This Is the World's Fastest Piston-Engine/Wheel-Driven Vehicle on Earth. And It Won Again!

The Speed Demon won the Hot Rod Trophy at the 2023 SCTA Bonneville Speed Week for the 11th time in its racing career, with a 333-mph run, on the crunchy salt surface. It is the fastest speedway on earth.

Pro-driver Chris Raschke was behind the steering wheel of the land arrow. He clocked, with the speed demon, the impressive 33.360 miles-per-hour pass over an abbreviated 3-mile course due to weather contains. That was fast enough to be labeled as the top speed of the entire event. Furthermore, the team set the FIA International speed record, being faster than any vehicle in history.

Besides, over the years, it ticked more runs over four hundred miles per hour than all other competitors combined.

The team, just like all the other participants, had to deal with a last-minute rain storm, which flooded the salt flats just two days prior to the start of the competition. But the weather forecast looked good after that, and sunshine and warm wind eventually dried the course, so the salt flats were in racing condition by Tuesday.

But then came the high winds that challenged competitors. The wind blew water from a nearby lake onto the racing course, which once again complicated things. To reduce risk for the racing drivers, organizers decided to abbreviate the course down to 3 miles. Otherwise, the Speed Demon would have had more time to gain momentum and get closer to the 500 mph barrier the car has been designed for.

At the end of the racing week in Bonneville, Utah, driver Chris Raschke and the Speed Demon crew finished victorious.

The Speed Demon is a single-engine aerodynamic bullet that sports a two-wheel drive. It is packed with high-tech sensors and electronic technology that allows the team to continuously monitor and dial in the car’s performance. To achieve such aerodynamic performance, it ditched the drag-producing air scoops in favor of the air inlets positioned on both sides of the vehicle.

A yaw sensor-based system automatically shuts down the engine and deploys the parachute if it detects a yaw angle of 5 degrees and more. A fire suppression system protects the driver, and, in the event of an engine fire, a water cooling system is engaged.

Behind all this project hits George Potent, a businessman from Memphis, Tennessee. Several times, he was the one behind the wheel as well, clocking over 55 passes over 400 mph. That is more than any human on earth!

Now his CV includes 17 years of land speed racing, 13 SCTA Bonneville record, and six FIA world records. He and his team hold the record of rate WOrld’s Fastest Piston Engine/Wheel driven car at 481.576 mph.