Joint Venture 2011 by Mark Zwieg
Howdy! What an awesome year we had racing the Joint Venture in 2011! About a week before heading out to the Salt Flats I headed up to help the team work on the Joint Venture in Kelso Washington. Mr. Lemmons the team owner has really made a dream of mine come true by giving me the privilege to drive the Fastest Modified Diesel Truck in the world. I thank God every day that he has provided me the opportunity to get to race this awesome machine across the salt at over 225 MPH. Once I arrived in Kelso I got to work helping fabricate a new air intake system on the truck. I marveled at all the work the team had done since last year and the truck looked better than ever. The crew chief Ben Goodman had done an awesome job prepping the truck and had added a new air suspension set up on the rear end. Last year we experienced some difficulties with the lockup torque converter in the Allison Transmission. Aron Havens our transmission guru was able to remove and disassemble the torque converter and work with master machinist (and current MDT world record holder) Art Dick to devise a way to make the transmission lock up stronger. The two of them devised a way to add two more additional lock up clutches inside the converter. Art custom made a beautiful splined spacer and an additional transmission spacer that accounted for the additional depth of the converter. The end result was a beautiful machined 3 disk masterpiece that ends up out of sight once assembled, what a shame! It is so fun to work with such an experienced crew that never complains and just does what needs to be done without asking. Once the truck was all assembled I was able to sit in it and hear it run before it was loaded on the truck. The sound of this 1472 cubic inch wild quad turbo, twin supercharged 16 cylinder machine would make any gearhead smile, and I was grinning ear to ear! The amount of effort, skill and knowledge that is required to race a machine like this is unbelievable. Everyone pitches in, Sam is our go to guy for driving the fork lift and painting everything so it does not rust in the salt environment. Craig Poetter pitches in and helps with all the machine and fabrication work on the truck. Ray helps all year long on getting the sheet metal and paint ready to show and race. Mark Painter is our supply guy who arranges all the equipment and packs the support truck so everything is available when we get to Bonneville. Nick Croy is the tire guy from Superior Tire Service that keeps the Michelins in top condition for our high speed runs, he is constantly checking the tires to make sure they are in top condition and checks the pressures before each run to make sure they are perfect. Chris Kerns is our computer guy, he has worked very diligently to install our new Edelbrock Data system that helps monitor all the systems on each run. The effort Chris has put into the system really paid off this year and the Edelbrock system worked flawlessly. Our crew chiefs name is Ben Goodman and I could never say enough nice things about him. He is an outstanding mechanic and I consider him a true friend. His knowledge of all the systems on the truck is truly amazing. I try to take every opportunity I can to learn from him. His attention to detail and his unbelievable skill always make me feel safe when I strap on this big machine to make a run. I owe a special thanks to all the crew of the Joint Venture because without each and every one of you this adventure would not be able to take place. Don Lemmons is the team owner and his calm attitude and hearty laugh really bring the team together. Don is not a traditional team owner by any means, he is more than happy to get in there with the crew and get his hands dirty. I sure hope that just a small amount of Don’s talent and knowledge can be absorbed by my brain. Don and his wife are so kind to me and welcomed me into their home while I was in Kelso for a week. You can rest assured that there is no finer place to stay in the state of Washington that has better food or nicer accommodations. Thank you very much!
Thanks DON! Once we had the truck already to go we got it loaded up on the trailer and headed to the Salt Flats to go racing. The two day drive was exceedingly entertaining, you can imagine 8 guys in two big trucks for a couple of days.
For those of you that have never been to the Salt Flats it is almost a religious experience as you drive up to this sacred place. Thinking about all the past history that has happened here is true nirvana for a racer. As you drive down the road the lakebed slowly opens up and turns from brown sand to pure white salt. The grins on our faces grow and grow as we head towards the pit area. Once in the pits we unloaded the trucks and set everything up. Everybody knows exactly what to do and the pieces all fall right into place. Seeing the truck out on the salt makes me smile every time I look at it, MAN THAT THING LOOKS COOL!
