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The story of the Montana Dodge Boys and their landspeed racing efforts began in earnest on August 14th, 2007, when near the end of Bonneville Speedweek, Peter "Pedro" Hendrickson, was stricken with a serious case of Salt fever.
As a Bonneville spectator for the previous four years and crew member for Earl 'EDGY' Edgerton and his 1932 Chrysler 'Bonneville Spitfire' coupe, he was already enthralled by the Bonneville experience, but at a bench racing session with Earl's teammates in the basement taco bar of the Wendover Nugget Casino, a gauntlet was laid. Pete (with the help of a few cold beers), proclaimed that he would build a car for speedweek 2008. When the laughter subsided, Earl insisted that building a race car in a year was "impossible". A $100 bet was then placed, hands were shaken, and a dream was born.
The following day, Pete was introduced to Bonneville record holders Shug and Irene of So What Speed Shop, who had just qualified for the V4F/BSTR (Vintage Four Flathead Blown Street Roadster) record in a Ford Model A roadster. from the outside, the class appeared to be an affordable, simple and accessible way to race on the salt. It was the beginning of the dream to build a vintage four cylinder roadster and to set a land speed record on the historic Bonneville Salt Flats.
Later that evening, over a few more tacos, Earl's crew chief, Chris King, mentioned that he thought he had an old five main bearing Dodge four cylinder on a long-retired piece of farm equipment on his ranch. Legend had it that is was used by a ranch hand nicknamed "Low Gear Charlie", who reportedly never shifted out of first gear - it sounded pretty rugged.
On September 19th, 2007 a bunch of Montana gearheads converged on the King Ranch to inspect this mysterious old Dodge four banger, and were pleased with what they found - a complete 'ran when parked' engine with five main insert bearings, five large cam bearings, semi-pressurized oiling, large ports, and a stout-looking crank.
It looked like something that could contend with the Ford banger engines that had dominated the V4F class at Bonneville for the last sixty years. Of course, everything would have to be developed from scratch, as You can't exactly order 1928 Dodge Brothers speed parts from a catalog.
Fortunately the Dodge Boys had some ringers. Pete had a friend named Tony Smith, an engine builder/gunsmith from Lewistown, Montana. A few days before, he had called Tony and asked if he wanted to come out to the King ranch and check things out. A mechanical genius with an interest in oddball projects, a passion for knowledge and research, and a competitive streak from years of cycling, he knew Tony was probably the only person who could conquer this bizarre, one-off engine build. Not to mention have it ready in ten months.
Around the dinner table that night, over several bottles of red wine, nine Montana gearheads ranging in age from 17 to 82 gathered to discuss the feasibility of building a car to compete at the world famous Bonneville Salt Flats in only ten months time. It was decided that they would take the project to the next stage, study the rulebook, and search for a 1928-'38 Mopar roadster body.
None of these guys had ever built a race car, driven a car on the Salt, or hotrodded an 80-year old flathead four cylinder. All of them operated out of one or two-car garages, with no fancy shop among them.
To complicate matters, it turned out that very few '28 Dodge roadsters (the class required a roadster) were built, and the Fast Four engine they intended to use was only produced between the fall of 1927 and the spring of 1928.
To make a long story short, the Montana Dodge Boys Fast Four Special did indeed make it to the Salt for Speedweek 2008.
The body, engine, and chassis, built independently in different garages across Montana, came together for the first time only ten days before the car headed was loaded on the trailer. The engine was fired for the first time only three days prior. Amazingly, the Fast Four Special went 108.4 MPH on it's very first drive, easily qualifying to break the existing 98.6 MPH record!
In the years since, the Fast Four Special has achieved Bonneville records for no less than five Dodge Boys, and has set twelve records at Bonneville and El Mirage.
In 2014 they started to build a new car, a lakester built under the skin of a F4 Phantom belly tank. It debuted for shakedown runs with a blown Ardun, on loan from friend and sponsor Ron Cooper at El Mirage in November of 2020 and May 2021. At Speedweek 2021 the car performed flawlessly, and set two 200+ MPH records in two attempts, and earned Pedro his Bonneville 200 MPH club hat.
