462 mph! World's Fastest Piston Powered Car

George, it's really an honor, I have to tell you that you are a difficult guy to catch because you are so fast. I try to stay here, this is one of your aerodynamics, these are incredible land speed cars. They go incredibly fast with you behind the wheel, well no one has ever driven any of the cars I have. I'm the only one who has driven them and part of that is economics. I have to spend the money so I'm going to have fun, well gee I wouldn't pass out but this is the Speed ​​Demon or the Speed ​​Demon 2 or what car it is.

This is the original flatfire car, oh okay, it had a Flathead and that body. it's in the Speedway Museum now, yeah, he said a 300 record with it as fast as Flathead for years, but we re-launched this car and, like, 2000. I put this fiberglass body on it and it was an old car. when I crashed it. They decertify it, they won't let me run it anymore, so when you crash it, how fast were you going? 370. Well, that has to be terrifying. Well, it really wasn't. I mean, I'm looking for it to be over. I know he couldn't hurt me, but it really wasn't that dramatic event.

You know, I got out of there and walked towards the animals. I went back to the Sierra the next day, so I mean, what's it like going at the speeds that you're going, I mean, up to about 400 425 is kind of fun and then after you get to 450, you know you realize how how fast something can happen to you and how bad it can happen, but you're not really thinking about speeds, you're thinking about your job to drive, you know, getting out of shift and watching your gauges and how to stay between the mile markers and then you have quite a bit to do when you stop, you know, put on a pair of shoes, you know leave it cold, turn off the engine, get it out of here, you know, dump all the water out of the intercooler, you have quite a bit to do when you try to stop and you're coasting to a stop, so and We've got about three miles to the coast to stop and I bet it takes all of that, so you're a busy man when you're okay, you're trying to save your engine and you don't.

I don't want it to slide for three miles with the gear in gear and the engine off, without clutch noise and transmission smearing. You've got quite a few things to do when you're trying to stop, more actually than when I'm trying to start, you know, I never thought about that, how fast have you been going in this car? I want 462 with a 300 cubic inch engine. I mean, things happen so fast at 462 miles. I mean, it's a plane. jet plane speed, yes, yes, it is. I turned upside down and I was upside down at 550 feet, literally, literally upside down, that's not an expression, I was upside down, it landed on their roof, so how do they do, what do they do, do they have to flip it?

I backed up to get you right, well, it ended up on its side, uh, it wasn't upside down, it was on its side and I was lying down. I landed it and took the steering wheel off and put it on, unbuckled the seat belts and fell on the left side and got out of there how long have you been doing this. I've been racing there for about 30 years, really, uh, I'm driving that fast, we've been going over 400. I set up the first Raider 400 around 2007. Really yeah, I mean it's a special place, isn't it? the salt? It is a special place that we are losing.

You know, erosion and what's happening out there is reducing the salt. You know we used to have 22 miles in the '40s and '50s and when I started racing we could get 13 core models and last year we had five good miles and three decent miles to stop and that was it, after that it was horrible, you stay No salt and it gets muddy yeah it's just the bed of Lake Moody underneath the song we can bury a car in that stuff can't you bury it? that's not good that can't be good so you're winning 09 10 11 12 13 and 14 15 17.

I just ran out I just ran out of place to paint well would you extend the other car we hit in this corner in 15 when we go and uh, I won the hot rod trophy for 10 years, the hot rod trophy they give you this trophy for the

fastest

car out there it's speed week, yes, and no, they just engrave your name on it, they don't give you the professional with that, record your name, so they started everything. Rod Magazine started that in 1948, well your name's been on it so many times they might end up giving it out eventually hey it must be yours your name's on it countless times we've had it for 10 years man wow that's awesome , can we open the cabin and see what?

