Possible new world record is now in the hands of Guinness
It’s not over ’til it’s over, they say in baseball, and in the universe of the Guinness Book of World Records, it isn’t a world record ’til the Guinness folks say it is.
Mason Gonzales, 10, and his grandfather, Tim Trevitt, set a Hot Wheels car down this Loop-the-Loop track in an attempt to set a new world record. It appears the dynamic duo succeeded.But Glen Chase, a co-founder of Hope Wheels, said he believes the grandfather/grandson team of Tim Trevitt and Mason Gonzales, 10, beat their previous world record of 19 loop-the-loops with a Hot Wheels car and set an even larger world record right here in Susanville Saturday, Sept. 2 at the T-Mobile parking lot.
Chase said they’re still reviewing the video footage of the event, but it looks like one of the Hot Wheels cars they let roll down a long ramp of loop-the-loop track from the roof of the T-Mobile building completed 28 or 29 rotations.
Chase said they’re still trying to determine exactly where the car left the track at some point during its 29th rotation, but he’s confident the attempt completed at least 28 loops.
“We’ve been watching the video over and over in slow motion, but we can’t tell if the car completed the 29th loop before leaving the track,” Chase said. “We know we’ve got 28, but we’re not sure about 29. It depends if the car had completed the 29th loop before it left the track.”
The event, originally scheduled for 10 a.m., was postponed until later in the day due to the inclement weather. Standing in the parking lot during a steady drizzle at 10 a.m., Trevitt said the cold and the humidity wouldn’t affect the attempt, but any drops of water on the track would cause a car to fly off. He said he had checked the radar, and he figured the attempt would be good to go around noon.
A group of vendors and an estimated crowd of nearly 100 or so braved the weather and showed up to witness the attempt that took place a little after noon.
Despite a light drizzle at the time, all eyes turned skyward as a long metal ramp containing more than 30 loop-the-loop sections of track was hoisted skyward. And from the roof of the T-Mobile building the dynamic grandfather/grandson duo released several Hot Wheels cars.
Much to the chagrin of many attendees in the parking lot, most of the cars they loosed found their way off the track and crashed hard into the parking lot.
But as one car appeared to be winning during the possible record-setting attempt, a low, excited murmur quickly turned to a loud cheer as one car spun around and around and around and only left the track after completing 28 or 29 loops.
The sweet applause of success.After gaining the Guinness record of 19 earlier this year, Trevitt, Chase and Gonzales set their eyes on an even bigger record and founded Hope Wheels, a nonprofit that plans to brighten the spirits of ill youngsters by bringing Hot Wheels, the best-selling toy in the world, to them in their hospital rooms. Trevitt said the idea of helping raise the spirits of hospitalized children originated with his grandson.
For more information on the world record attempt or Hope Wheels, call (530) 630-7114.