Thank you for your support!
As a Bonneville spectator for the previous four years and crew member for Earl 'EDGY' Edgerton and his 1932 Chrysler 'Bonneville Spitfire' coupe, he was already enthralled by the Bonneville experience, but at a bench racing session with Earl's teammates in the basement taco bar of the Wendover Nugget Casino, a gauntlet was laid. Pete (with the help of a few cold beers), proclaimed that he would build a car for speedweek 2008. When the laughter subsided, Earl insisted that building a race car in a year was "impossible". A $100 bet was then placed, hands were shaken, and a dream was born.
The following day, Pete was introduced to Bonneville record holders Shug and Irene of So What Speed Shop, who had just qualified for the V4F/BSTR (Vintage Four Flathead Blown Street Roadster) record in a Ford Model A roadster. from the outside, the class appeared to be an affordable, simple and accessible way to race on the salt. It was the beginning of the dream to build a vintage four cylinder roadster and to set a land speed record on the historic Bonneville Salt Flats.
Later that evening, over a few more tacos, Earl's crew chief, Chris King, mentioned that he thought he had an old five main bearing Dodge four cylinder on a long-retired piece of farm equipment on his ranch. Legend had it that is was used by a ranch hand nicknamed "Low Gear Charlie", who reportedly never shifted out of first gear - it sounded pretty rugged.
On September 19th, 2007 a bunch of Montana gearheads converged on the King Ranch to inspect this mysterious old Dodge four banger, and were pleased with what they found - a complete 'ran when parked' engine with five main insert bearings, five large cam bearings, semi-pressurized oiling, large ports, and a stout-looking crank.
It looked like something that could contend with the Ford banger engines that had dominated the V4F class at Bonneville for the last sixty years. Of course, everything would have to be developed from scratch, as You can't exactly order 1928 Dodge Brothers speed parts from a catalog.
Fortunately the Dodge Boys had some ringers. Pete had a friend named Tony Smith, an engine builder/gunsmith from Lewistown, Montana. A few days before, he had called Tony and asked if he wanted to come out to the King ranch and check things out. A mechanical genius with an interest in oddball projects, a passion for knowledge and research, and a competitive streak from years of cycling, he knew Tony was probably the only person who could conquer this bizarre, one-off engine build. Not to mention have it ready in ten months.
Around the dinner table that night, over several bottles of red wine, nine Montana gearheads ranging in age from 17 to 82 gathered to discuss the feasibility of building a car to compete at the world famous Bonneville Salt Flats in only ten months time. It was decided that they would take the project to the next stage, study the rulebook, and search for a 1928-'38 Mopar roadster body.
None of these guys had ever built a race car, driven a car on the Salt, or hotrodded an 80-year old flathead four cylinder. All of them operated out of one or two-car garages, with no fancy shop among them.
To complicate matters, it turned out that very few '28 Dodge roadsters (the class required a roadster) were built, and the Fast Four engine they intended to use was only produced between the fall of 1927 and the spring of 1928.
To make a long story short, the Montana Dodge Boys Fast Four Special did indeed make it to the Salt for Speedweek 2008.
The body, engine, and chassis, built independently in different garages across Montana, came together for the first time only ten days before the car headed was loaded on the trailer. The engine was fired for the first time only three days prior. Amazingly, the Fast Four Special went 108.4 MPH on it's very first drive, easily qualifying to break the existing 98.6 MPH record!
In the years since, the Fast Four Special has achieved Bonneville records for no less than five Dodge Boys, and has set twelve records at Bonneville and El Mirage.
In 2014 they started to build a new car, a lakester built under the skin of a F4 Phantom belly tank. It debuted for shakedown runs with a blown Ardun, on loan from friend and sponsor Ron Cooper at El Mirage in November of 2020 and May 2021. At Speedweek 2021 the car performed flawlessly, and set two 200+ MPH records in two attempts, and earned Pedro his Bonneville 200 MPH club hat.
Thank you for your support!