We lined up and went through the technical inspection which takes a huge chunk of a day. During the inspection they check everything, and I do mean everything. The safety team takes their job seriously and makes sure the racers stay safe. The truck made it through without any issues and during tech I was tasked to perform a bail out drill and deploy the parachute. A bailout drill makes the driver put on all the safety gear and go through several emergency scenarios which ends with getting out of the vehicle in the shortest time possible. This year was our first year to use the now mandatory HANS device. With the HANS device strapped to your helmet and the helmet restraints on the side of the seat it really locks you in the vehicle. I assume a person with claustrophobia would have a real hard time being cinched in like that. Sept 13, I get super excited about this time of the year and thoughts of racing fill my head. But today is the day I finally get to put my foot to the floor and hear those quad turbos sing. After we got back to the pits Chris downloaded all the data from the computer and the crew started checking out the truck and repacking the parachute. Don, my Dad, John Leber, Mark Painter and Aron’s Dad all pitched in to pack the giant parachute. Nick checked out the Michelins and the rest of the crew went over the entire truck. After a couple hours and eating some of Don’s signature cheeseburgers with Walla Walla sweet onions everything was ready for the second pass of the day. On the second pass I was all suited up and before the run I lowered the front air suspension down as low as I could get it to decrease our frontal area. Unfortunatly with the suspension that low the front end was resting on the bumpstops. As I approached the quarter mile marker the front end started bouncing around a bit and heading to the right. I kept turning left and turning left but the truck was not responding so I aborted the run. My mind kept thinking that if the front suspension finally bites and gets some grip it is going to turn left hard, and that did not sound too good at 200 MPH. Ben the crew chief politely reminded me that it needs to be set between 10 and 20 PSI on the front suspension to keep it running straight and not chattering the front suspension on the bump stops. Once we got the truck back to the pits we downloaded the data and noticed one of the banks of cylinders was quite a bit cooler than the others. ¼ Mile speed--- 1st Mile--- 2nd Mile--- Final Mile ---Exit speed Sept 14 Early the next morning Ben started up the truck and cycled in each of the injectors and found several of the cylinders on that one bank were not hitting very hard. The decision was made to pull off the cylinder head and put in a new piston and cylinder liner package. It was amazing how a small group of guys could work so well together. There were people underneath the engine and on top attacking it from both sides at once. In just a few short hours 4 of the cylinders had been swapped out and we were ready to run again. The excitement was building because the motor sounded great and was purring like an angry kitten. The weather was a bit warm and the density altitude was pretty bad this late in the day at about 6600 Ft, which definitely strangles the power output of the engine. On this pass the truck ran straight as an arrow and still shifted awesome. It ran 195.21 MPH through the quarter mile traps and had a best mile speed of 223.66 and an exit speed of 225.98MPH. We were very excited that we were getting so close to the record. ¼ Mile speed--- 1st Mile--- 2nd Mile--- Final Mile ---Exit speed
Sept 15 We worked on the engine and continued to tune it up to run for the big numbers. We were still fighting the motor a bit in the fact it was running a bit on the rich side. As we approached the line we had a pretty good headwind which is exactly what we did not want. The truck was still running very well and nice and smooth. On this pass it ran 193 in the ¼ and 223.48 in the final mile with a 225.58 exit speed. The winds were really hurting us. With the high winds the track was down for a good portion of the day. We put the truck to bed and headed in for some good grub and hit the sack so we could arrive nice and early the next day. ¼ Mile speed--- 1st Mile--- 2nd Mile--- Final Mile ---Exit speed
Sept 16 We arrived out on the salt nice and early and were one of the first cars in line. The temperature was very nice but the wind was still a problem. The wind had moved a bit and was now almost a perfect 90 degree crosswind blowing left to right. Aron cinched me in the cockpit and Don and Ben filled the intercooler reservoir full of 12 bags of ice. The truck was running real good down low and we decided to start in first gear instead of second gear like we had done on the other runs. Starting in first really helped the truck get going, but I had to be careful of the one to two shift since there is a huge gear spread in the Allison transmission. I could really feel the difference and the truck ran 199.53 through the quarter but only ran 223.84 in the final mile with a 225.88MPH exit speed. I was pushing it as hard as I could but you could just feel the speed scrub off as you counter steered the truck to counter the cross wind. I just know the truck has it in it to break the record but the winds are really hurting us. ¼ Mile speed--- 1st Mile--- 2nd Mile--- Final Mile ---Exit speed
