BUTLER TWP — Rob Freyvogel finally is ready to break the land speed record.

Freyvogel, an engineer and the president of Carbinite Metal Coatings in Forward Township, has been working for five years on a vehicle that he believes will top 500 mph. The current speed record is 439.5 mph.

He and his crew headed for the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah on Tuesday for the Speed Week competition. He will compete Saturday.

“I can't believe it's actually here,” said Freyvogel of Butler Township.

He designed the vehicle along with Brandon Barnhart of Harmony, also an engineer, and Eric Ahlstrom of Sparks, Nev., who is an aerodynamicist.

The crew began designing the car at the end of 2009, and started construction in 2011. The 1,800-horsepower vehicle is constructed of steel and weighs 3,000 pounds. It is 28 feet long.

Ahlstrom made molds and built part of the body in Nevada and shipped it to Butler County, where Freyvogel and others worked on it at Carbinite Metal Coatings.

The vehicle, named “Carbiliner,” cost about $104,000 in parts. A volunteer crew of about a dozen people worked on it, keeping other costs low.

The front wheels are discs with no tires. The back wheels have Kevlar-banded tires. Wings on the back of the vehicle keep it stable.

The nose of the vehicle has three fire extinguishers, which have hoses that are hooked to the cockpit. If the vehicle catches on fire, Freyvogel said he would have to decide rather quickly whether to attempt to get out or to engage the extinguishers.

When Freyvogel is out on the course, he will have four miles to accelerate to a top speed and then will have to sustain that speed for one mile. He will have two miles to stop the vehicle. All told, the entire run will take about 50 seconds. To actually break the record, he has to do the run twice.

To slow the vehicle, parachutes are deployed. When it gets under 200 mph, brakes are applied to bring it to a halt.

The crew was in Utah in mid-july to test the vehicle out. Freyvogel said the car did well but had a few issues that he needed to work out.

“The car was very stable,” Freyvogel said.

The car was at his house. He and crew members worked on it every night until midnight or 1 a.m.

He originally was supposed to compete for the record in September 2013, but rain led to the cancellation of the event. He was going to attempt it again in early October, but rain canceled that event as well.

Shortly after that, the federal government was shut down and the racing site, which is managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management, was shuttered. This forced Freyvogel and his team to wait until this year.

“It was really hard to get over that,” Freyvogel said.

With the delay, the crew was able to continue to fine-tune the vehicle. It had some transmission problems, but they have been fixed.

The vehicle is being transported on an open trailer.

“I know there are going to be great stories when we get back,” Freyvogel said.

They will return Aug. 16.

He is confident that the vehicle will break the record.

“I feel pretty good about our chances,” Freyvogel said.

After this, he said he may change the engine in the vehicle and try to break the diesel speed record. The vehicle also will appear in other shows and competitions around the U.S.