Butler Twp. man sets sights on record at Speed Week
BONNEVILLE, Utah — Rob Freyvogel is back on track to race his car at more than 400 mph.
Freyvogel of Butler Township will compete at the Southern California Timing Association's 69th annual Speed Week at the Bonneville Salt Flats.
“I would definitely like to be over 400 mph, but at this stage right now, I'm happy to just go a little bit faster than we did last year,” Freyvogel said. “As long as we go a little faster than we did (the previous year), we'll eventually break that record.”
The record in the Double AA/Blown Fuel Streamliner class is 417 mph, set by Tom Burkland, who helped Freyvogel and Brandon Barnhart of Harmony design their vehicle.
The car is called the “Carbiliner.” It is 28 feet long, 3,000 pounds and has a 2,600-hp engine.
Last year, technical and mechanical issues with the Carbiliner kept Freyvogel and his team from breaking the Blown Gas Streamliner class record, which is 348 mph.
The Carbiliner reached speeds of 369 mph and 363 mph. However, the effort must consist of back-to-back record-setting runs, and technical difficulties kept that from happening.
Safety inspections for vehicles are Friday, and racing will run from Saturday through Aug. 18.
A full report will appear in the Butler Eagle.
