SAPD retiree breaks world speed record.

Retired Police Officer breaks world speed record.
(This story compiled from two different sources)

A retired San Antonio police officer broke a world speed
record last week at the Bonneville Salt Flats. On August 18th
Robert Duffin broke the previous record of 222.57 mph with an
official overall speed of 229.75 mph.

Then his brother Russel, got behind the wheel a couple of days
later and broke it again. On August 21st, he broke that record
with an overall speed of 230.545 mph.

In both the up and down runs, the exit times were exceeding
231 mph. The vehicle used as the platform for their salt flat
racer is a Corvette.

Russell Duffin 63, now is the owner of the record in Unblown
Grand Touring Sports with a speed of 230.545 mph.

The Duffins are the owners of Duffin Auto Service, an engine
rebuilding shop near San Antonio International Airport.

Congratulations to the Duffin family and their salt flat supporters,
and congratulations to the members of the 200 mph club,
Russell and Robert Duffin!

Helen L. Montoya, Express News wrote:

Chuck Duffin, Vic Sobrino, Jan Berry, Russell Duffin and
Robert Duffincomprise a team that raced their Corvette in Speed Week
at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. Robert Duffin broke a world
speed record, and two days later his brother Russell Duffin
broke the record.

David Uhler, Express-News wrote:

In the spirit of "The World's Fastest Indian," five auto-racing
enthusiasts from San Antonio went to Speed Week at the
Bonneville Salt Flats this month with a bare-bones budget, a car
and a plan.

The best driver in their group, 59-year-old Robert Duffin, would
drive their 1985 Chevy Corvette until he set a world record.

Then someone else would get a turn. On the very first day of racing,
Duffin set a record of 229.75 mph in the Grand Touring Sports
category for 372 cubic inch engines.

Two days later, Duffin's 63-year-old brother, Russell, got behind
the wheel and topped that mark with a run of 230.545 mph.

Next year, Chuck Duffin and the other two members of their team
hope to take their own shots at the title.

"As we were coming home, I told Robert, 'Well, I guess you're a
retired driver now,'" Chuck Duffin recalled Friday. "And he said,
'I'm not retired, I'm just at the bottom of the list again.'"

Like Burt Munro, the curmudgeonly New Zealander whose world
speed record was immortalized in the 2005 film "The World's
Fastest Indian," the Duffins and their partners have managed to
turn long-time dreams into high-speed reality.

All three Duffin brothers are graduates of Thomas Jefferson High
School. Since the 1960s, they've raced motorcycles and hot rods
on area straight tracks.

"Whatever we had, we always tried to make it go faster," Robert
Duffin said with a laugh. "And then we decided to go to Bonneville."

Russell Duffin owns Duffin Engine Service, a diesel and gasoline
engine machine shop. Chuck Duffin, 65, retired from Kelly AFB in
2001 after a 34-year career.

Robert Duffin, who retired from the San Antonio Police Department
in 2003, taught high performance driving and accident prevention
to cadets at the Police Academy.

The team has two additional members: Jan Berry, a retired truck

repair shop owner, and Vic Sobrino, owner of Mr. Vic's Auto Repair

in Leon Springs.

Every month, each of the guys puts $150 into a bank account. After
buying parts for their car, they use the balance to pay for gas and
hotels for their annual trip to Bonneville in northwest Utah, where
Speed Week is held each August. The team has gone every year
since 1999 and always stays at casino hotels in nearby Nevada.

"When the car doesn't run good, we still have poker and vodka to
have a good time," Russell Duffin explained.

For the first few years, the team ran a 1939 Chevy coupe that
topped out at 150 mph. In 2001, they brought a mostly-stock Corvette
that ran almost 200 mph. That's when the speed bug really bit.

"The record at that time was only 212 mph," Russell Duffin recalled.
"We thought, 'Man, for a little bit of money...'" But it wasn't that easy.

Another family team - Carter's Family Flyer - always held onto the

record whenever the gang from San Antonio threatened to

take it. In 2003, for instance, when the record was 218 mph, the
Duffins' car ran 221 mph. The Carters eclipsed it with a run of

222.572 mph.

That's where the record stood until this year. "When we broke the

record, the Carters and everybody else couldn't have been

happier," Robert Duffin recalled. "They all said we worked long

and hard and that we deserved it."