It seems that then what is this electrical material? Yes, is it really okay? Yes, that's one of the biggest problems in the build of this car. I made two of these when I did what they did. The new car will redesign the front end when I crashed, this is the first thing that really went flying, that's what protects you, isn't it? Yeah, so the new gold canopy on a plane. I see there's not much there, it's like oh, two parachutes, you've got paddle shifters on the steering wheel and you've got the instrument clusters up there, you've got a fire extinguisher that sprays if you're on fire and the parachute with the red handles cuts the engine, but it looks like a whole deal, yes it definitely is. all the business, you're thrown out there very tight, the only thing you have to look for is anything in your head, you're moving about two inches and from side to side, you have less than two inches in your head moved, is it difficult? ride I mean, I mean, are you close to that?

It depends on the course, yes, it's certainly true. Get out there a few years, it's a rough ride and, uh, 21, it was as smooth as an interstate house, no joke, at 400, some weird miles Mother Nature does. and we don't know why last year before it rained it was a bit rough and I wasn't excited to drive it, did it smooth out after the rain? I ate, you know the water is gone but the salt is still very wet, oh. Yeah, the funny thing about this is it's going to be 115 degrees out there and you're going early in the morning, the snow is still wet and you're not going to get a good ride while you're doing your best to run.

In the morning, because of the air you have and the altitude at which you are running, it is seven in the morning, but you know that we have achieved more speed with the car in the afternoon, around four, very hot and salty. It's dryer, oh yeah, yeah, I better get better traction with it, George, what are you wearing? Because this is a

piston

engine car, still, it's a standard Chevrolet 350 block, like some of those Chevrolet trucks, actually, and it's dark head, yeah, and Hogan intake. We have to build it and it's electronic fuel injection. We don't have the coil packs on this.

This is just for show, but you have an individual coil for each cylinder instead of a distributor. Hack on each cylinder. Well, we bought the aluminum. heads and darkness, you have to have the crank built for whatever cubic inch you want to run and then you have a cam built for the amount of fuel and whatever you want to run and what cubic intention you're running and then you're running. two turbos, we're in this car, we used a precision twin, an 88 millimeter turtle, we ran this little engine with about 35 pounds of boost, wow, without blowing it up, well, we blow valves, you know, we blow things that are on top of the new car.

I didn't make any square tanks. They are round because they are stronger. You really can't. You know, we blew off the top of the entrance. We have divided the water tanks. If you burn a

piston

, you burn a hole. one piston, you're still running, the compression that's supposed to come out, the exhaust is going down in the engine, oh, so we're going to try to come out somewhere, yeah, and he can come out through the fuel tank, not the fuel tank, but by the oil tank. water tank, your valve covers, it will go somewhere, it won't come out, it won't stay there, I don't want to turn off the exhaust, what can you get from 350 horsepower?

We run about 2,200 horsepower out of that 300 cubic inch engine, oh, and what's the fuel, alcohol, okay, and the big block gone bad, we run about 3,500 horsepower, 55 pounds of boost, we just get things out of here and then we get back in line, she knows, it just gradually reduces. For kind of a boat tail, you know again from an aerodynamic standpoint, is that your best airflow, well, in the Streamliner class you have to have the rear wheels covered. I see a tail in the design that is designed to provide stability for crossing and over it and downpour when you build a car like this, you need to find the center of gravity, yes, and then the center of pressure on it when you go to the direction that you want, the center of the pressure that falls on where This whole car will be right here in the middle, so you know, put on rubber skirts.

I can't do much on the rear, so the rear is the biggest problem. I have the traction that we don't. I don't have many problems with lifting here. How many wheels does it have? We used Billet aluminum wheels on the back and just stole wheels on both the front and rear and one on the front or you don't have it, you had to use two of the two. The fronts are like this, oh, no kidding, well, if you haven't wanted to deflate, just don't lean on the car, but they're all ready and they turn like that.

Separate axles, they are 21-inch wheels, a 21-inch wheel. Where is this? Yeah, right there, yeah, bumper oil on the quarter inch steel plate there, so if you blow a tire I don't have to eat your rubber. that's good, wow, well then you're going for 500. I just want the team to tell me that's what they brag about and I don't really like vacations, well I'm telling you George, it's been amazing, you're just an amazing guy, I'm so glad you came out today and spent some time here, you're my hero, we enjoy you on TV, I'll watch it, I enjoy you in the salt, thanks George, okay that was amazing, you are amazing. fun