The Buckeye Bullet is attending the annual SpeedWeek event at the Bonneville Salt Flats. The team arrived last Friday.

The vehicle and new driver Roger Schroer of TRC, replacing Craig Taylor who could not be with the team for this event, are going through the steps of qualifying for a new land speed record.

The Buckeye Bullet is licensed to go up to 250 MPH in another licensing run planned for Monday morning. If successful, Roger will be qualified to run at any speed. A USLSR qualifying run above the current record of 257 MPH is planned for Monday afternoon.

Buckeye Bullet Team Leader, Isaac Harper and driver Roger Schroer will be interviewed live from the Salt on Monday night by WOSU AM 820's Tom Wiebell on Tom's Open Line Program sometime between 7PM and 8PM.  The broadcast will be streamed live over the Internet at WOSU. Click on the "Listen Live NPR 820" link.  All team members will be introduced!

Be sure to visit the Buckeye Bullet on the Road to Bonneville website for current updates!

Update: Roger Schroer successfully took the Bullet to 236 mph earlier today. He and the Bullet are now qualified to go at any speed. The team may attempt a speed run later this afternoon. Stay tuned...

Update: 8/16/04, 6:43PM - Ten minutes ago Roger Schroer to ok the Bullet to 308.317 mph. I am told that there was some juice left... The team is now getting ready to take the car to the impound lot and charge it for the morning back-up run. Check for details sometime tomorrow morning. I will be traveling to Bonneville and will resume the updates late tomorrow. Go Bucks, Go Fast!

Update: 8/17/4, 10:49AM - Roger Schroer pulled the Buckeye Bullet off the course at the 2 mile marker after hearing a noise in the car. The Bullet was towed back to the pit area and the problem is being investigated so there will be no record set today.

Update: 8/18/04, 8:23AM - Unfortunately the problem detected by Roger Schroer during yesterday's record attempt turned out to be a damaged differential. The ring and pinion need to be replaced. It is not a major problem, but it must be repaired. With Craig Taylor's invaluable assistance, replacement parts have already been ordered, and we hope that they will arrive in time to make a couple more runs towards the end of the week. The team is upbeat, in spite of the setback. We all understand that these things can happen when one pushes the envelope. We will send an update tomorrow. Go Bucks!

Please note the 2+1/4 mile trap speed on the timing slip: this is faster than last year's record... Also note that the vehicle was still accelerating, as the 5+1/4 mile trap speed is higher than the average on mile 5.

Update: 8/19/04, 8:04AM - All the parts needed for repairs to the Bullet are en route to Salt Lake City. A selected group of students left early this morning to pick them up - it's a 2-hour drive. Thursday will be spent repairing and reassembling the drivetrain. If all goes well, we will be running again on Friday morning.

Update: 8/20/04, 8:23AM - Another great Buckeye Bullet adventure has come to the end. After a day spent by Maria Soliman and Craig Taylor tracking the FedEX differential shipment from the U.K. (we use a custom part made by Quaife in the U.K.), all hopes of receiving the part ended around 1AM today when the FedEx tracking desk confirmed that the package had been delayed by customs in Memphis and would not make the 2AM FedEx flight to Salt Lake City. Team members Isaac Harper, Keith King and Ed Hillstrom were ready for a night pick up in SLC, and had already prepared all the tools necessary for the assembly of the differential, so that they could perform part of the work in the car during the drive back to Bonneville.

The Buckeye Bullet team is proud of its historic accomplishment dating back to Monday. The Bullet is the first electric vehicle to officially break the 300-mph barrier, joining a list of only 54 other teams in the history of Bonneville.

The Bullet will resume testing at TRC, Inc., in the next few weeks, and will see some minor adjustments in the aerodynamics and electronics in preparation for the World Finals, to be held next October 13-16 at Bonneville, when the team will attempt to set a new FIA world land speed record. FIA rules require that two runs be completed within one hour. The existing FIA record stands at 245 mph, and dates back to 1999.

We are immensely proud of this bright, hard-working and resilient team. See you in October!