On the second run of the day the crew chief recommended that we up the shift RPM a bit to help lean out the engine at upper RPM. I was very aggressive on the starting line and with new confidence in the transmission I was making the shifts much faster. The cross winds were still pretty rough but the truck just took off like a bullet on this run. It really liked the increased RPM and our quarter mile speed was better than ever at 203.7 MPH. The GPS speedo was clicking numbers off like crazy, It is just so amazing that a huge diesel truck can accelerate so hard. As I approached the final mile I looked at the speedo and it was at about 224. I started doing quick long division in my head to figure out what our exit speed had to be to break the record (to qualify to break the record your average speed for the entire mile has to be over the current record, the exit speed does not count). The speed on the GPS showed 230 MPH as I went through the finish line. I knew it was going to be close,, did we break the record???? I pulled the chute and it snapped real good, it still feels like an eternity from when you pull the handle until the chute blossoms. The mile markers sure go whizzing by at that speed! Once I stopped, the crew told me how close we were. 227.644MPH on a 228 record…. OHHHHHH we were so close! If we just did not have the cross wind! That was the fastest pass that I had ever driven, it was so incredible and I was so excited to be that close. The entire crew knew the record was in reach, if only the weather would cooperate!! ¼ Mile speed--- 1st Mile--- 2nd Mile--- Final Mile ---Exit speed
On the final run we could see the storm clouds gathering in the distance. The wind was blowing even harder now across the track, and the flags were whipping and cracking on the flag poles. This run was probably going to be it. The forecast was for rain that night and we could see the lightning in the distance and the dark clouds rolled slowly our way. Ok so now it is time for our last chance. We know we will be battling the wind which will hurt our speed but we are sooooo close. Ben gives me the green light to rev the giant beast even higher. I think of those giant pistons and huge crankshaft spinning around at over twice the speed they were designed for. The truck shoots off the starting line and screams through the first few gears. I look at the GPS speedo as I fly past the ¼ mile marker and it shows 205 MPH which is even better than the last run. I move my other foot over to the gas pedal to make sure it is flat to the floor. The faster I go the more I am having to steer into the wind to keep this machine straight. Each inch I turn the wheel I can feel the speed scrubbing off as the truck gets harder to push forward. Down low the truck was really pulling hard but it is struggling as the speeds get higher. I see the final mile marker in the distance and start talking to the truck to give it all she has. As I blast through the finish line I grab the chute lever and give it a shove. I wait for the distinctive feel of the chute popping open, but it does not come. I cycle the chute lever one more time and still nothing. I am blasting down the track at 225 MPH with no parachute. The mile markers that are located every ¼ mile down the track are shooting by like bullets. I ease on the brakes and it makes a small attempt to slow the truck, within seconds the pedal is getting soft so I let off to let the brakes cool for a second. I then ease on them again, let them cool and continue to squeeze the binders, I finally turned off the track at the 7 and ½ mile marker. It took almost 2.5 miles to stop this monster machine with no drag chute. Once I came to a stop, I let the truck cool off a bit and shut her down. I told her how proud I was of her even though we did not quite get to the ultimate goal. The excess drag from the cross wind and headwind was just too much to overcome. It seemed like forever until the crew got to me that far down the track. Looking at the parachute, it came out of the canister but the drogue chute got caught around the axle housing somehow on the upwind side so it could never blossom being pulled by the top of the chute. ¼ Mile speed--- 1st Mile--- 2nd Mile--- Final Mile ---Exit speed
As you can see each day is full of lots of excitement. Trying to better the World Record is no easy task, with the frontal area and drag coefficient that the truck has it takes about 500 more horsepower to go just 10 MPH faster. Trying to go about 230 MPH in a vehicle the size of a small skyscraper takes a very dedicated team and a whole bunch of horsepower. The current record was set by Art Dick at 228.802 MPH. We got super close and ran a best of 227.644MPH but the strong cross winds kept us just short of our goal. Everyone was a bit bummed that we did not break the record, but the truck was still running well and it was still in one piece and on top of that, the transmission problems that plagued us last year were a thing of the past. I think about racing this awesome machine everyday during the year, how do you ever thank a team that has provided you such an awesome opportunity? We have some big plans for next year that will really help us out. We learned a bunch looking at the data and will be able to make some tuning adjustments in the off season to make even more power. Next year cannot come fast enough! I would really like to thank Don Lemmons and the entire Joint Venture crew for such a great time. I would also really like to thank my beautiful Wife and my two kids for being so supportive of my racing adventures, without their support and encouragement this adventure would not be possible. A Picture of the biggest and the smallest diesel powered vehicles on the Salt Flats. Also while at the Salt we were interviewed and featured on a program from the Discovery Channel. Check us out! I just can’t wait for next year!
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