Alabama inventor breaks record with his wood-burning pickup

Via Billy

If Alabama State Troopers had asked Wayne Keith why he was running his 1993 Dodge Dakota pickup at 90 mph on I-59 in St. Clair County last week, his reply probably would have resulted in a Breathalyzer test.

His story of making a practice run for a land speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats would have likely raised suspicion of a little too much barley and hops.

The 61-year-old Springville inventor is indeed at the Bonneville Salt Flats this week. On Wednesday he set a class world-record in his firewood-powered truck. He went 71.18 mph to break the previous record by more than 24 mph.

In this land where computer-drawn, jet-driven vehicles with speeds approaching the sound barrier have drawn headlines for decades, Utah got a dose of good ol' Alabama boy ingenuity.

Obviously, Keith wasn't out to break the current land speed record of 763.035 mph set in 1997 by the ThrustSSC, a twin turbofan jet-powered car. The Springville native was searching for a record in a vehicle that burns wood instead of fossil fuel.

Keith left Springville last Friday and drove his truck to the Bonneville Salt Flats.

"They really didn't know what to think about me out here," Keith said with a laugh.

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