10-4 Magazine - For Today's Trucker

COVER FEATURE - AUGUST 2006

MIKE RYAN CONQUERS
PIKES PEAK – AGAIN!
TRUCK RACER KEEPS WINNING STREAK ALIVE
By Daniel J. Linss - Editor

For the sixth year in a row, truck racer and stunt driver Mike Ryan of North Hollywood, California broke his own record at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Shaving three seconds off his time from last year, Mike completed the difficult course in 12 minutes and 43 seconds, setting another world record in the big rig class for this event. When he’s not racing to the clouds, Mike stays busy stunt driving for commercials, building specialty vehicles and coordinating stunt sequences for movies and television. Mike’s passion has always been driving – he absolutely loves getting behind the wheel and cutting loose. And he might not be a “real” trucker, busting his butt every day hauling freight to make ends meet, but he certainly works hard to inspire and entertain those who love big trucks.

A few months prior to the race in Colorado, held on July 1st, we got a call from Julie Leibovitz, Mike’s public relations manager, who invited us to come out and cover the event. We didn’t know anything about the race, but thought it sounded like fun, so we accepted her invitation. We had no idea what we were in for. This is one grueling event – even for the spectators! Pikes Peak is located just outside Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the race is held on Pikes Peak Highway – a narrow, steep, partially-paved road that culminates at the mountain’s 14,100-foot summit. As you can imagine, the air at the top is very thin, especially for those of us that live at or near sea level. And trust us when we say, altitude sickness is no fun.

Believe it or not, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is one of the oldest motor sport events in the United States, second only to the Indianapolis 500. The course is 12.46 miles long and features 156 turns, many of which are hairpins with a cliff on the outside edge and no guardrails. Since 1916, competitors have braved the dangerous conditions, thin air and unpredictable weather to conquer the mountain and win their class. This year’s event, which was the 84th running (a few years were missed along the way due to WWI, the Great Depression and WWII), included several different classes and types of motorcycles, cars, pickups and big rigs.

You never know what the weather is going to be like on race day at Pikes Peak. In Colorado Springs, just down the hill, it was sunny, clear and 95 degrees. Up at the summit, it was a cool 44 degrees. At about noon, the clouds rolled in and the rain started to fall. The rain quickly turned to hail where we were positioned for the day (in an area known as Devil’s Playground at the 13,000-foot elevation), and then snow began to fall at the summit. Then came the lightening – a storm so intense that the police on-scene told everyone to take shelter in their cars for protection. These wet conditions caused several delays and made for a very slippery road. Eventually, the race officials were forced to close the summit and shorten the course, negating any chance of those drivers to set any new records. It was especially disappointing to Japanese driver Nubohiro “Monster” Tajima, who was on track to finally break the ten-minute barrier and set a new course record in his 1,000 horsepower Suzuki built just for this event.

Besides the weather and altitude challenges, sleep deprivation is also a factor. The two days before the race, Thursday and Friday, were for practice and time trials. Because the highway needs to be open for tourists, the activities for those days need to be completed in a timely manner – meaning you have to get up on the mountain very early before they close it to traffic and start racing. And when I say early, I mean getting up at 2:30 a.m. to be on the hill by 3:30 a.m. to find your “spot” to watch (or take pictures in our case). Once parked and situated, you can’t drive anywhere until the activities of the day are complete. After a couple days of this relentless schedule, you are feeling exhausted. On race day (Saturday) the events don’t start quite as early, but you still have to get up the hill by about 6:00 a.m. to claim your spot before someone else does. With all this said, you’d think it was a terrible time, but truth is, all the challenges just made it that much more interesting. We can only imagine what the racers go through!

Twelve years ago, Mike was invited by some friends to participate in the hill climb on his motorcycle. When he got there, he was surprised to see a modified International truck racing up the mountain. The following year, two big rigs showed up to race and Mike thought, “I need to get me one of those trucks.” After a bit of searching, he found a retired racing truck and, along with a friend, bought it. This rig had a hand-built chassis, a 155-inch wheelbase and a Detroit 8V92 up front. It was a little funky looking, but it was a good start. Having just done some commercial work for Shell, he called them up and told them what he was doing. They asked him, “What do you need, Mike?” From then on, even before his first race, Mike had a corporate sponsorship with Shell. Over the years, more sponsors have been added, which helps Mike to build the best truck possible. Presently, in addition to Shell, his sponsors include Freightliner, Mercedes-Benz, Michelin, Delphi, Arvin-Meritor, Vortex Valve, ZF Transmissions, Accuride Wheels, WyoTech, Transcore, Trucker Buddy and many more.

