2023 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb - Scott Birdsall

I posted the first article about Old Smokey on Fecesbook back when when Scott Birdsall set a record for the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. This year Scott had a devastating run, partial run, and it resulted in R.I.P. for Old Smokey. Luckily Scott escaped injury which if you know the terrain there, is miraculous.

Scott Birdsall set a new record in 2020 in the Exhibition Class for the fastest diesel-powered vehicle up Pikes Peak, with his Cummins-Powered 1949 F1, beating the diesel record set by a megabucks Mercedes-Benz factory team in 2016, with a time of 11:24.065.
Old Smokey Weighs 4,400 lbs. and it’s nose heavy with the engine, with turbos mounted and full of fluids, weighs 1,200 lbs.

“Smokey ran amazing until the start of Devil's Playground, when the engine coolant reached 250 degrees, putting the ECU into limp mode. This reduces power to under 300hp, and slowed my run considerably. Luckily, the times on the first 2/3 of the course were fast enough to secure the record. Had there truck not overheated, this would have been in the 10:40’s.” Scott Birdsall

Truck Camera:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IWilpufZYQ&feature=emb_imp_woyt

There's also chopper footage, but it's only about the first half of the run:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyLKoyED2I4

This is from the 2023 run:

Pikes Peak Diesel Record-Breaking Ford Pickup Destroyed After Sailing Over Cliff - June 25, 2023
This 1949 race truck made history with a diesel record run in 2020. But after this wreck, the driver confirms: “The truck is gone forever.”
The 1949 Ford F-1 race truck that broke Pikes Peak's diesel record in 2020 was destroyed in a wreck during Sunday's 2023 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Despite plunging 175 feet off a cliff, the pickup protected its driver who reported no injuries as a result of the crash.
The historic Ford was entered by Scott Birdsall, who drove then 71-year-old pickup to the diesel record in 2020. He achieved a time of 11:24.065 with the aid of huge tires, loads of downforce, and a hugely boosted Cummins diesel that could generate 1,400 horsepower on more than 100 pounds of boost. Birdsall didn't get a chance to challenge his own record until the 2023 race, but the opportunity slipped from his grasp when a mechanical failure sent him and his truck sailing over a cliff.
The Ford was completely destroyed in the crash, with Birdsall stating in a Facebook post that "the truck is gone forever." Unfortunately for Birdsall, his truck's record also fell in 2023 to two other diesel competitors. One was a Powerstoke-powered Nissan GT-R, while the other was a diesel-powered Radical prototype that Gregoire Blanchon drove to a new diesel record of 10:25.071 (almost one minute quicker).
Still, the fact that a more than 70-year-old pickup held the record at all is a testament to how special a truck "Smokey" was, but also to the savagery of Pikes Peak, and how far from settled the mountain's performance arms race is.