Dragster tops 200 mph with soybean-oil fuel

ROGERSVILLE, Mo. -- A dragster fueled by soybean oil has reached speeds previously unheard of for a vehicle powered with a renewable energy source.

Driver Mark Smith pushed Wild Thang to 211 mph Saturday night on the 660-foot racetrack at the Ozark International Raceway in southwest Missouri.

"There has never been a record like this set using a renewable fuel," said Paul Brown, the track's announcer. "We're tickled to have them out here."

More than 2,000 spectators watched Saturday as Wild Thang broke the records it set one night earlier. In the first heat Friday, the car reached 181 mph. In the second round, it ran 198 mph.

"We're running a product called biodiesel," said Russel Gehrke of Seymour, Mo., who helped prepare the car for its record-setting run. The fuel is made from "100 percent soybean oil ... We're really the first car to run a renewable fuel at that speed."

At the speeds the dragster reached over the weekend, Gehrke said it's burning about a gallon of fuel a second.

"We go through almost 30 gallons a pass. That's quite a bit of fuel for an event."

Gehrke's interest in the project was sparked about a year ago when he learned the U.S. Navy was interested in exploring alternative fuel sources for their aircraft.

Although Gehrke now purchases the fuel out of state, he said that will change.

"We're looking to get a sponsor and start making our own," he said. "There's a lot of soybeans in Southeast Missouri. ... It's made by our farmers. We should be doing that instead of buying it from people who don't like us."

Wild Thang is scheduled to make 27 appearances this year.

"We're hoping to be able to use bio-fuel at all of them," Gehrke said. "It's a good show stopper because it's so different."