When we last left you, the Hennessey Performance twin-turbo Viper was having technical difficulties in achieving 230 miles per hour down the Maxton Mile. First it was the transmission causing problems, then it was the engine computer.
With those hurdles cleared, it’s time for the sprint, and the HP gang is not messing around. Driver John Kiewicz has learned to feather the insanely powerful Competition Coupe’s throttle to avoid spinning the Michelin Pilot Sport tires into giant, tractionless rubber bands. The lead mechanic decides to remove the park-bench rear wing to make the red serpent as slippery as possible. Every seam is taped over. Even the wing mirrors are taken off in order to cheat the wind.
But that’s still not enough; neither is a fresh tank of higher octane fuel, new spark plugs and a replaced computer. The beastly snake keeps electronically coiling up on itself in fifth gear and only hits 199 mph.
Not all is lost, though. Near the end of the video, John Hennessey himself shares a neat story about a Hennessey-massaged Dodge Ram SRT-10 sold to a sheik with something to prove to his hypercar-driving buddy.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
