You read that right – this week’s Truckin’ Fast feature takes a look at a 2009 Ram 1500 Quad Cab on the Bonneville Salt Flats embarking on a run that resulted in a top speed of 239 miles per hour. Two hundred…and thirty nine miles per hour in a Ram 1500 Quad Cab. “Wow” is right.
It shouldn’t come as a big surprise but the standard 5.7L Hemi has been removed from this purpose built speed record truck in favor of a twin turbocharged 272 cubic inch V8 Dodge NASCAR motor. With somewhere in the area of 1,600 horsepower, this mighty race engine works with a host of other modifications including a very low ratio gear set to reach a top speed on the Bonneville Salt Flats of 239 miles per hour.
If you have never seen a Bonneville Salt Flat top speed pass before, it is over the course of a very long stretch of wide open nothingness and because of that, it is a sport that is hard to capture on video. In this piece, the 1,600 horsepower Ram 1500 gets push started by a Cummins powered Ram 3500 – presumably due to the fact that the truck is geared to reach the highest speed possible that it has a hard time getting going from a stop. However, as you watch the two trucks speed off into the distance, you can hear the point at which the NASCAR powered Ram begins to roar away under its own power and you can hear that purr of that awesome engine through the end of the video.
The video starts slowly, so you can go ahead and fast forward to the 2:35 mark as the monster top-speed truck fires up the twin turbocharged NASCAR engine around the 2:39 mark and it is truly an incredible piece of ear candy. The sound of this truck preparing and then climbing to the 239 mile per hour mark is possibly the best aspect of this clip so be sure to have your speakers cranked up!
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
