Last weekend’s Pikes Peak International Hillclimb had many highlights (some of them EV-related) but was unfortunately also the scene of a few crashes. The most serious accident at Pikes Peak 2023 was that of Old Smokey, a 1949 Ford F1-bodied diesel race truck that so many fans adored.
Old Smokey was famous for many reasons, from being a radical build with 1,400 hp (twin-turbo 6.7L Cummins diesel) tucked under that patina-covered Ford pickup truck body to having set the previous diesel record at Pikes Peak in 2020, with a time of 11:24.065. And all this in a build that started with an old Ford truck costing $225.
Old Smokey’s builder/driver has zero injuries
Driver/builder/owner Scott Birdsall (aka Chuckles Garage) somehow managed to walk away completely unharmed after a complete brake failure saw the 1949 Ford F1 jumping off a cliff and landing on its roof some 175 feet below, after which it rolled 8 or 9 times before coming to a halt in a snow bank.
The driver, who dug himself out of the snow and made the climb back towards the safety crew and doctors, who confirmed he had no injuries or concussions, describes the terrifying experience.
Keep in mind that Old Smokey’s accident took place in the Lightning corner, which is high on the Colorado mountain, in the fourth and final section of the 156-turn, 12.42-mile course, whose finish line is at the 14,115 feet summit.
“Coming into the Lightning corner during the 101st running of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, Somkey had a complete brake failure. I went to settle into the corner, and the brake pedal went through the firewall with zero effort. I tried to turn and scrub speed in the ditch, but there was too much momentum and I went off very quickly,” Scott recalls.
The builder attributes his lack of injuries to the strong roll cage design (yes, the cage is his work), the Stilo helmet, HANS device, Sabelt seat, and race harness, highlighting the importance of safety features on a race vehicle.
On Instagram, Scott ends the post about the accident with a quick “Rest in peace Old Smokey F1”. So I reckon he’ll be back for Pikes Peak 2024.
My guess is based on the fact that we’re looking at a man who used to hold the diesel record in a build based on a Ford truck predating the F-150 era. And he made the tube chassis underneath that now-mangled body himself—if this sort of machine is to your liking, you may also enjoy the 1958 Divergent Chevy Apache with its Triple-Turbo 6.7L Cummins diesel.
Scott completed the project in 2016, started racing at Pikes Peak in 2017, and even had a crash the following year. Still, he continued to push Old Smokey to new forms. As for the fate of the truck, the damage is perhaps less serious than one would expect following the said accident description, but still massive. So we’ll just have to wait and see what the enthusiast cooks up.
Scott appears like the kind of man who finds motivation within himself. However, it seems he may also get some from the outside, as Gregoire Blachon set a new Pikes Peak diesel record for 2023 in his Radical SR Diesel, with a time of 10:25.071.
The BMW XM crash at Pikes Peak 2023
As mentioned in the intro, Old Smokey wasn’t the only vehicle that crashed at the 2023 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. In its attempt to beat the Lamborghini Urus Performante’ Pikes Peak 10:32.06 SUV record, the 738 hp BMW XM Red Label also got badly damaged, albeit with the details being scarce. Fortunately, driver Matt Mullins was unharmed.
Even so, BMW’s silver lining came from Rhys Millen, with the Pikes Peak veteran having set a production car record in the M8. At 10:12, the M8 showed it is possible for a production vehicle to approach this barrier, which used to be reserved for the all-out Unlimited Class in the past.
Speaking of which, the overall winner of the event was Robin Shute in his 2018 WolfTSC-FS (8:40.080), with this being the fourth victory for the man and his Unlimited machine.
Second place went to the 2023 Ford SuperVan 4.2 running in the Open Class, with the 1,400 hp of the EV monster being tamed by French racing legend Romain Dumas (8:47.682).
Update: Scott uploaded a video of Old Smokey F1’s crash at Pikes Peak 2023
Even with the man having previously confirmed that his medical checks revealed no issues resulting from the accident, the footage, which you’ll find at the bottom of the story, is more than terrifying.
The brief outside shot at the beginning was captured by PPIHC race official Kevin Duskin aka @kbooty. However, most of the clip takes us into the cabin with the driver as the 1,400 hp diesel Ford F1-bodied truck he had built experiences a complete brake failure.
After wildly pumping the brakes (the only result was his boot-cut suit leg actuating the gas pedal), Scott attempted to scrub off some of the serious speed he had coming into Pikes Peak’s Lightning corner by hooking the ditch on the inside of the bend. The high-impact maneuver sent the pickup truck right towards the edge the man was trying to avoid, on two wheels, which Scott labels as cutting his losses.
“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. Really a no-win situation all the way around, and my worst nightmare as a Pikes Peak racer has always been this exact scenario,” the builder of the machine explains in the description of the video.
Following the first impact, which took place 175 feet down the embankment, the truck rolled over multiple times and came to a halt on the side, 714 feet down, with Scott digging himself out and climbing back, as described above.
What is going to happen with Old Smokey F1 after the Pikes Peak 2023 crash? Scott says the truck is “too far gone to fix for racing again”, albeit mentioning he may try to resurrect the vehicle as a street truck—just imagine seeing this thing at your local Cars & Coffee after the clash with the mountain!
