The historic hill climb at Pikes Peak as soon as once more demonstrated its perilous nature this 12 months when a 1949 Ford F1 racing truck drove off the cliff on account of a mechanical failure. Scott Birdsall’s endeavor to surpass his earlier file resulted in a staggering 175-ft fall (over 53 meters). Miraculously, he managed to stroll away from the incident with out sustaining any accidents.

The “Outdated Smokey F1,” a classic Ford truck closely modified with a 1,400-hp Cummins engine, has held the Pikes Peak file for diesel-powered automobiles since 2020. In an try to enhance his earlier time of 11:24.065, Birdsall encountered a brake failure simply earlier than the treacherous “lighting” nook, making the horrifying accident nearly unavoidable. Onboard digicam footage captures the exact second when the motive force realized the absence of functioning brakes.

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In keeping with Birdsall from Chuckles Storage, he recounted the sequence of occasions that led to the accident, stating, “I lifted to impartial throttle, went to set into the nook with the brakes, and the pedal immediately went to the ground with zero effort. I frantically pumped the brakes, and you may hear the throttle change barely as I do that as a result of the brake pedal was to date down on the ground, my boot minimize go well with leg was catching the throttle.”

At that time, there was nothing that Birdsall may do to keep away from driving off the cliff. “I knew there was approach an excessive amount of momentum to make the nook, so I attempted to hook the ditch, and that was too aggressive because it simply shot the truck within the air and went off. In all probability factor, because the farther you get across the nook, the steeper and rockier it will get,” he mentioned.

The outdated Ford landed on its roof earlier than rolling 8-9 occasions and coming to a relaxation a full 714 toes under the purpose it exited the tarmac. Regardless of the severity of the crash, the roll cage stored the cabin intact, proving the significance of security measures. The driving force was “winded” however “fully unscathed” as a couple of moments later he might be seen climbing out of the automobile and giving the heads-up to the digicam. The protection crew later confirmed that Birdsall had no accidents, largely due to the roll cage, FIA-certified helmet, Sabelt seat, and harness.

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Predictably, the racing truck is totally destroyed, with critical harm to the bodywork, body, and engine which means it’s removed from being fixable. Nonetheless, Scott Birdsall mentioned he “might try and resurrect it right into a avenue truck” sooner or later. As reported by our colleagues from The Drive, Outdated Smokey F1’s Pikes Peak file fell this 12 months. The brand new record-holder is a tri-turbo diesel Radical prototype that accomplished the hill climb in 10:25.071.

Screenshot Chuckles Storage/YouTube