Inside Scoop: Bringing a Speed Record Back to Dodge (Part 2)

By Ryan Isabell
Lead Chassis & Simulation Engineer, Dodge Motorsports

…continued from Part 1

After almost four weeks of engineering, late night phone calls, all-night wind tunnel shifts, blood, sweat and gears we were ready to make our attempt at bringing the Worlds Fastest Stock Car record back to Dodge. What looked like the end to our journey was really just the beginning to another adventure. Upon arriving in Bonneville it was clear that this was not going to be easy.

We were not only at the mercy of mother nature, but also at the mercy of the salt flats as well. Being on the salt flats feels like you are on a snow covered frozen lake. It is huge, flat, slippery but eerily hot like a desert. The nights are cold but the days can be hot in October. In the morning the salt is dry, the air is cold and ideal for setting speed records. As the sun heats up the salt, the moisture from the ground below is drawn up thru the salt making it slippery and unforgiving especially to the slick NASCAR approved tires we were using to make our record attempt. After hours of prepping our #71 2007 Dodge Charger we were ready for our shake down run.

The first pass thru the timed mile was an exciting 214 MPH just 6 MPH shy of the record and Russ had not even pushed the gas pedal to the floor. Everyone on the team was surprised that Russ had pushed the vehicle as hard as he did for the “shake down” run, but I guess that is why he is the Speedking.

Our very first attempt was a record breaking 240 MPH but did not meet our personal goal of reaching 250 MPH. We had not yet used all of our speed tools so we continued to push the envelope of both the vehicle and the salt flats. Our next attempt resulted with the car almost spinning out at over 200 MPH but luckily Russ and his driving ability was able to save the car from what could have been a bad outcome. This was not the last time the salt flats would bite us.

The first day passed and we were into our second day on the salt flats. This is when things started to get even more interesting. Pushing the limits of vehicle speed is almost always at a sacrifice to vehicle stability. The next few attempts resulted in the car loosing traction getting up to speed on the slippery, unforgiving salt flats resulting in several high speed spins at well over 200 MPH. Eventually we re-broke our record at a speed of 244.9 MPH just 5 MPH shy of our personal goal. 250 MPH was looking more and more distant as several more attempts were made.

We never met our goal of 250 MPH, but we did break the previous record by almost 23 MPH which is a MILE in speed record terms as well as set an official World Record. The team, sponsors and driver all left Bonneville with a whole new respect for the salt flats, the speed demons who risk there lives and the people who devote there racing lives to setting speed records. Not only is Bonneville a visually beautiful place to be, but you can literally feel the history and the spirit of the people who have been there before you.

I can’t wait to go back and help Dodge set even more speed records!