The Poteet and Main Speed Demon is one of the great land speed race cars of our time. The machine has steadily and methodically gotten better ad fast each year and is now the definitive title holder of the “world’s fastest wheel driven, piston powered car”. The accomplished this feat at Mike Cook’s FIA-sanctioned streamliner meet that is held each fall. The boys did it in late 2012 and are planing on running both Bonneville Speed Week and the Cook meet again in 2013 assuming that things go the way they have them planned. As you probably know by now, Kenny Duttweiler builds the engines for the team and has a large role in tuning them as well. George Poteet provides the driving talent, and Ron Main is the guy on top of the whole operation. They are a very talented and devoted team.
The 2012 season was off to a rocky start for the Speed Demon crew as they lunched an engine early during the week at Bonneville but worked through it and began their march on one of the most impressive seasons a land speed car has ever had. The video documents their weeks at Bonneville both at the SCTA Speed Week and at the Mike Cook’s FIA meet in the fall. It is pretty fascinating to watch the team wrench on the car, explain the massive stresses and forces at work, and to ultimately see them succeed in becoming the fastest piston driven car on Earth. The wonderful sounds of the screaming engines is icing on the cake!
As you’ll see in the video, these guys have a lot of respect for the history of land speed racing, the men whose records they are supplanting, and the difficulty of what they are trying to do. That being said the video ends with Main making a bold prediction for 2013. We’re not calling it bragging because these are guys who have proven time and time again that they can back their words up…in spades!
PRESS PLAY BELOW TO WATCH THE GREAT RON KIRBY FILM – SOMETHING EVIL THIS WAY COMES ABOUT THE POTEET AND MAIN SPEED DEMON TEAM’S 2012 SEASON!
Brian,
Neither you nor the film mention that these “motors” they talk about are small block Chevys! Hot Rod did an article on them with Kenny Duttweiler not long ago. With all the crazy new stuff out there a SBC based power plant is the fastest piston car in the world! Between the Speed Demon and the Champion Speed Shop nostagia Top Fuel car you really have to hand it to the small block Chevrolet!