Mike’s current race truck is a heavily-modified Freightliner Century Class S/T powered by a 1,250 horsepower Mercedes-Benz 501 V6 Twin Turbo with 2,700 foot-pounds of torque. A ZF 5-speed electronically controlled transmission and Arvin-Meritor drivetrain modified for racing have propelled this 7,800-pound super truck to speeds of over 100 mph. Much like a sprint car, the suspension is a four-link front end and three-link rear end. Body features include an aluminum cab and side fairings, along with a composite hood and front spoiler. The truck, over the years, has had several major rebuilds from the ground up. This year, it sported a new silver and black paint scheme with thin red stripes down the sides and on the top of the hood. Built for speed and not for efficiency, the truck gets less than two mpg under typical race conditions.

For the last nine years, Mike and the other big rigs (there are not that many) have been the last to run – they closeout the show. But this year they ran first because the race officials bumped them into an “exhibition” class due to a lack of competitors. Mike had one other truck to compete with – a 2004 Panoz Racing chassis powered by a Detroit Diesel – driven by Shane Chapman from New Zealand. Despite transmission problems (he lost 4th gear), Shane finished with an impressive 13.36 time. “We will have to up our game to stay ahead of him next year,” commented Mike.

Mike has been crashing trucks and stunt driving since he was a teenager. In all those years, he has done a good job of avoiding any serious injuries, only breaking a finger here, a knuckle there or a few ribs from time to time. His worst crash ever wasn’t even job-related. About 20 years ago, he was flying his biplane home from an air show in Wisconsin when he got caught in a wind sheer and crashed in New Mexico. Breaking about 28 bones and suffering several traumatic injuries, his life hung in the balance for a while – he almost didn’t make it. There was a time when he considered becoming a stunt pilot, but his love for the art of driving kept him behind the wheel. With over 500 feature films, television shows and commercials to his credit, Mike has been seen crashing, burning and getting blown up on screens throughout the world. The two movies that “put him on the map” in regards to truck stunts were Thelma & Louise and Terminator 2. Some of his latest work includes films like Herbie Fully Loaded, After the Sunset, The Italian Job, Training Day and Swordfish, just to name a few.

In a recent ad campaign for United Parcel Service (UPS), Mike was commissioned to build a “hot rod” UPS truck for NASCAR great Dale Jarrett to drive around a track for a commercial or two. Mike took a worn out 1989 UPS truck, gutted it out, and dropped in a 514 cubic inch factory built “crate motor” with 620 HP and 700 foot-pounds of torque. Mike and his team added two-stage nitrous oxide injection that boosted the power to 800 horsepower. Everything on this truck was modified, rebuilt or replaced, including the entire suspension and braking system. They figured that this big brown beast could easily get up to 150 mph. The commercials have been a big hit – especially when aired during NASCAR races. So far, five different commercials have been produced and more are scheduled to be made later this year. Hey, UPS might as well get their money’s worth.

Something that has been on Mike’s mind for some time now is to find a way to get a truck racing series started here in the United States. Over in Europe, truck racing is very popular. He and some other well-known “gear heads” have been kicking around some ideas but they really need help from drivers and trucking companies out there (they can’t do it alone). Most of their thoughts have been centered on how to make it more attractive to sponsors and track owners, as well as how to make it more affordable to get started. If they could develop simple criteria for what it takes to get started, limit how far one could go to keep things fair, and create a truck that can be used on multiple types of tracks such as road courses, circle tracks and hill climbs, maybe they could get something fun started. The focus would be low on cost but high on cosmetics (give the fans a respectable-looking truck to cheer for and the industry some dignity at the same time). Mike and his friends would love to hear your comments and suggestions as to what might work, what wouldn’t work, and is there enough interest out there for them to even bother trying. A special e-mail address has been setup, so if you have any ideas, please contact Mike at 10-4truckracing@fastrucks.com. We think it is a great idea and hope that something gets started soon.

Mike often wonders, as he’s racing up Pikes Peak Highway, “What am I doing up here?” At 49 years old, he has nothing to prove, he just can’t let go of that fantastic feeling of sliding sideways through a turn at 60 mph, on the edge of oblivion, hearing nothing but the roar of his engine. Each year, the hill climb is the most focused and intense time of his life – it requires his full attention for almost 13 minutes. As for us, the hill climb required our attention (or at least our presence) for over 13 hours, but we enjoyed it. Look for Mike Ryan and his racing Freightliner in the Trucker Buddy booth at most of the major truck shows across the country. Be sure to stop in and meet the man who has conquered Pikes Peak over and over again, and who we are sure will continue to dominate it for years to come.