The 98th running of the world famous Pikes Peak International Hill Climb took place Sunday August 30 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. 44 vehicles raced to the summit of the 14,115 mountain through 156 turns and 12.42 total miles. This race requires extreme driver focus and a perfectly sound machine to make it up successfully. You never know what to expect at Pikes Peak when it comes to track conditions or wildlife crossing the roads and with so many chances for a run to go wrong drivers and teams need to be well prepared. There’s a saying that, “the mountain decides” and if all goes well you will make it to the top. This time the mountain decided Scott Birdsall was going to break the World Diesel Record with a lap time of 11:24.065.

The 1949 Ford F1 is the most unique race vehicle on the mountain with a compound turbo system comprised of the G42-1400C and GTW3884R turbochargers and a 6.7L Cummins diesel by Freedom Racing Engines. Tuning and operating a performance diesel engine without the black smoke is a big challenge without the industries top components like Dynomite Diesel EDM prototype injectors and petroleum free renewable Nexdiesel fuel. The FASS Fuel Air Separation System and is a combination diesel fuel lift pump and fuel filtration system that provides the cleanest fuel in order to extend engine life.

Watch the in cab footage of the official run on race day.

 

In this video you can watch in-cab footage of Scott Birdsall during his test sessions prior to the race.

Closer look at the engine and turbo configuration