OPTIMA-Sponsored Hajek Motorsports Sets New Records with B20 BioDiesel

Just because its green doesn't mean its slow. That's the mantra of Brent Hajek, owner of Hajek Motorsports and record-setting driver of the OPTIMA-equipped 2011 Ford F-250 Super Duty pickup truck that sped to an amazing new 182 mph land speed record, running on a 20 percent (B20) biodiesel blend at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

The Ford F-Series is already known for its unparalleled capability and power, but Ford Motor Company engineers and Hajek set out this time to demonstrate that the 2011 Super Duty is also the cleanest, most powerful Power Stroke engine ever, capable of performing just as well, if not better, on B20 biodiesel blends as it does on regular petroleum diesel, even under the most demanding conditions.

The Ford F-250 proved itself twice by setting two land speed records on August 19, 2011. Using a mostly stock truck with the new 6.7-liter Power Stroke V8, the team first achieved a record speed of 171.123 mph, running on regular diesel. The previous B Production Diesel Truck record of 166.850 mph was held by a Duramax diesel GMC. The Ford team then drained the fuel tank of the F-250 and refilled it with the B20 biodiesel blend to top even the diesel record by achieving a speed of 182 mph, smashing the previous B20 land speed record of 130.614 set by a BMW motorcycle. The same Ford Super Duty truck was used for both record attempts with no calibration changes or modifications made between runs.

Michael Murphy, Super Duty Marketing Manager at Ford Motor Company, said, These new land speed records are a great testament to the power and performance of the Super Duty powertrain and of biodiesel fuel. We heard loud and clear from our customers that they want to use B20 biodiesel blends in our products and the 2011 Ford Super Duty is our answer to that market demand. Every 2011 and forward model Ford Super Duty truck is approved for use with B20, and we have received very positive market feedback as a result.

Driver Brent Hajek, who is also an Oklahoma soybean farmer and trucking company owner said, "The F-250 is an excellent truck with amazing capabilities. I'm amazed at how, with very few changes from stock, we were able to accomplish this. I was also very impressed with the power of this truck running on B20 and the comparable fuel economy it achieved with both attempts. There were absolutely no performance downsides to running on B20, as evidenced by the fact that I was able to push the truck to an even faster speed running on the B20 blend."

Onlookers at the record-setting event were also impressed by the fact that even at these top speeds there was no exhaust smoke coming from the tailpipe, further illustrating the emissions benefits of the cleanest Power Stroke engine ever, running on clean, renewable biodiesel.The biodiesel fuel used at this event was produced by a Missouri biodiesel plant and purchased and donated by the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council.

Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board (NBB), commented, "We were very excited to hear of the new land speed record set with a B20 biodiesel blend in the Ford Super Duty truck. Ford Motor Company has been a great and influential industry partner in testing, proving out and promoting its support for B20 biodiesel blends, and these new records are a well-deserved achievement." Jobe continued, "it is also very fitting that the record-setting driver is a soybean farmer as well. By utilizing the oil by-product from soy protein production, biodiesel enhances the food supply by reducing the cost of protein used for food and feed."

In 2009 alone, the soybeans used to make 247 million gallons of soybean oil based biodiesel produced soybean meal for 72 billion rations of protein. Biodiesel reduces life cycle carbon emissions by over 50 percent compared to petrodiesel, and has been EPA certified as an Advanced Biofuel under the Renewable Fuel Standard-2 (RFS-2). As a low-cost option to help refiners meet RFS-2 requirements for Advanced Biofuels, biodiesel volumes are estimated to jump over 45 percent from 2009 levels to 800 million gallons this year, and will support more than 31,000 U.S. jobs in 2011.

The EPAs RFS-2 projections estimate that 2012 biodiesel volumes will top 1.2 billion gallons. Biodiesel blends are a drop-in replacement for diesel fuel and can be transported on U.S. pipelines as well as delivered using existing retail fueling infrastructure. Biodiesel is also the only renewable alternative to diesel fuel that has an American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) and automaker-approved standard, ASTM D6751.