Your expertise particularly in Aerodynamics, I'm sure helped Dave in his LSR efforts. Most of my discussions with him were about the drivetrain. My goal for my bike was a lot more power throughout the rev-range, and less gyroscopic effect from the engine and wheels. Dave wanted to achieve high peak speeds in a straight line in 1 mile, whereas I wanted to go, stop, and turn with equal ability.
We ran similar displacement, but he used a rotating assembly with some differences, as decreasing the gyroscopic effect of the engine while transitioning side-to-side, wasn't a main concern in his straight-line runs.
There's no question that racing is dangerous. Bill Warner is another who I briefly met at Bonneville years ago. He achieved 311.945 mph in 1.5 miles on his conventional, sit-on, TurboBusa, at Loring. He was trying to achieve 300 mph in one mile. He came close, reaching 296 mph in one mile. But on his next run he crashed.
That's one thing about being involved in a dangerous pastime like racing: The possibility of serious injury or death, is ever present.