1997 Dodge Ram

Take one melon-size turbocharger and mix with a 5.9-liter Cummins diesel engine screwed together from remanufactured parts. Drop these into a used-up, preproduction (number 00081) Dodge Ram 2500 pickup headed for the crusher. Then haphazardly stir in some highly imaginative, and perhaps not too tightly wrapped, Cummins and Chrysler Corp. technicians and engineers. Shake vigorously. For a cheap thrill and a land-speed-record cocktail, add a long stretch of Utah-blended salt to taste.

Only God and perhaps a bartender in a broken-down gin mill somewhere between Chrysler's headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan, and the Cummins Engine Company in Memphis, Tennessee, really know how the idea for this outrageous land-speed-record truck was born. But the official purpose-given by S. Michael "Mike" Beavers, a Cummins senior project engineer; Jed Cowell, Cummins manager of business development; and James Ray, a Cummins senior technical specialist-was to increase public awareness of Dodge Truck Engineering and Cummins Recon, the aftermarket division of the Cummins Engine Co. And they intended to achieve this "awareness enhancement" with what Beavers told MT was a "viciously low racing budget well, well below $100,000," which may seem like big money until you compare it with a 15-second ad during a Super Bowl telecast.

But, for the sake of awareness, a high-speed boondoggle, or whatever, in late September this essentially street-legal Ram-powered by a 5.9-liter inline-six assembled on the regular Cummins rebuild line in Memphis-posted a spanking new speed record of 141.256 mph in the stock C/PS classification. This class, recognized by the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association, is for supercharged or turbocharged production-based vehicles of less than 360 cubic inches, gasoline or diesel fueled.

The oil-burning monster, which the team jokes is still in some engineering group's fleet count, was bravely and expertly piloted by Ritchie Petty (grandson of NASCAR star Lee, son of longtime Petty Enterprises crew chief Maurice, and nephew to Richard the King). Petty told us the truck makes so much torque that he couldn't use full throttle before a full mile of track had elapsed because the rear wheels would spin!

Because of tight budget constraints and a desire to maintain the truck's stock appearance, exterior modifications were minimal. Beavers reported that a group of salt-flats spectators had put the truck's tailgate down and were sitting in its bed because they assumed it was a tow vehicle, rather than a racer.

The first step to comply with safety requirements is a full rollcage, along with racing-style five-point safety belts, hood hold-down pins, and an onboard fire extinguishing system. From there, the Cummins truckers scrapped the exterior mirrors and wipers and reinforced the front airdam bracketry to withstand the rigors of a 140-plus-mph airflow. The team admitted that some fasteners also needed the extra insurance of safety wire. The truck's front end was dropped three inches with aftermarket fabricated control arms, and the rear was lowered four inches with a change in the spring shackles and hangers. The final touch was 400 pounds of ballast to "keep the rear from moving around." Even with these changes, Cummins claims the truck still gets better than 23 mpg on the highway.

So just what does it take in terms of diesel-motor muscle to go quicker than 140 mph at Bonneville? In stock form, the Cummins engine offered in Dodge Ram pickups produces a merely prodigious 215 horsepower at 2600 rpm and 440 granite-grinding pound-feet of torque at 1600 rpm. With just that, some owners have overextended their trucks when attempting to tug juggernaut-size trailers, twisting the hefty rails of the Ram's frame into a pretzel.