Looking at what is supposed to be a Freightliner Cascadia daycab, you get this strange sense of foreboding. Maybe it has something to do with the wing. Or the rollcage system. Or the gumball slicks that stretch across the rear wheels. Unless you are Lohnes or a super-fan of the old Great American Truck Racing series, this looks as foreign as it gets. It’s a big rig…race…drift…something. It’s Mike Ryan’s claim to fame, a Pikes Peak veteran that has seen a major “WHOOPS!” moment while running the legendary mountain course. It’s the big rig that puts on Ken Block-style clinics on how the big girls dance, and it’s driven by a man who is known for his abilities to take large trucks and make them do things that few others can do. Man and machine combine to do awesome things.
It’s almost amazing that the Freightliner hasn’t made it down to the Hoonigans before now. But this was more of an eventuality than anything. Open space and approval to nuke the rear tires into submission? Stand back, fellas, and let the master of the big rig show you what 2,400 horsepower and the closest thing to a %#!@-ton of torque can do…
I don’t get the appeal of these guys or that whole Cleetus thing. My car buddies and I see the ingredients of most of these shows as one young guy/leader with a serious amount of family money to back him, a crew comprised of a bunch of hipster lookalike clingons and one serious mechanic. The format of stupid people building stuff started with OCC and it’s only gotten worse over time as these guys and the tribal wannabes on YouTube prove. Only thing missing for these clowns is the carnival music.