Mike Ryan, the driver of the #777 Freighliner Cascadia racing truck, had a serious incident while practicing for the 2014 Pikes Peak Hill Climb on Thursday. According to witnesses, the Freightliner experienced strong understeer in a corner and went off course…and down a hill for about seventy feet. Ryan is okay, and is considering running up the mountain on a Triumph motorcycle. The Cascadia is certainly done, sadly, as Ryan has been a staple of Pikes Peak for a few years, blasting up the course in the 2000hp beast.
We hope to see the truck come back to life soon. Given Ryan’s long-standing partnership with Freightliner, either the Cascadia will be rebuilt…or there is the potential of a new truck being built. Either way, we’re glad to see that Mike is okay and wish him well should he decide to run up the hill on two wheels.
(I swear I just heard a tear fall into Brian’s beer…)
Chad Note: More like into MY beer McTaggart. Brian loves this thing no question, but Mike and I have gotten to know each other over the past couple years and I’ve actually ridden in this big bastard a few times now. It’s awesome, and it wouldn’t surprise me if it wasn’t repaired. Either way, you can’t keep Mike Ryan down. He’ll be back bigger and better than ever. Where most people look at this and think “oh crap, that sucks for Mike!”, his competitors are thinking “Oh CRAP!!! Now what the hell is that crazy bastard going to build to kick our asses even worse than he already does?!”
Photos and story tip courtesy of Autoblog.com
The 55 was fine until he decided to gas it again after almost hitting the wall.. That was the Best place for him to get thrown out of the car, low enough and car flipping out of the way !!!!