Under another panel-this one with a window-sits George Poteet, the human equivalent of a big-block both in powerful energy and beloved status in the hot-rodding community. Under one carbon-fiber panel sits a twin-turbocharged 556-cubic-inch Chevy big-block. The Speed Demon is a 32-foot-long golden streak that looks like the top half of a surfaced submarine. There are jet and rocket-powered cars that are faster, but none of them use an engine you could find in your neighbor's El Camino. Well, the fastest piston-driven vehicle in the world. The Speed Demon, as its name suggests, is very fast. I suspect nobody on the Speed Demon streamliner team has ever had that thought. I've sat in the lanes with sweat soaking the padding of my helmet and the track looming like a death wish in front of me and thought: If it breaks on this run, I can sit in the shade and drink beer for the rest of the weekend. I've always assumed that sort of racer doesn't have the money or the guts to go flat out, and if you never get the car running right, you never have to find out. It seems like an expensive and uncomfortable way to spend your vacation, but I guess the scenery is good. This is a particularly common sight at Speed Week on the Bonneville Salt Flats, where you'll often see a car under a tarp with a bare block hanging over the engine bay for the entire week before it all gets packed away for next year. If they do finally make it to the grid or the staging lanes, they don't stay out there for long. From grassroots drag racing to the Indy 500, you'll see one car that's still in the pits during the first practice, one team wiring up the engine or trying to pass tech while everyone else is qualifying. Īt any motorsports event, there's always one team that is totally unprepared. Elana Scherr | Car and Driverįrom the November 2020 issue of Car and Driver.
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