performance exhaust.

Rob Krider talked about the challenges of building a race car with limited prep time.

“In racing, it seems like everything comes down to the last minute. No matter how much planning and budgeting you do, you always forget something,” he said.

“Believe it or not, we’ve been so busy trying to make this Camaro fast we haven’t upgraded the brakes on this car yet and it still doesn’t have a radiator.”

New brakes might be a good thing to upgrade if your plan is to go over three times the speed limit.

Rob’s father, Napa City Councilman Jim Krider, talked about his son’s obsession with speed.

“He and his brother Randy are committed to this project. It wouldn’t surprise me if next year they’re trying to go 200. And they are building this car alongside our other race car, which is scheduled to run for 24 hours in a road race in Buttonwillow in August. They are running out of nights and weekends to get both of the cars ready.”

But the younger Krider is determined to answer the bell.

“Both cars will be ready,” Rob Krider replied. “It’s always close, but with help from all of the local Napa businesses, we somehow get the job done.”

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