In 2008, the Montana Dodge Boys brought the Fast Four to Bonneville for the first time. It was ten months to the day after the initiation of the project, and only 4 days after the engine fired for the first time. On August 18th, 2008 the Montana Dodge Boys Fast Four Special made it's first-ever run down the infamous Bonneville Salt Flats. They would be happy if it ran, stoked if it didn't blow up, and elated if it went 80 mph. The existing record was 96.3 MPH. The smile on Chris King's face was evident even before he pulled his 1935 Dodge pickup off of the return road and approached Pedro with the timing slip. 108.427 MPH! A new V4F/STR record, on their first-ever run!
Nervous?
Pedro celebrates the new record with his dad, Robert
Proud papas. Joe King and Robert Hendrickson
You will immediately notice that there aren't very many photos of Speedweek 2008. This can be attributed to the following ~ We were tired, we forgot the sunscreen, and most importantly, we lost our landspeed record the very next day... by .4 MPH!
Yes, it's true... POINT FOUR miles per hour! The Montana Dodge Boys, after ten months of sleepless nights and eighteen hour days, were record holders for less than 24 hours. The following eight days were frantic ~ timing, jetting, gearing, & fuel pressure changes happened at a NASCAR pace... but to no avail.
The Dodge Boys sulked back to Montana sunburned, crabby, and record-free...