The historic hill climb at Pikes Peak once again demonstrated its perilous nature this year when a 1949 Ford F1 racing truck drove off the cliff due to a mechanical failure. Scott Birdsall’s endeavor to surpass his previous record resulted in a staggering 175-ft fall (over 53 meters). Miraculously, he managed to walk away from the incident without sustaining any injuries.
The “Old Smokey F1,” a vintage Ford truck heavily modified with a 1,400-hp Cummins engine, has held the Pikes Peak record for diesel-powered vehicles since 2020. In an attempt to improve his previous time of 11:24.065, Birdsall encountered a brake failure just before the treacherous “lighting” corner, making the horrifying accident virtually unavoidable. Onboard camera footage captures the precise moment when the driver realized the absence of functioning brakes.
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According to Birdsall from Chuckles Garage, he recounted the sequence of events that led to the accident, stating, “I lifted to neutral throttle, went to set into the corner with the brakes, and the pedal instantly went to the floor with zero effort. I frantically pumped the brakes, and you can hear the throttle change slightly as I do this because the brake pedal was so far down on the floor, my boot cut suit leg was catching the throttle.”
At that point, there was nothing that Birdsall could do to avoid driving off the cliff. “I knew there was way too much momentum to make the corner, so I tried to hook the ditch, and that was too aggressive as it just shot the truck in the air and went off. Probably a good thing, as the farther you get around the corner, the steeper and rockier it gets,” he said.
The old Ford landed on its roof before rolling 8-9 times and coming to a rest a full 714 feet below the point it exited the tarmac. Despite the severity of the crash, the roll cage kept the cabin intact, proving the importance of safety measures. The driver was “winded” but “completely unscathed” as a few moments later he can be seen climbing out of the vehicle and giving the heads-up to the camera. The safety crew later confirmed that Birdsall had no injuries, largely thanks to the roll cage, FIA-certified helmet, Sabelt seat, and harness.
Predictably, the racing truck is completely destroyed, with serious damage to the bodywork, frame, and engine meaning it is far from being fixable. Still, Scott Birdsall said he “may attempt to resurrect it into a street truck” in the future. As reported by our colleagues from The Drive, Old Smokey F1’s Pikes Peak record fell this year. The new record-holder is a tri-turbo diesel Radical prototype that completed the hill climb in 10:25.071.